All local government units (LGUs) in the country will receive a bigger share of the National Tax Allotment (NTA) in 2027, with a record-high allocation of ₱1.32 trillion, which will fund services such as health centers and hospitals, schools, roads, assistance programs, and disaster preparedness, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said Wednesday.
Recto said the LGU share from the NTA will rise by ₱129.32 billion next year and will be among the biggest items in the proposed 2027 national budget currently being finalized by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The 2027 allocation is 11 percent higher than the current ₱1.19 trillion NTA share of LGUs.
“As a former local executive official himself, the President sees and honors these as people’s entitlements. These are guaranteed plowbacks that will go from big cities to the remotest barangays,“ he said.
Under the established formula in NTA allocation, 83 provinces will share ₱303.56 billion; 149 cities, ₱303.56 billion; 1,491 municipalities, ₱448.84 billion; and 41,912 barangays, ₱263.97 billion.
Funding for the NTA will come from Bureau of Internal Revenue collections (₱990.68 billion); Bureau of Customs collections (₱329.09 billion); and other collections certified by the Bureau of the Treasury (₱63.6 million).
Recto said an LGU’s share is primarily determined by population and land area.
Among the cities with the largest projected allocations are Davao City (₱10.1 billion in 2026 to ₱11.23 billion in 2027), Quezon City (₱9.82 billion to ₱10.87 billion), Manila (₱6.09 billion to ₱6.74 billion), Zamboanga City (₱5.91 billion to ₱6.54 billion), Caloocan City (₱5.5 billion to ₱6.19 billion), and Puerto Princesa City (₱5.52 billion to ₱6.12 billion).
Other cities in the top 10 include Taguig City (₱4.40 billion to ₱4.87 billion), Cebu City (₱3.84 billion to ₱4.25 billion), Antipolo City (₱3.67 billion to ₱4.07 billion), and General Santos City (₱3.43 billion to ₱3.80 billion).
Recto said the distribution of the LGU share is based on a “non-partisan, formula-based formula.”
He said the larger LGU share will be highlighted in the fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 27.
Recto also said that aside from the NTA, the administration has increased the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) to a record ₱57.87 billion for 2026.
“The conventional and traditional thinking is that the NTA for LGUs is enough. But the President said we should tap the expertise and resources of LGUs in implementing national projects and programs,” he said.
He added that Marcos had emphasized in meetings that national government projects should not be treated separately from local government initiatives but should instead be implemented in partnership with LGUs, as seen in the ongoing collaboration with the Department of Education to address classroom backlogs.
The LGSF is also being used by LGUs to distribute 10 kilos of rice to the most vulnerable sectors every two months.