LAOAG CITY, Jan. 27 -- The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has given the go signal to release half of the tobacco excise tax to local government units (LGUs), an official from Ilocos Norte said Friday.

Tobacco-producing LGUs are set to receive a total of PHP19 billion as their share from the government's tobacco excise tax collections in 2020.

This is based on Local Budget Memorandum 86, issued by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, which provides the guidelines on the release and use of the LGU shares from the excise taxes on locally manufactured Virginia-type cigarettes, and Burley and native tobacco.

"The DBM has already issued a notice of release of at least 50 percent share of the tobacco excise tax for the locally-manu...