IF the set income bracket for a first class city is not increased from the current P500 million, Dagupan could restore its former first class status in the next reclassification.

This does not simply mean prestige for the city but is also good news for local government workers and officials who will then be entitled to higher compensation and Representation and Travelling Allowance (RATA) .

City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara told the budget hearing conducted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) finance committee headed by Councilor Jeslito Seen  on December 11 that the average income of Dagupan for the last four years is P500 million.

Further, Alcantara said the city’s chances of being moved back to first class status is higher since it is no longer the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) that issues the reclassification but the Congress of the Philippines.

She said that after many local government units were demoted during the last reclassification, mayors have asked Congress to handle the reclassification process.

Dagupan lost its first class status in 2001 when the income bracket, computed by getting the average over a particular period of years, set by BLGF was P400 million.

The income bracket of the city from 1997 to 2000 was just P2 million shy of P400 million.

In the next reclassification four years later, Dagupan again failed to make the grade for a first class city.

Alcantara said Dagupan’s  downgrade was partly due its loss of income from Dagupan Water Works and Sewerage  Administration (DAWASA) which has been privatized.  (LVM)

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