City liability, jurisdiction, and police coverage
- Section 5 provides that the City is not liable for damages or injuries arising from the failure of the Municipal Board, the Mayor, or any other city officer or employee to enforce this Charter or any other law/ordinance, or from negligence while enforcing or attempting to enforce those provisions.
- Section 5 preserves an aggrieved party’s right to file a personal action in the proper court against a city official or employee for any act or omission in the performance of duties.
- Section 6 provides that the City’s police jurisdiction for police purposes is coextensive with its territorial jurisdiction and extends to three miles from city limits.
- Section 6 further extends police jurisdiction for protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply over:
- all territory within the drainage area of the water supply, or
- within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used for the city water service.
- Section 6 gives the city court concurrent jurisdiction with the municipal courts over crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within one hundred meters; the court first taking jurisdiction retains exclusive jurisdiction afterward.
- Section 6 grants municipal police forces concurrent jurisdiction with the City police for maintaining good order and enforcing ordinances throughout the covered zone/area/space, but requires that any license issued in the zone/area/space be granted by the proper municipality and that the fees accrue to that municipality’s treasury, not the City’s.
The Mayor: election, qualifications, and powers
- Section 7 designates the Mayor as the chief executive of the City.
- Section 7 requires the Mayor to be elected by qualified city voters during every election for provincial and municipal officials under the Revised Election Code.
- Section 7 sets Mayor eligibility: at least twenty-five (25) years of age, a resident of the city for at least five (5) years prior to election, and a qualified voter.
- Section 7 provides a four-year term unless sooner removed, and sets compensation at twelve thousand pesos per annum, plus a commutable allowance of two hundred pesos a month.
- Section 9 requires the Mayor to enforce the Charter and other laws and ordinances, safeguard City lands/buildings/records/moneys/credit/property/rights, and oversee City property subject to the Charter.
- Section 9 mandates the Mayor to ensure collection of taxes and other revenues and their proper use through appropriations for municipal expenses.
- Section 9 authorizes the Mayor to:
- institute judicial proceedings to recover City property/funds and defend suits,
- supervise executive officers and employees,
- transfer city officers/employees (not appointed by the President) without changing compensation/rank, in the interest of the service.
- Section 9 requires the Mayor to examine and inspect books/records/papers of officers over whom he has executive supervision and control at least once a year, and whenever occasion arises.
- Section 9 empowers the Mayor to represent the City, sign bonds/contracts/obligations made under law/ordinances, and submit a budget of receipts and expenditures to the Municipal Board at least two months before the beginning of the ensuing fiscal year.
- Section 9 gives the Mayor authority to receive, hear, and decide petitions/complaints/claims of residents on administrative/executive municipal matters.
- Section 9 authorizes the Mayor to grant or refuse municipal licenses or permits and to revoke them for violations of conditions or where prohibited acts are committed under the protection of such licenses or premises, or for other good reasons of general interest, with a required valid reason for refusals.
- Section 9 grants applicants refused municipal licenses/permits the right to appeal to the President of the Philippines, whose decision is final and binding upon the City Mayor.
- Section 9 allows the Mayor—with concurrence of the superintendent of city schools—to exempt deserving poor pupils from payment of school fees or any part thereof.
- Section 9 empowers the Mayor to take emergency measures to avoid fires and floods, and mitigate storms and public calamities.
- Section 9 grants the Mayor power to conduct administrative investigation of members of the City Police Department (subject to rules prescribed by the Municipal Board), with delegable authority to a ranking official or a special committee/board designated by the Mayor.
- Section 9 allows the Mayor, when public safety and interest so require, to request assistance of the Philippine Constabulary and other police agencies in maintaining peace and order, limited to cases of specific request, except in cases of rampant vice where local police action is ineffective.
- Section 9 requires the Mayor to submit an annual report to the Office of the President, and to perform other duties assigned by law or ordinance.
- Section 9 requires appointments of city officers/employees subject to the Civil Service Law, except those whose appointments are vested in the President or otherwise provided by law, and it gives the Mayor power to appoint officers/employees whose duties are strictly confidential in nature, to hold office at the Mayor’s pleasure, not subject to confirmation by the Municipal Board.
