Clark, Pampanga
May 19, 2023

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced the deferment of the implementation of Executive Order No. 138, series of 2021 on the devolution of national government functions to the end of this year during his message at the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) at the Royce Hotel in Clark, Pampanga.

According to the President, he arrived at this decision after reviewing E.O. No. 138 which failed to provide a clear delineation of functions to be devolved from the national government to the local government. He plans to rectify this by signing an Executive Order that will clarify the functions to be devolved.

“Let’s take the time and postpone it for another year. We give ourselves until the end of this year 2023… I will then sign an Executive Order putting into place all and defining very clearly which of these services, which of the functions belong to the local government and which belong to the national government,” he said.

The President also expressed confidence that the additional funds to be generated as a result of the Supreme Court Madanas ruling will empower the local government to address local issues that are tailored to the needs of their constituents.

“I’m sure mayroon kayong ideas na hindi namin maiisip sa national government dahil hindi namin kabisado yung sitwasyon doon sa inyo. At hindi namin alam kung papaano solusyonan kung meron mang problema. Kung pano solusyonan yan kailangan magtulungan tayo so that’s where we need the initiative of our local government,” he added.

Concluding his message, President Marcos Jr. called on the LPP to support the priority bills in Congress that are targeted to benefit constituents of the local government.

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