We have been presenting income, expenditures, etc., of Bicol LGUs for so much posts already. But while Bicol LGUs earn millions (in pesos), it does not follow that the constituents are also that rich.
On the contrary, not much has changed on more than majority of the people’s earnings and income. Many families are still below the poverty threshold level around the region. So that there is the strong contrast of the government awashed with money and the people stricken in poverty.
For the year 2006, only the city of Tabaco gets left behind with an income less than P200M– P169,113,444 to be exact.
Naga city continue to lead with P466,138,277. Legazpi came in second with P421,838,151.
Sorsogon city on third with P349,656,671. Ligao city next with P253,266,953.
Masbate city earned P236,262,651 while Iriga city had P234,625,310.
Check out the percentage of dependence of these cities from the Internal Revenue Allotment for our reference year:
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| Rank | LGU | IRA |
| 1 | Sorsogon City | 266,774,662 |
| 2 | Legaspi City | 260,001,121 |
| 3 | Ligao City | 223,710,598 |
| 4 | Naga City | 206,296,238 |
| 5 | Iriga City | 201,285,607 |
| 6 | Masbate City | 185,632,412 |
| 7 | Tabaco City | 144,960,590 |
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Out of seven cities, Ligao ended with a deficit, -P46,791.210. All others shelved a good amount of savings led by Naga.
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| Rank | LGU | Excess or Deficit |
| 1 | Naga City | 135,524,704 |
| 2 | Tabaco City | 50,135,906 |
| 3 | Legaspi City | 46,323,955 |
| 4 | Sorsogon City | 39,394,494 |
| 5 | Iriga City | 16,321,708 |
| 6 | Masbate City | 7,467,508 |
| 7 | Ligao City | -46,791,210 |
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Turning our sight now on the six Bicol provinces, Camarines Sur earned P805,591,000 followed by Albay’s P764,136,928. In the next few years, if governor Joey Salceda’s honest effort at his economic push of the province come into full fruition, Albay may takeover the lead off Camsur.
Sorsogon is a far third with P560,056,184 and close on the heels is Camarines Norte with P495,287,568.
Soon, Masbate will get enough steam and may earn more. For the meantime, its annual income of P494,777,510 was a modest one. Catanduanes marked P305,712,564 for 2006.
Here’s the table for the six provinces’ Internal Revenue Allotment. To get the percentage of each LGU’s dependence, divide the IRA share by the respective annual income. Example: The province of Sorsogon is 79.31% dependent on IRA share.
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| Rank | LGU | IRA Share |
| 1 | Camarines Sur | 739,045,000 |
| 2 | Albay | 615,006,230 |
| 3 | Masbate | 484,384,525 |
| 4 | Sorsogon | 444,165,933 |
| 5 | Camarines Norte | 387,997,313 |
| 6 | Catanduanes | 295,434,420 |
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At the end of the year, not one provincial LGU went on the red. Good news though for they saved modestly the people’s money. Sorsogon banked 21.07% of its annual income for the rainy days. Very nice.
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| Rank | LGU | Excess |
| 1 | Sorsogon | 118,018,537 |
| 2 | Albay | 86,246,737 |
| 3 | Camarines Sur | 49,480,000 |
| 4 | Catanduanes | 42,831,091 |
| 5 | Masbate | 37,553,946 |
| 6 | Camarines Norte | 36,265,227 |
To be continued.
Thanks and photo courtesy of Dr. Elnora A. Brocales.
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