- Section 10 establishes a Secretary to the Mayor appointed by the Mayor, holding office at the Mayor’s pleasure, with rank of a department head, salary of six thousand pesos per annum, and custody of City records/documents where not otherwise provided.
The Vice-Mayor and Municipal Board structure
- Section 8 provides for an elected Vice-Mayor, presiding officer of the Municipal Board.
- Section 8 requires Vice-Mayor election in the same manner as the Mayor, with the same qualifications, and sets annual salary at eight thousand four hundred pesos.
- Section 8 directs the Vice-Mayor to perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Mayor during the Mayor’s sickness, absence, or other temporary incapacity.
- Section 8 provides that a permanent vacancy in the Office of the Mayor makes the Vice-Mayor Mayor to complete the unexpired term.
- Section 8 governs acting roles:
- If the Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated or serving as Acting Mayor, the member of the Municipal Board with the highest number of votes in the last election serves as Acting Vice-Mayor.
- When the Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated for the duties of the Mayor, or the Office of the Vice-Mayor is vacant, the highest-vote Board member serves as Acting Mayor and, while so serving, must not perform any duty as a Board member.
- In that event, the remaining members elect from among themselves the presiding officer.
- Section 8 provides that when the Vice-Mayor performs Mayor duties and exercises Mayor powers, the Vice-Mayor automatically ceases to be presiding officer; when a Board member performs the Vice-Mayor functions, that member ceases to take part in Board deliberations except to preside.
- Section 8 grants compensation for acting service equal to the salary of the Mayor or Vice-Mayor, as applicable, during the period of Acting service.
- Section 8 provides that the Vice-Mayor appoints all employees of the Municipal Board and performs other duties prescribed by law or ordinance.
Municipal Board: sessions, voting, and ordinances
- Section 11 creates the Municipal Board as the City’s legislative body, composed of the Vice-Mayor (presiding officer) and eight councilors elected at large by qualified voters of the City under the Revised Election Code.
- Section 11 provides that the Vice-Mayor has no right to vote except in case of a tie, and the Vice-Mayor’s presence is not counted for quorum.
- Section 11 authorizes the President of the Philippines to appoint a temporary substitute member when a member is sick, absent, suspended, or temporarily disabled, or when needed to maintain quorum; substitutes must belong to the same political party, except for independent or partyless councilors.
- Section 11 states substitute members possess full rights and duties of a member until the return of the regular incumbent.
- Section 11 provides Board members’ salary at six thousand pesos each per annum, and grants privilege to engage in the practice of their profession.
- Section 12 requires Municipal Board members to be qualified electors, residents for at least five (5) years immediately prior to election, and not less than twenty-three (23) years of age.
- Section 12 ties suspension/removal of Board members to the same circumstances, manner, and effect as elective provincial officers, making provincial rules applicable.
- Section 12 fixes election and assumption: elections on the date of regular election for provincial and municipal offices; elected members assume office on the first day of January next following their election after qualifying, serving four years and until successors are duly elected and qualified; the eight candidates with the greatest number of votes are declared elected.
Board secretary and ordinance publication mechanics
- Section 13 requires the Municipal Board to have a secretary appointed by the presiding officer with the concurrence of the majority of all Board members, serving through the members’ term unless terminated for cause.
- Section 13 sets the secretary’s compensation by ordinance approved by the Office of the President, and it must not exceed six thousand pesos per annum.
- Section 13 makes the secretary custodian of Board records and requires a complete record of proceedings and a system for recording ordinances and resolutions/motions directing payment of money or creating liability, including dates of passage and publication.
- Section 13 requires the secretary to keep a circular seal inscribed “Municipal Board - San Jose City” with the City arms at the center, and to affix the seal and signature to ordinances and other official acts.
- Section 13 requires the secretary to cause each ordinance to be published as provided in this Charter, and to furnish certified copies of public records upon request, charging twenty centavos for each one hundred words including certificates, payable directly to the city treasurer.
- Section 14 requires the Municipal Board to hold one ordinary session each week on a day fixed by resolution, and extraordinary sessions called by the Mayor or upon request of four members.
- Section 14 requires sessions to be open with open doors unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of a majority of all members, and requires the Board to keep a record and determine its own procedure rules not set here.
- Section 14 sets quorum as a majority of all Board members; a smaller number may adjourn and may compel attendance by ordering arrest and production at the session of an absent member without good cause, under penalties previously prescribed by ordinance.
