Charter of the City of Borongan

Corporate powers and general welfare

Section 3 grants the City corporate powers such as continuous succession in its corporate name; power to sue and be sued; and power to have and use a corporate seal.
Section 3 allows the City to acquire, hold and convey real or personal property, and to enter into contracts/agreements.
Section 4 empowers the City to exercise common corporate powers for governance, including:
- Levying taxes;
- Closing/opening roads, streets, alleys, parks or squares;
- Taking or condemning private property for public use;
- Prosecuting and defending suits involving the City to final judgment and execution.
Section 5 requires the City to exercise powers expressly granted, necessarily implied, and powers necessary/incidental for efficient and effective governance and promotion of general welfare.
Section 5 directs the City, within its territorial jurisdiction, to support among others:
- Preservation/enrichment of culture;
- Promotion of health and safety;
- Enhancement of the people’s right to a balanced ecology;
- Development of scientific and technological capabilities;
- Improvement of public morals;
- Enhancement of economic prosperity and social justice;
- Promotion of full employment;
- Maintenance of peace and order;
- Preservation of comfort and convenience of inhabitants.
Section 6 declares that the City and its officials are not exempt from liability for death/injury to persons or damage to property.

City jurisdiction for police and water purity

Section 7 provides that the City’s police jurisdiction for police purposes only is coextensive with its territorial jurisdiction.
Section 7 extends police jurisdiction to protect the purity of the City’s water supply, covering all territory within the drainage area or within one hundred meters (100 m.) of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used for city water service.
Section 7 grants the Regional Trial Courts and City Courts of Borongan concurrent jurisdiction with courts of adjoining municipalities over crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within one hundred meters (100 m.).
Section 7 states that the court first taking jurisdiction retains exclusive jurisdiction thereafter.
Section 7 limits fees for permits inside the zone/area: any license issued within the drainage/within 100 m. zone is granted by the proper authorities of the city or municipality concerned, and fees accrue to that treasury, not to the City.

City officials and basic organizational setup

Section 8 creates the following city officials: city mayor, city vice mayor, sangguniang panlungsod members, secretary to the sangguniang panlungsod, city treasurer and assistant city treasurer, city assessor and assistant city assessor, city accountant, city budget officer, city planning and development coordinator, city engineer, city health officer, city civil registrar, city administrator, city legal officer, city social welfare and development officer, city veterinarian, city general services officer, city agriculturist, city cooperatives officer, and city building officer.
Section 8 allows the city mayor to appoint an environment and natural resources officer, a city architect, a city information officer, and a city population officer.
Section 8 requires establishment of:
- a city fire station headed by a city fire marshal;
- a city jail headed by a city jail warden;
- a city schools division headed by a city schools division superintendent;
- a city prosecution service headed by a city prosecutor.
Section 8 authorizes the sangguniang panlungsod to:
- maintain offices not mentioned in the subsections;
- create other offices necessary to carry out city purposes; or
- consolidate functions of offices for efficiency/economy.
Section 8 provides the general appointment rule: heads of departments/offices are appointed by the city mayor with concurrence of the majority of all sangguniang panlungsod members, subject to civil service laws.
Section 8 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to act on the appointment within fifteen (15) days from submission; otherwise, the appointment is deemed confirmed.

