FORMER Interior Secretary and Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. underscored the need to amend the Local Government Code of 1991, saying it no longer meets the needs of many local governments across the country today.

“The Local Government Code has laid out how the national government, governors, cities, municipalities, and barangays should operate, but it’s been over 30 years. We’ve found a lot of problems that need to be fixed,” Abalos said on Wednesday.

Many barangays and municipalities in Pangasinan struggling to fund essential services like road construction and school buildings support  Abalos’ proposal that updating the code is crucial to ensuring local governments can meet the needs of their people.

“For instance, barangays are expected to build, repair and maintain barangay roads under RA 7160, but in many places, especially those in the far-flung barangays and 4th to 5th class municipalities, they simply don’t have the financial capability. The same goes for schools—LGUs are supposed to handle their construction, but smaller and low-income LGUs simply can’t fund it,” he explained.

Abalos said as then DILG secretary, he commissioned a study with the help of the Local Government Academy and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines to review the Local Government Code.

He said their findings have been submitted to President Marcos Jr. before he resigned to run for senator under the Alyansa Para sa Pagbabago 2025. (Eva Visperas)

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