- Section 14 provides voting rules:
- An affirmative vote of a majority of all members is required for passage of any ordinance, and any resolution/motion directing payment of money or creating liability.
- Other measures pass by the majority votes of members present at a duly called and held session.
- Ayes and nays must be recorded on passage of ordinances, resolutions/motions directing payment of money or creating liability, and on request for other resolutions/motions.
- Section 14 provides that approved ordinances/resolutions/motions are sealed with the Board seal, signed by the presiding officer and secretary, and recorded in a book for the purpose.
- Section 14 provides posting and effectivity:
- On the day following passage, the secretary must post the approved measure at the main entrance of City Hall and in at least two other public places.
- Measures take effect and are in force on and after the tenth day following passage, unless otherwise stated or vetoed.
- Section 14 governs veto and repassage:
- Each approved ordinance/resolution/motion directing payment or creating liability must be forwarded to the Mayor.
- Within ten days after receipt, the Mayor must return it with approval or veto; non-return within that time is deemed approval.
- If vetoed, the Mayor’s written reasons accompany the veto.
- The Board may enact again by two-thirds vote of all members and forward to the Mayor; if the Mayor does not return it with veto within ten days, it is deemed approved.
- If the Mayor returns it with veto within ten days, it is forwarded to the President of the Philippines for final approval or disapproval.
- Section 14 allows partial item veto of appropriation ordinances (except old position items in the budget with incumbents), while non-objected items are not affected; where economy requires deletion, newer items must be deleted first; any objected item(s) do not take effect unless handled through the veto/override process.
- Section 14 provides budget fallback: if an item(s) in an appropriation ordinance is disapproved by the Mayor, the corresponding item(s) of the previous year is deemed reenacted unless expressly provided in the veto.
Municipal Board: legislative powers and tax limits
- Section 15 authorizes the Municipal Board to enact ordinances and exercise legislative powers subject to laws and limitations in this Charter.
- Section 15(a) authorizes levy and collection of taxes for general and special purposes under law, including real property tax not to exceed one and one-half per centum ad valorem, and bars imposition of the maximum rate during the first ten years from effectivity of this Act.
- Section 15(b) authorizes appropriations for city government expenses.
- Section 15(c) authorizes fixing the number and salaries of city officials/employees not otherwise provided for in this Act, subject to the rule that the rates cannot exceed the maximum salary allowed by subsisting salary laws and presidential orders.
- Section 15(d) authorizes free distribution, under the Mayor’s direct supervision and control, of evaporated or fresh native milk to indigent mothers residing in the City, and bread and light meals to indigent children ten years or less old.
- Section 15(e) authorizes fixing the tariff of fees and charges for city services.
- Section 15(f) authorizes erection/maintenance (or rental, when needed) of buildings for City use.
- Sections 15(g), 15(h), and 15(i) authorize establishing and maintaining public schools and vocational schools/higher learning with specified approvals for tuition/matriculation fees, and maintaining an efficient police force, including police ordinances for confinement and reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, prostitutes, and persons convicted of violating city ordinances.
- Sections 15(j) and 15(k) authorize providing for the city court’s jurisdiction over criminal cases under city ordinances and other jurisdiction conferred later, and providing for a city fire department with required equipment.
- Sections 15(l) through 15(qq) authorize detailed municipal regulation and fee-setting authority over fire zones and building construction rules, permits for fire-related displays and fireworks/pyrotechnics, public welfare protections (famine/floods/storms), numerous license-fee categories and professional occupation taxes (including a municipal occupation tax not to exceed fifty pesos per annum on specified professions), regulation and taxation of businesses and general merchandise with defined classifications, taxation/regulation of intoxicating liquor and products, sales tax up to one per centum of gross value, steam engines/boilers regulation, peace/morals ordinances, regulation and licensing of animals (including impounding/destruction rules and cruelty prohibitions), regulation of dance halls and cabarets, property owner sidewalk construction/repair with special assessment and lien rules, inspection of weights/measures, regulation of streets/public places and utilities and signage, traffic and vehicle rules, canals and water courses and drainage/sanitation works, waterworks and rental/charges for hydrants/pumps/cisterns/reservoirs, public drains/sewers/latrines/cesspools, markets (with a prohibition on non-city public markets except by license), slaughterhouse authorization with veterinary/sanitary inspection rules, anti-discrimination and inspection/regulation of gas/electric/telephone apparatus with removal/condemnation for defective/dangerous conditions, nuisance abatement and health/sanitation enforcement including cost assessment and lien creation, regulation of signs/billboards, health department enforcement penalties, extension of water-supply protective ordinances to covered territories, regulation of other businesses/occupations not specifically mentioned with license fees, motor vehicle/transport controls including limiting provincial public utility vehicle entrances (except through traffic), fiesta date fixation, and authority to enact ordinances for sanitation, safety, prosperity, morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and general welfare.