Mayor and vice mayor powers, qualifications

Section 9 makes the city mayor the chief executive of the City, elected at large by qualified voters.
Section 9 requires mayoral eligibility at election time:
- at least twenty-one (21) years of age;
- actual resident of the City for at least one (1) year prior to election;
- a qualified voter therein.
Section 9 sets mayoral term at three years, unless sooner removed, and provides minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Thirty (30) under Republic Act No. 6758, plus other lawful compensation.
Section 9 assigns the mayor governance functions including: setting city policy guidelines; directing formulation of the city development plan with the city development council and implementing it upon approval by the sangguniang panlungsod; and presenting the program of government at the opening of the regular session every calendar year.
Section 9 requires the mayor to perform key executive functions including (among others):
- appoint officials/employees paid wholly or mainly from city funds whose appointment is not otherwise provided;
- represent the City and sign bonds, contracts, and obligations with proper authority;
- carry emergency measures after disasters/calamities;
- allocate office space and ensure faithful discharge of duties;
- examine books/records and require disclosure from national officials stationed/assigned in the City except lawful confidential materials;
- furnish copies of executive orders to the governor within seventy-two (72) hours after issuance;
- visit component barangays at least once every six (6) months;
- authorize official trips outside the City not exceeding thirty (30) days;
- solemnize marriages.
Section 9 provides mayoral authority and responsibilities over public administration, including issuance of executive orders; carrying necessary firearms within territorial jurisdiction; and acting as deputized representative of the National Police Commission to formulate and implement the peace and order plan under Republic Act No. 6975 with operational control and supervision over police forces.
Section 9 requires the mayor to administer local licensing and permits, and to issue permits for charitable/welfare activities excluding prohibited games of chance and unlawful shows, and to enforce permits for illegally constructed structures and order necessary changes or demolition within periods prescribed by law/ordinance.
Section 9 grants the mayor resource and revenue generation functions, budget submission and execution responsibilities consistent with law, and enforcement duties for taxes, fees, and ordinances.
Section 10 makes the city vice mayor co-equal in election mode: elected in the same manner as the city mayor, possessing the same qualifications.
Section 10 sets vice mayor term at three years, unless sooner removed, and provides compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Twenty-six (26) under Republic Act No. 6758.
Section 10 requires the vice mayor to:
- preside over the sangguniang panlungsod and sign warrants drawn on the city treasury for sangguniang panlungsod expenditures;
- appoint, subject to civil service rules, officials/employees including the secretary to the sangguniang panlungsod and employees of individual sanggunian members, except those whose appointment is specifically provided otherwise;
- assume mayoral duties during temporary vacancy and become mayor for permanent vacancy to serve the unexpired term;
- perform other powers/duties under Republic Act No. 7160 and city ordinances.

