LGUs ordered to report revenue generated from extractive industries

DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has issued a Department Order requiring all local government treasurers to account for all revenue and expenditures from environment and natural resources industries like mining.

“It’s high time for local treasurers to properly account for what the extractive and related sectors contribute to local economies, and how the local communities benefit from them and from the utilization of their natural resources,” Mr. Dominguez said.

The order requires monetary and non- monetary benefits received by LGUs from extractive industries to be included in their quarterly electronic Statement of Receipts and Expenditures (eSRE) reports.

Reports are to be submitted to the Web-based Environment and Natural Resources Data Management Tool (ENRDMT).

The eSRE is managed by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF). Its use has been mandatory since 2011, but currently does not include inflows and outflows from extractive industries.

The DoF directive requires the recording of transactions with extractive industries including: local taxes, fees, and other charges and receipts of shares from national wealth in their localities.

The BLGF was ordered, in turn, to supply stakeholders with data on local taxes, fees and user charges directly collected from the extractive industries, detailed accounts of shares of the national wealth received by LGUs, expenditure items from such proceeds, among others. —