- Section 15(pp) authorizes fixing penalties for ordinance violations of not exceeding two hundred pesos fine or six months’ imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment for a single offense.
- Section 15(qq) authorizes appropriations for purposes not specified by law, for general welfare of the City and inhabitants.
Restrictive provisions on billboards and signs
- Section 16 prohibits the erection or display of any commercial sign, signboard, or billboard on public lands, premises, or buildings.
- Section 16 authorizes the Mayor, after due investigation and giving owners an opportunity to be heard, to order removal of any sign/signboard/billboard considered offensive to the sight or a nuisance.
- Section 16 provides that if removal is not done within ten days from the Mayor’s order, the Mayor may cause removal.
- Section 16 provides that the sign/signboard/billboard is forfeited to the City, and the expense of removal becomes a lawful charge against the person or property liable for erection/display.
Department structure and departmental powers
- Section 17 requires these city departments under the Mayor’s direct control and supervision:
- Department of Finance
- Department of Engineering and Public Works
- Law Department
- Department of Health
- Police Department
- Fire Department
- Department of Assessment
- Section 17 allows the Municipal Board to readjust departmental duties as public interest demands, and with approval of the President, to create or consolidate departments/divisions/offices with other departments/divisions/offices.
- Section 18 requires each department head to control the department and to certify the correctness of all payrolls and vouchers before payment, except where expressly otherwise provided.
- Section 18 requires each department head to submit, at least four months before the opening of each fiscal year, an estimate of appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year, plus comparison information the Mayor may desire.
- Section 18 requires department heads to submit reports to the Mayor whenever required covering department operations.
- Section 18 provides that in absence/sickness/inability or temporary vacancy of a department head, the officer next in rank performs the department head’s duties.
Appointments, duty, and conflicts restrictions
- Section 19 requires the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, to appoint judges and auxiliary judges of the City Court, the City Treasurer, City Engineer, City Fiscal and assistants, City Health Officer, Chief of the Fire Department, City Assessor, City Superintendent of Schools, and other heads of created departments.
- Section 19 provides that those presidential appointees are suspended or removed only in the manner and for cause provided by law.
- Section 19 directs that all other officers/employees whose appointments are not otherwise provided by law are appointed by the Mayor upon recommendation of the corresponding department head under the Civil Service Law, and are suspended/removed under that law.
- Section 19 provides that the Chief of Police and policemen shall be appointed pursuant to the Police Act of 1966.
- Section 20 requires each city officer (except Municipal Board members) to devote his time exclusively during usual office hours to the duties of his office, and requires Municipal Board members to attend regular Board sessions.
- Section 20 prohibits holding more than one office by a city officer unless expressly provided by law.
- Section 20 permits persons discharging public duties under the National Government who receive no compensation to be outside this rule.
- Section 21 makes it unlawful for a city officer, directly or indirectly (individually or as a member of a firm), to:
- engage in business transaction with the City or its authorized officials/boards/agents/attorneys where money is paid out of City resources,
- purchase City real estate or property sold for taxes/assessment or by legal process in a City suit,
- become surety for persons with city contracts/business where security may be required,
- become surety on the official bond of a City officer,
- or have a financial interest in any transaction/contract where the National Government or its subdivision/instrumentality is an interested party.
Auditing, schools, and reporting duties
- Section 22 requires the Auditor General to receive and audit all accounts of the City under government accounting and auditing laws.
- Section 22 provides that the City Auditor is appointed by the Auditor General and receives a salary of six thousand pesos per annum, half paid by the National Government and half by the City.
- Section 23 gives the Director of Public Schools the same jurisdiction and powers in the City as elsewhere in the Philippines, and provides for a City Superintendent of Schools with the same powers and duties in the City as division superintendents in their divisions.
