Charter of the City of Cabanatuan

Corporate powers and municipal liability

Section 4 grants the City a common seal that it may alter at pleasure.
The City may take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for general interests of the City (Section 4).
The City may condemn private property for lawful purposes and contract, sue and be sued, and prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution (Section 4).
Section 5 provides that the City is not liable for damages or injuries arising from failure of the Municipal Board, the Mayor, or any city officer or employee to enforce this Charter or any other law or ordinance, or from negligence in attempting to enforce them.

Mayor: appointment, compensation, and duties

Section 7 designates the Mayor as the City’s chief executive.
The Mayor is appointed by the President and requires confirmation of the Commission on Appointments (Section 7).
The Mayor’s salary is not exceeding five thousand one hundred pesos a year (Section 7).
With approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Mayor may be given a non-commutable allowance of not exceeding two thousand pesos per annum (Section 7).
Section 9 makes the Mayor responsible for immediate control over the City’s executive and administrative functions of the departments, subject to authority and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, unless otherwise provided by law.
Section 9 requires the Mayor to enforce laws and ordinances, safeguard City lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits, and property rights, ensure collection and proper application of taxes and revenues to appropriations, and protect City interests through proper judicial actions.
Section 9 requires the Mayor to submit an annual report to the Secretary of the Interior and to submit a budget of receipts and expenditures to the Municipal Board at least two months before the beginning of each fiscal year.

Vice-Mayor, acting Mayor, and special authority

Section 8 provides for a Vice-Mayor to perform the duties of the Mayor during sickness, absence, or temporary incapacity, or in case of definitive vacancy of the Mayor until filled according to law.
The Vice-Mayor is appointed by the President subject to confirmation of the Commission on Appointments and receives a salary of not more than three thousand six hundred pesos per annum (Section 8).
If the Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated or the office is vacant, City Engineer performs the Mayor’s duties (Section 8).
The Acting Mayor has the same powers and duties as the Mayor (Section 8).
Section 8 directs the Vice-Mayor to perform other duties assigned by the Mayor or prescribed by law or ordinance.

Secretary to Mayor and City Board legislative machinery

Section 10 requires the Mayor to appoint one secretary who serves at the pleasure of the Mayor.
The secretary’s compensation is fixed by ordinance approved by the Secretary of the Interior, at not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum (Section 10).
The secretary keeps custody of City records and documents for offices not otherwise provided; keeps and affixes the corporate seal to ordinances and official documents; and attests executive orders, proclamations, ordinances, and resolutions signed by the Mayor (Section 10).
The secretary must provide certified copies upon request of non-confidential records and charge twenty centavos for each one hundred words including the certificate, payable directly to the City Treasurer (Section 10).
Section 11 establishes the Municipal Board as the City’s legislative body with eight councilors elected at large by popular vote during every general election for provincial and municipal officials under the Revised Election Code.
Section 11 empowers the Board to elect its presiding officer and allows a temporary substitute appointed by the President when a member is sick, absent, suspended, temporarily disabled, or when necessary to maintain quorum.
Section 11 disqualifies any Municipal Board member who is a candidate for office in an election from acting with the Board on election matters; the Board proceeds without the disqualified member or may choose a disinterested elector to act.

Municipal Board elections, quorum rules, and ordinances

Section 12 requires Municipal Board members to be qualified electors of the City, residents for at least one year, and not less than twenty-three years of age.
Members-elect assume office on the date fixed in the Election Code until successors are elected and qualified (Section 12).
If election fails to take place or results in a failure to elect one or more members, the President issues a proclamation for a special election as soon as practicable (Section 12).
If a member-elect dies before assumption, is not confirmed due to disloyalty, or fails to qualify, the President may call a special election or fill the office by appointment (Section 12).
Vacancies after assumption are filled by appointment by the President of a suitable person from the political party of the officer being replaced (Section 12).
Section 14 provides for ordinary weekly sessions unless the Secretary of the Interior orders otherwise, and extraordinary sessions not exceeding thirty during any one year called by the Mayor.
The Board sits with open doors unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of five members (Section 14).
Section 14 defines quorum as five members; a smaller number may adjourn and may compel immediate attendance of an absent member by ordering the City police to arrest and produce the member for the session under penalties prescribed by ordinance.
Section 14 requires five affirmative votes for passage of any ordinance, resolution, or motion directing payment of money or creating liability; other matters pass by majority of members present at a duly called meeting.
Section 14 requires recording of the ayes and nays on passage of ordinances and on resolutions or motions directing payment money or creating liability, and on request of any member, on any other resolution or motion.
The Mayor must receive forwarded measures: Section 14 requires forwarding every approved ordinance, resolution, or motion directing payment of money or creating liability to the Mayor for approval.
Section 14 mandates Mayor action within ten days after receipt: approval, or veto with written reasons.
If the Mayor does not return the measure within ten days, it is deemed approved (Section 14).
A vetoed ordinance or measure repassed by required votes takes effect ten days after veto override unless otherwise stated, or again disapproved by the Mayor within the time (Section 14).
Section 14 authorizes itemized veto by the Mayor for any particular item or items in an appropriation ordinance or in ordinances/resolutions/motions directing payment of money or creating liability; vetoed items do not take effect unless re-enacted through the required process, and disapproved appropriation items restore the corresponding items from the previous year unless expressly directed otherwise in the veto.
Section 14 grants the Secretary of the Interior authority to disapprove directly, in whole or in part, any ordinance, resolution, or motion (or parts thereof) found beyond the Board’s powers.