Sangguniang panlungsod composition and lawmaking

Section 11 establishes the sangguniang panlungsod as the legislative body, composed of the city vice mayor as presiding officer; ten (10) regular members; the president of the city chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay; the president of the panlungsod na pederasyon ng mga Sangguniang Kabataan; and sectoral representatives.
Section 11 provides three (3) sectoral representatives: one from women, one from agricultural or industrial workers, and one from other sectors including urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, or disabled persons.
Section 11 requires sectoral representation selection: the sangguniang panlungsod determines the specific sectoral representative from agricultural/industrial workers within ninety (90) days prior to local elections.
Section 11 requires the regular members and sectoral representatives to be elected and to have qualifications under Section 39 of Republic Act No. 7160.
Section 11 gives the sangguniang panlungsod power to:
- approve ordinances and pass resolutions for efficient and effective city government;
- review barangay ordinances and punong barangay executive orders for consistency with lawful powers of barangay/punong barangay;
- maintain peace and order by preventing/suppressing lawlessness and impose penalties for violation of city ordinances.
Section 11 expressly limits penalty authority for city ordinances: the sangguniang panlungsod may approve ordinances imposing a fine not exceeding Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, at the court’s discretion, for violation of a city ordinance.
Section 11 authorizes ordinances to prevent/suppress and impose penalties for listed social vices and environmental harms, including habitual drunkenness, vagrancy, mendicancy, prostitution, houses of ill-repute, gambling and other prohibited games of chance, fraudulent devices to obtain money/property, drug addiction/drug dens/drug pushing, juvenile delinquency, and obscene/pornographic materials; and environmental acts including dynamite fishing, destructive fishing, illegal logging, log smuggling, smuggling of natural resources products, smuggling of endangered species, and slash-and-burn farming.
Section 11 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to legislate for disaster risk reduction and relief services during and after man-made and natural disasters/calamities, and measures for returning victims to productive livelihood.
Section 11 grants broad governance authority in budgets, positions/salaries under the Salary Standardization Law, insurance coverage when finances allow, legal assistance to city/barangay officials, and additional allowances for specified national officials and teachers when finances allow.
Section 11 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to generate/maximize resources and revenue through:
- approval of annual and supplemental budgets and appropriation of funds for lawful programs;
- enactment of tax ordinances and authorization of tax exemptions/incentives/relief (subject to Book II of Republic Act No. 7160) with majority vote;
- authorizing the city mayor, by majority vote, to negotiate and contract loans and other indebtedness, with terms published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City before approval; and a right for city residents to request copies of approved contracts upon payment of reasonable fees;
- authorizing floating of bonds and other instruments of indebtedness for development projects by majority vote, with publication requirement; and furnishing bond-contract copies to residents upon payment of reasonable fees.
Section 11 grants authority to authorize leasing of public buildings held in a proprietary capacity to private parties by majority vote, subject to existing laws.
Section 11 mandates land-use and zoning legislation powers including comprehensive land-use plan coordination with the approved provincial comprehensive land-use plan, land reclassification, and integrated zoning ordinance consistent with the approved land-use plan and Fire Code requirements for fire limits/zones.
Section 11 directs that city approvals of subdivision plans are subject to national law; if national approval is required, the approval shall not be withheld for more than thirty (30) days from receipt of application, and failure to act within this period is deemed approval.
Section 11 authorizes the grant of exclusive privilege regarding fish corrals/pens and bangus fry/kawag-kawag or fry of any fish species within city waters.
Section 11 allows, with concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all sangguniang panlungsod members, tax exemptions/incentives/relief for entities engaged in community growth-inducing industries, subject to Republic Act No. 7160.
Section 11 authorizes loans or grants to other local government units and to national/provincial/city charitable, benevolent, or educational institutions operated and maintained within the City.
Section 11 empowers the sangguniang panlungsod to regulate:
- numbering of buildings;
- inspection/weighing/measuring of articles of commerce;
- franchises and issuance of permits/licenses, including fixing fees for services rendered by the city;
- license fees for business/profession and revocation conditions;
- public utilities operation/lease conditions preferably to cooperatives;
- signs/signboards/billboards licensing fees;
- establishment/operation/maintenance of cockpits and cockfighting and commercial breeding of gamecocks, provided existing rights are not prejudiced;
- tricycle operation under DOTC guidelines and related franchises;
- franchises to any person/partnership/corporation/cooperative to do business in the City, with preference to cooperatives.
Section 11 authorizes regulation for public health and safety and other local services, including sanitation enforcement; nuisance abatement; denial or regulation of legalized gambling locations; regulation of hospital clinical waste disposal; regulation of establishments serving intoxicating malt/vino/mixed/fermented liquors at retail outlets; steam boiler inspection and storage of inflammable/highly combustible materials; regulation of entertainment/amusement facilities; regulation of funeral parlors and burial/cremation; and impounding/animal-keeping regulation and anti-cruelty measures.
Section 11 requires ordinances for basic services consistent with Republic Act No. 7160, including forests/watersheds and related projects; markets/slaughterhouses/animal corrals; ferries and wharves for marine/offshore productivity; regulation of meat/poultry/fish/vegetables/fruits/fresh dairy and other foodstuffs for public consumption; streets and public place regulation, including bus/vehicle stops and terminals, garages for hire, stands for public vehicles, signage, and street lighting/cleaning/sprinkling.
Section 11 grants traffic and infrastructure regulation powers: regulation of traffic on streets and bridges; prohibition of encroachments/obstacles; authority to remove encroachments and illegal constructions in the interest of public welfare.
Section 11 requires water and utilities ordinances: establishment and maintenance of waterworks and purification, hydrant/pump/cistern/reservoir regulation, extension of water protection ordinances to drainage area and within 100 m., and regulation of water consumption/use/wastage with charges.
Section 11 grants sewer/drain/ground excavation and safety regulation: drilling/excavation for water/gas/sewer/pipes and related public works; regulation of poles and crosswalks/curbs/gutters; public safety measures against open canals/manholes/live wires; and regulation of private water closets/privies.
Section 11 authorizes regulation of gas mains and electric telegraph/telephone lines, conduits, meters, apparatus, and condemnation/removal of dangerous installations.
Section 11 requires ordinances to support education and social programs subject to funds, including vocational/technical schools and scholarship fund for poor but deserving students.
Section 11 requires quarantine regulations to prevent disease introduction/spread; solid waste/garbage collection/disposal and prohibition of littering/throwing garbage/refuse/filth and wastes; and care centers for disabled persons, paupers, aged, sick, persons of unsound mind, abandoned minors, juvenile delinquents, drug dependents, abused children, and other needy and disadvantaged persons, particularly children and youth below eighteen (18) years.
Section 11 requires jails/detention centers maintenance and a sound jail management program with appropriate funds for detainee/subsistence and convicted prisoners.
Section 11 requires appropriations to support maintenance and improvement of the provincial hospital located within the City.
Section 11 authorizes establishment of councils for culture/arts and for the elderly, including policies, measures, incentives, and funding support subject to availability of funds.

