Chapter VIII: LOCAL AUTONOMY.--Greater autonomy has been extended to the

provinces and municipalities especially as regards local taxes, education, sanitation, and permanent public improvements.

One of the significant and substantial results of the new policy is the remarkable improvement in the finances of the provinces and municipalities. During the period 1914 to 1920 a general revision of assessment of real properties was conducted in all the provinces. From this assessment we find an increase of 1,703,449 in the number of lots of taxable real property on December 31, 1920, as compared with the corresponding figure on September 30, 1913, representing an increase of about 100 per cent. The increase, of course, means increased revenue from the real property taxes for the local government.

A study of the revenues of the provinces and municipalities during 1914 to 1920, as compared with the period 1909 to 1913, shows an increase of 1,090 per cent, the average percentage of yearly increase being 155.5 per cent. In 1922 the revenues of the provinces were P19,264,264; those of the municipalities were P32,486,068.