DAVAO City’s proposed 2027 budget is expected to reach around P16 billion, with about half coming from the National Tax Allotment (NTA), a city councilor said.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, chairman of the Committee on Finance, Ways and Means, and Appropriations, said at the Pulong-Pulong sa Dabawenyos media forum at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, that the city’s funding sources usually grow each year.
“By practice or by statistics, usually there’s an increase of 10 percent in sources of funds,” he said.
He said he has not yet seen the figures for the proposed annual budget.
“By Friday ma-abot ang annual budget of the city and I expect around 16 billion plus (By Friday, the annual budget of the city will arrive and I expect around 16 billion plus),” Dayanghirang said. “I really do not know the specific amount, but I am very sure it will be more than 15 billion (pesos).”
Half from NTA
Dayanghirang said the city’s income is split almost evenly between its share of the NTA and its local tax collections.
“Kung mag 16 billion, siguro ang share nato sa Manila mga 8 billion, ang local tax pud 8 billion (If it reaches P16 billion, our share from the national government may be around P8 billion, and local taxes also P8 billion),” he said.
The NTA, formerly called the Internal Revenue Allotment, comes from taxes collected by the national government through the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs. Dayanghirang said the Department of Finance computes each local government unit’s (LGU) share based on its population and land area.
Under the Local Government Code, an LGU’s share is based on its population and land area, with a portion also divided equally among LGUs.
“Now, tungod kay dako ang Davao, dako pud ang population, ug kusog pud ang paglambo, ning taas ang atong taxes (Now, since Davao is big, its population is also big, and it is developing fast, our taxes have gone up),” he said.
P52.8B from 2022 to 2026
In September, Malacañang said Davao City and its barangays received a total of P52.80 billion in NTA from fiscal years 2022 to 2026. Of this amount, P41.63 billion went to the city government and P11.17 billion to its barangays.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the total reaches about P53.11 billion when about P314.48 million in other national government releases is included. Castro made the statement in response to Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte’s claim that the city had not received national government funding since 2022.
New LGUs
Dayanghirang said the city’s share may be slightly reduced when new provinces, cities and municipalities are created, since these are also included in the Department of Finance’s computation.
“Pero, pro-rated tanan. Dili lamang Davao mubawasan apan ang ubang LGU (But everything is pro-rated. It is not only Davao that will get a reduction, but other LGUs as well),” he said.
Budget hearings
Dayanghirang said the council will hold the first reading of the proposed budget next week, followed by hearings that usually take about three weeks. During the hearings, the council will review the certification of the city’s NTA share along with the treasurer’s collections to arrive at the total estimate.
The council aims to finish its deliberations in November and approve the 2027 budget by December. GRS