- Section 23 provides that operational expenses of primary and intermediate schools, including teachers’ salaries, are borne by the National Government.
- Section 24 requires the City Superintendent of Schools to submit quarterly reports to the Mayor on the conditions of schools and school buildings and include recommendations for improving them.
City Treasurer and public finance operations
- Section 25 establishes the City Treasurer as chief fiscal officer and financial adviser, and custodian of City funds, with salary of six thousand six hundred pesos per annum.
- Section 25 requires the City Treasurer to collect:
- all taxes due the City,
- all licenses authorized by law or ordinance,
- all rents due for lands/markets and other City-owned property,
- and all other charges of fees fixed by law or ordinance.
- Section 25 requires the City Treasurer to administer public markets and slaughterhouses and to receive/issue receipts for costs, fees, fines, and forfeitures imposed by the city court.
- Section 25 requires the City Treasurer to collect miscellaneous charges made by the engineering department and other city departments, and charges made by the City Engineer for inspections, permits, licenses, and private privy system installations, maintenance, and services.
- Section 25 authorizes the City Treasurer, as deputy of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, to collect taxes and charges imposed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines upon property or persons in the City, depositing daily in a government depository bank.
- Section 25 generally requires the City Treasurer to perform duties imposed by law/resolution upon provincial treasurers and other duties imposed by law, unless specifically otherwise provided.
- Section 25 authorizes purchases without public bidding subject to value limits and canvass/public rules:
- supplies/materials not exceeding five hundred pesos may be purchased without public bidding after a market canvass for lowest available price,
- equipment not exceeding one thousand pesos may be purchased without public bidding after canvass,
- and larger supplies/equipment within stated limits may also be purchased without public bidding after specified canvass steps by the City Mayor and City Treasurer/representatives.
- Section 25 allows no-public-bidding purchase where equipment costs more than five thousand pesos per unit and is procurable only from a sole dealer/distributor/importer/other source, provided the price is approved by the City Committee on Award created under Republic Act Numbered Twenty-two hundred and sixty-four, and certified by the Bureau of Supply Coordination as the lowest and most advantageous price.
- Section 25 requires the City Treasurer to be accountable for all City funds and property and to render accounts as prescribed by the Auditor General.
- Section 25 requires daily deposit of city funds/collections not needed for current office transactions in a bank designated as a Government depository.
- Section 25 requires disbursement only under duly authorized appropriations, upon properly executed vouchers approved by the chief of the concerned department, and requires a monthly statement to the Mayor and Municipal Board of appropriations, expenditures, and balances as of the last day of the preceding month.
- Section 25 makes the City Treasurer the ex-officio local civil registrar of the City in charge of issuance of marriage licenses before solemnization, requiring the treasurer or authorized deputy to prepare required marriage license documents and administer oaths free of charge to interested parties.
- Section 26 establishes an Assistant City Treasurer to assist the City Treasurer, set salary at four thousand eight hundred pesos per annum, and authorize administration of oaths regarding notices/notifications to delinquent taxpayers for real estate taxes and official matters arising in the City Treasurer and City Assessor offices.
- Section 26 allows additional duties imposed by the City Treasurer or prescribed by the Mayor with City Treasurer recommendation, subject to approval by the Secretary of Finance.
City Engineer and engineering works governance
- Section 27 establishes the City Engineer with salary of six thousand pesos per annum, and charge of the Department of Engineering and Public Works.
- Section 27 assigns responsibility over surveying/engineering works, street/canal/estero cleaning and sprinkling, parks and public grounds, bridges and play grounds, and services for public improvements or city projects requiring civil engineering skill.
- Section 27 requires the City Engineer to ascertain/record and establish monuments and extend city surveys, and to locate/establish/survey City property and private property abutting on it when directed by the Mayor.
- Section 27 requires preparation and submission of plans, maps, specifications, and estimates for buildings, streets, bridges, docks, and public works, and supervision of construction and repair.
- Section 27 requires testing and inspection of engineering materials to protect the City from poor or dangerous quality materials.
- Section 27 requires custody of public buildings (including markets and slaughterhouses and buildings rented for City purposes) and systems for street/public/public building lighting.
- Section 27 requires care and