Internal procedures, disclosures, sessions, quorum

Section 12 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to adopt or update internal rules of procedure on the first regular session after the election of its members and within ninety (90) days thereafter.
Section 12 mandates internal rules to provide for organization, election of officers, and creation of standing committees including committees on appropriations, revenues, engineering and public works, education and health, women and family, human rights, youth and sports development, environmental protection, peace and order and traffic, and cooperatives.
Section 12 requires rules to include order/calendar of business, legislative process, parliamentary procedures, and member discipline.
Section 12 requires discipline rules for disorderly behavior and absences without justifiable cause for four consecutive sessions, with penalties of censure, reprimand, or exclusion from the session, suspension for not more than sixty (60) days, or expulsion.
Section 12 requires that suspension or expulsion requires the concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all sanggunian members.
Section 12 requires automatic expulsion of any member convicted by final judgment to imprisonment of at least one year for any crime involving moral turpitude.
Section 13 requires every sangguniang panlungsod member, upon assumption to office, to make full disclosure of business and financial interests, including relationships within the fourth civil degree with persons/firms/entities affected by any ordinance/resolution under consideration.
Section 13 requires the disclosure to be written, submitted to the secretary of the sangguniang panlungsod or the secretary of the committee, and to form part of the record of proceedings.
Section 13 requires disclosure timing: before participation in deliberations; or if the member did not participate, before voting on second or third readings; and when taking a position or making a privilege speech on matters affecting the disclosed business/financial/professional relationship.
Section 14 requires the sangguniang panlungsod, by resolution, to fix the day, time, and place of its sessions, with minimum regular sessions of once a week.
Section 14 allows special sessions when public interest so demands, called by the city mayor or by a majority of sanggunian members.
Section 14 requires sessions to be open to the public unless a closed-door session is ordered by an affirmative vote of the majority of members present with quorum for public interest/security/decency/morality.
Section 14 prohibits holding two sessions (regular or special) on the same day.
Section 14 requires written notice for special sessions served personally to members at their usual place of residence at least twenty-four (24) hours before the special session.
Section 14 limits special-session matters unless two-thirds (2/3) of members present concur with quorum.
Section 14 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to keep a journal and record of proceedings that may be published by resolution.
Section 15 defines quorum: a majority of all elected and qualified members constitutes quorum.
Section 15 provides procedure on raised quorum issues: presiding officer calls the roll immediately and announces results.
Section 15 authorizes recess when there is no quorum; or adjournment; and allows compelling immediate attendance of an absent member without justifiable cause by designating members with police assistance to arrest and present the absent member.
Section 15 prohibits transacting business if quorum still cannot be established; presiding officer, upon proper motion, declares session adjourned for lack of quorum.

