Manila: Health, education, agriculture and environment, roads and infrastructure, technology and security, and social protection (HEARTS) projects of the local government units (LGUs) have been ensured as their share in the National Tax Allotment (NTA) has been increased.

According to Philippines News Agency, citing the 2019 Mandanas-Garcia ruling of the Supreme Court (SC), the Department of Finance (DOF) announced that LGUs’ share in the NTA has been increased to 40 percent of all national taxes, instead of those only collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). “This means greater capacity for LGUs to improve the delivery of essential services to their constituents and strengthen the government’s commitment to devolution under the Local Government Code of 1991,” the press release stated.

The DOF reported that around 43,634 provinces, cities, municipalities, and villages received a total of PHP1.03 trillion in NTA this year, marking an increase of 18.73 percent from the previous year’s PHP871.38 billion. LGUs in the National Capital Region that received the highest share include Quezon City (PHP8.53 billion), City of Manila (PHP5.35 billion), Caloocan City (PHP4.90 billion), Taguig City (PHP3.74 billion), and Pasig City (PHP2.61 billion).

Among the regions, Region 4-A received the largest share at PHP122.68 billion in 2025, which is projected to increase to PHP141.15 billion next year. The DOF also noted that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is being supported through an annual block grant of PHP83.42 billion in 2025, which will rise to PHP93.98 billion in 2026. It was further stated that the NTA for next year is set to increase by 15.07 percent to PHP1.19 trillion.