Davao City receives P53.11B in national tax allotment from 2022-2026

Malacañang said Friday the total national tax allotment (NTA) for Davao City and its barangays from 2022 to 2026 has reached P52.80 billion. Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said that out of this amount, P41.63 billion was the NTA for the Davao City government alone, while the combined NTA of the city's barangays amounted to P11.17 billion. "Sa sinasabing walang government funding na nilaan sa Davao City, ayon kay Cong. Pulong [Duterte], ito ang totoo," the Palace official said, referring to Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte, the brother of Vice President Sara Duterte. (Regarding the claim of Cong. Pulong [Duterte] that no government funding was allocated to Davao City, this is the truth.) Aside from the NTA, Castro said Davao City also received various funding releases of approximately P314.48 million under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for fiscal years 2022 to 2026. These include: "Kung pagsasamahin ang P52.80 billion na NTA at ang P314.48 million na iba pang releases na nakasaad sa attachment, aabot sa humigit-kumulang P53.11 billion ang kabuuang pondong nakatala para sa Davao City at mga barangay nito mula FY 2022 hanggang FY 2026," Castro said. (If the P52.80 billion NTA and the P314.48 million in other releases are combined, the total funds allocated for Davao City and its barangays from FY 2022 to FY 2026 reach approximately P53.11 billion.) She noted that this amount does not yet include the individual programs and projects of government agencies for Davao City, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Department of Agriculture (DA). GMA News Online reached out to Congressman Duterte for a comment, but he has yet to respond as of posting time. Under the Constitution and the Local Government Code, the NTA represents the automatic and formula-based share of local government units (LGUs) in national internal revenue, serving as a primary source of funding for local programs, projects, and services. The NTA for fiscal year 2026, amounting to P1.19 trillion, was fully released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in January. This was directly credited to the authorized government servicing banks of LGUs, in accordance with existing budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules. — VDV, GMA News