Camarines Sur (CamSur) Governor LRay Villafuerte is looking forward to a bumper year of priority development projects not only in CamSur but elsewhere in the country as well, following the recent order by President Marcos on the quick release of much bigger Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) outlays to all local government units (LGUs), so they can henceforth take charge of implementing more high-impact initiatives to improve lives in their respective localities.
Villafuerte noted that more LGU-initiated grassroots development projects with funding from the national government (NG) are in the offing, after the President ordered last month the front-loading of 2026 funds directly to all LGUs from the expanded LGSF, which Mr. Marcos more than doubled to almost P58 billion this year from the year-ago’s P23 billion.
The sizable jump in LGSF outlays, and whose releases the President wants released directly—and quick enough—to all LGUs, highlighted the Feb. 23 launch at Malacañan Palace of the President’s trailblazing Sa Bagong Pilipinas-Bawat Bayan Makikinabang (ISBP-BBM).
“A former chief local executive himself, President Bongbong Marcos, in launching the trailblazing SBP-BBM, not only gave due recognition to us LGU officials as strategic partners of Malacañang in nation-building down at the grassroots level; he has given us ample support for our LGUs to carry out more public services—and at a quicker pace—in our respective localities,” said Villafuerte, who was one of the local chief executives who had attended the Palace event.
The P1.19-trillion NTA share of LGUs for 2026 is over and above the almost P58-billion LGSF that the President ordered for release to all LGUs during last month’s Palace launch of SBP-BBM.
President Marcos had served as governor of Ilocos Norte from 1983 to 1986 and from 1998 to 2007.
Posting on Facebook, Villafuerte said this week: “Nation-building starts local. PBBM knows that—he’s been one of us.”
“P58 billion (in LGSF funds) direct release to LGUs. No politics. Just work. Aksyon, hindi salita,” said Villafuerte, the comeback governor who is president of the National Unity Party (NUP), senior vice chairman (for South Luzon) of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) for Bicol.
“Kami ang frontliners,” he said. “Kami ang unang nakakarinig, unang nakakakita, unang kumikilos. Iyan ang mensahe ng ating Pangulong Marcos sa paglulunsad ng ‘Sa Bagong Pilipinas, Bawat Bayan Makikinabang’ sa Malacañang. At bilang dating Gobernador, alam na alam niya ito. Hindi lang niya kinikilala ang papel ng mga LGU—Binibigyan niya kami ng tamang suporta para mas mabilis at mas direktang makapaghatid ng serbisyo sa ating mga kababayan.”
Villafuerte noted in his Facebook post that: “Halos P58 billion ang inilaan sa Local Government Support Fund ngayong 2026— ang pinakamataas sa kasaysayan. Direktang ibababa sa mga LGU. Walang pulitika, walang kulay. Puro serbisyo.”
“Dahil ang totoo, ang nation-building ay nagsisimula sa lokal. Sa mga probinsya. Sa mga bayan. Sa mga barangay. Doon ang tunay na labanan—at doon kami laging nakatayo,” Villafuerte said.
“Sa CamSur, hindi kami titigil. Patuloy ang aksyon, patuloy ang trabaho. Aksyon, hindi salita. Trabaho para sa CamSur,” he added.
Indicating the President’s pivot to LGUs to further local autonomy and devolution, Villafuerte said our Chief Executive likewise ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to front-load, too, the release of P1.19 trillion to local governments, representing the National Tax Allotment (NTA) share of LGUs under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget.
This P1.19-trillion NTA share of LGUs for 2026 is over and above the almost P58-billion LGSF that the President ordered for release to all LGUs during last month’s Palace launch of SBP-BBM.
For Villafuerte, “the President’s bold initiative to bestow upon us local elective officials a more significant role in the implementation of priority socio-economic programs and projects in our respective provinces, cities and municipalities—and then order the quick release of a record level of public funds to implement them—underlines our Chief Executive’s genuine commitment, both in spirit and intent, to the 2018 ruling of the Supreme Court on the Mandanas-Garcia case.”
In its decision on the Mandanas-Garcia case, the High Court said LGUs were entitled to greater fiscal and political autonomy, and should thus be given a bigger slice of the NG’s revenue collections.
This year’s LGSF allocation of P57.872 billion is P34.87 billion higher than its budget of P23 billion in the 2025 national budget.
The sizable jump in LGSF outlays, and whose releases the President wants released directly—and quick enough—to all LGUs, highlighted the Feb. 23 launch at Malacañan Palace of the President’s trailblazing Sa Bagong Pilipinas-Bawat Bayan Makikinabang (ISBP-BBM).
The 2026 LGSF comprise the financial assistance to LGUs (FALGU) worth P37.492 billion, the Growth Equity Fund (GEF) of P11.3 billion, the Support to the Barangay Development Program (SBDP/NTF-ELCAC) totaling P8.09 billion, and the Support and Assistance Fund to Participatory Budgeting (SAFPB) worth P1 billion.
In his speech at the SBP-BBM launch at the Palace, President Marcos said that: “We have accelerated and streamlined the delivery of the LGSF to every local government unit … We did this in recognition that the needs of the people—no matter how small or large—cannot wait any longer.”
The bigger LGSF will enable LGUs to carry out more of their priority projects, including those on rice assistance, school and health facilities, disaster preparedness, and water and energy infrastructure.
As part of the LGSF, the rice assistance program alone aims to benefit about five million families, providing them with a total of 60 kilos each—10 kilos per beneficiary-family for 6 months this year—to help them cope with the rising cost of living.