Ordinance approval, mayor veto, and ordinance effectivity

Section 16 requires every sangguniang panlungsod ordinance to be presented to the city mayor.
Section 16 provides that if the city mayor approves, he signs each and every page; if not, he vetoes and returns it with written objections for sanggunian reconsideration.
Section 16 allows override of veto by two-thirds (2/3) vote of all sangguniang panlungsod members, making the ordinance or resolution effective.
Section 16 deems an ordinance approved if veto communication is not made to the sangguniang panlungsod within ten (10) days.
Section 17 authorizes the city mayor to veto ordinances on grounds they are ultra vires or prejudicial to the public welfare, with reasons in writing.
Section 17 allows itemized veto of appropriations ordinances; adoption of local development plans; public investment programs; or ordinances directing payment of money or creating liability; and states the veto affects only the item(s) objected to.
Section 17 provides that vetoed items do not take effect unless overridden; otherwise, the corresponding item(s) in the previous year’s appropriations ordinance are deemed enacted.
Section 17 limits the city mayor’s veto power to only once for an ordinance; and allows the sanggunian to override by two-thirds (2/3) vote to make the ordinance effective even without mayor approval.
Section 18 requires the sangguniang panlungsod secretary to forward approved ordinances and certain resolutions to the sangguniang panlalawigan for review within three (3) days after approval.
Section 18 requires the sangguniang panlalawigan to act within thirty (30) days from receipt, and allows it to examine or transmit to the provincial attorney or provincial prosecutor for prompt examination.
Section 18 requires the provincial attorney/prosecutor to inform the sangguniang panlalawigan in writing within ten (10) days from receipt.
Section 18 directs that if the sangguniang panlalawigan finds an ordinance/resolution beyond the powers conferred, it shall declare the ordinance/resolution invalid in whole or in part and advise city authorities.
Section 18 provides a presumption of validity if the sangguniang panlalawigan does not act within thirty (30) days.
Section 19 requires barangay ordinance review by the sangguniang panlungsod: barangays furnish copies within ten (10) days after enactment.
Section 19 provides that if the sangguniang panlungsod fails to act within thirty (30) days, the barangay ordinance is deemed approved.
Section 19 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to return inconsistent barangay ordinances within thirty (30) days with comments/recommendations for adjustment, amendment, or modification, and the effectivity of the barangay ordinance is suspended until revision is effected.
Section 20 provides that any attempt to enforce an ordinance or resolution approving local development plan and public investment program after disapproval is sufficient ground for suspension or dismissal of the concerned official or employee.
Section 21 provides that city ordinances and resolutions take effect after ten (10) days from posting on a bulletin board at the entrance of the City Hall of Borongan and at least two (2) other conspicuous places, unless otherwise stated.
Section 21 requires the secretary to cause posting not later than five (5) days after approval and requires dissemination/posting in Filipino or English and the language/dialect understood by the majority, with recording of posting in a book kept for the purpose stating approval and posting dates.
Section 21 requires publication of main features once in a local newspaper of general circulation within the City; if none, publication in any newspaper of general circulation is required.
Section 21 requires gist of ordinances with penal sanctions to be published in a newspaper of general circulation.

Succession rules for mayor and vice mayor

Section 22 provides that a permanent vacancy in the office of the city mayor is filled by the city vice mayor.
Section 22 provides that a permanent vacancy in the office of the city vice mayor is filled by the highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod member; if that member is permanently incapacitated, the second highest ranking fills the vice mayor vacancy.
Section 22 provides that if permanent vacancies occur in both the mayor and vice mayor offices, the first and second highest ranking sanggunian members become city mayor and city vice mayor, respectively; if one or both are permanently incapacitated, the next highest ranking member(s) fill the vacancies.
Section 22 resolves tie among highest ranking sanggunian members by drawing of lots.
Section 22 provides that successors serve only the unexpired terms of their predecessors.
Section 22 defines permanent vacancy as arising when an elective local official fills in a higher vacant office, refuses to assume office, fails to qualify, dies, is removed from office, voluntarily resigns, or is otherwise permanently incapacitated to discharge office functions.
Section 22 provides that ranking in the sanggunian is determined by the proportion of votes obtained by each winning candidate to the total number of registered voters in the City immediately preceding local election.
Section 23 provides for permanent vacancies in the sangguniang panlungsod where automatic succession does not apply: the provincial governor makes the appointment.
Section 23 requires that only the nominee of the political party under which the sanggunian member was elected be appointed, coming from that political party and serving the unexpired term.
Section 23 makes nomination and a certificate of membership from the highest official of the political party conditions sine qua non; appointment without them is null and void ab initio and grounds for administrative action against the responsible official.
Section 23 requires the city mayor, upon recommendation of the sangguniang panlungsod, to appoint a qualified person when vacancy is caused by a sanggunian member who does not belong to any political party.
Section 23 requires that vacancies in representation of the youth and the barangay in the sangguniang panlungsod are filled automatically by the official next-in-rank of