I would like to congratulate my very good friend, Batangas Governor Hermilando ‘Dodo’ Mandanas who on Wednesday got married to Angelica Chua, a beautiful and brainy lawyer in simple ceremonies at the Minor Basilica and Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Batangas City.
Family, friends as well as national and local dignitaries led by no less than President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and First Lady Liza Marcos, as well as former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were among those in attendance.
The now Mrs. Angelica Chua-Mandanas is a lawyer who specializes in taxation, aviation and data privacy and a partner in the Platon-Martinez Law office in Makati City.
She hails from a political family from the town of Ibaan, Batangas. Her father is a doctor, while her mother is the executive judge of Batangas City.
My good friend Gov. Mandanas, on the other hand, had been serving as Batangas Governor since 2016, as post he also held previously from 1995 to 2004. He also served as a Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representing the 2nd District of Batangas from 2004 to 2013.
More importantly, he is famous and hailed for what is now popularly known as the ‘Mandanas ruling’
The said ruling resulted from the petition made by Mandanas and former Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia, Jr. before the Supreme Court regarding local government shares on internal revenue allotment (IRA). In it, the petitioners said that local government units’ shares should include all national taxes.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court affirmed that LGUs are entitled to a “just share” on all national taxes collected and not only from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Prior to it, the internal revenue allotment o IRA of LGU comes from 40 percent of national internal revenue taxes collected by the BIR.
With the Mandanas ruling implementation in 2022, it was projected that LGUs will have a 27.61% increase in the total IRA shares.
Concisely, the 2022 Mandanas Ruling in 2022 was meant to increase the share of national government tax revenue transferred to local governments which opened the doors for opportunities to strengthen decentralization and improve social service delivery in the entire country.
The good Governor was widowed the same year but is fortunate to find love again.
He is 80 and his wife is 32, but looking at them as a couple and how deeply they feel for each other, one can only conclude that indeed, age is just a number.
Just like everybody else, I am so happy for both of them and really wish them all the best. Theirs is indeed, a match made in heaven. Congratulations!!!
