SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian has called on the national government to grant additional Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) shares to local government units (LGUs) that remain under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until May 15 to ensure unhampered delivery of basic needs to the public during this difficult time. “The LGUs have exhausted every single centavo of their cash in the first 45 days of the ECQ, which means that the extension until May 15 is a big problem to a lot of them. Kaya kailangan uli silang saklolohan ng national government (The national government needs to help them),” Gatchalian said. He is also pushing for the implementation of Republic Act 11315 or the “Community-Based Monitoring System Act,” which orders local governments to process data to be used in the planning, budgeting and implementation of government programs, should be implemented to expedite the delivery of social amelioration programs nationwide.