Board record-keeping, secretary powers, and compensation

Section 13 requires the Board to have a secretary appointed by it to serve during the term of the members.
The Board secretary’s compensation is fixed by ordinance approved by the Secretary of the Interior, at not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum (Section 13).
The Board secretary keeps the Board’s records, including full record of proceedings and recording ordinances and resolutions/motions directing payment or creating liability, with dates and publication details (Section 13).
The Board secretary keeps a seal inscribed “Municipal Board-City of Cabanatuan” and signs ordinances and other official acts after recording and presents them for signature of the presiding officer (Section 13).
The Board secretary must cause each ordinance to be published as provided in the Charter and must provide public copies upon request under the seal, charging twenty centavos for each one hundred words including certification, payable directly to the City Treasurer (Section 13).
The Board secretary keeps his office and non-confidential records open to public inspection during usual business hours (Section 13).
Section 11 provides for Board member compensation at ten pesos for each day of attendance of sessions.

City government departments and appointments

Section 17 establishes the City departments: finance, engineering, law, police, fire, and assessment.
Unless otherwise provided by law, the Mayor has general supervisory control over all City departments (Section 17).
The Municipal Board may readjust duties of departments as public interest demands and, with approval of the President, consolidate departments, divisions, or offices (Section 17).
Section 18 requires each department head to control his department, certify correctness of payrolls and vouchers covering payment before payment (except as expressly provided otherwise), and prepare estimates at least four months before each fiscal year to the Mayor.
Section 19 provides appointment rules: the President appoints, with Commission on Appointments consent, the judge and auxiliary judge of the municipal court, City Treasurer, City Engineer, City Attorney, Chief of Police, Chief of Fire Department, and other department heads that may be created; except the municipal court judge and auxiliary judge, these officers hold office at the pleasure of the President.
Section 19 provides that all other officers and employees whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law are appointed by the Mayor upon recommendation of the corresponding department head in accordance with the Civil Service Law, and are suspended or removed in accordance with it.
Section 20 makes it unlawful for a City officer to engage directly or indirectly, individually or as member of a firm, in business transactions with the City (or City officers, boards, agents, or attorneys) where City money is to be paid to such person or firm; to purchase City real estate/property sold for taxes/assessments or by legal process in a City suit; to be surety for persons with City contracts requiring security; or to be surety on the official bond of any City officer (Section 20).

Finance, engineering, and law department powers

Section 21 establishes the City Treasurer as chief fiscal officer and financial adviser, and custodian of City funds, with salary not exceeding four thousand five hundred pesos per annum.
The City Treasurer collects City taxes, licenses, rents for City lands/markets, other charges fixed by law, and fines/forfeitures imposed by the municipal court, plus certain miscellaneous engineering and other department charges (Section 21).
The City Treasurer serves as deputy of the Collector of Internal Revenue to collect national government taxes and charges imposed on property or persons in the City, with daily deposits in a government depository bank (Section 21).
The City Treasurer purchases and issues supplies/equipment/property through the purchasing agent or as authorized, subject to general law (Section 21).
The City Treasurer deposits daily municipal funds and collections in a government-depository bank and disburses only under duly authorized appropriations and proper vouchers approved by the concerned department chief (Section 21).
Section 21 requires the City Treasurer to furnish the Mayor and Municipal Board, by on or before the twentieth day of each month, a statement of appropriations, expenditures, and balances as of the last day of the previous month.
Section 22 establishes the City Engineer as head of Engineering and Public Works with salary not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum.
The City Engineer performs City surveying and engineering work, prepares plans/maps/specifications/estimates, supervises construction and repair of public works, tests engineering materials, and maintains care and custody of public streets, docks, wharves, piers, levees, landing places, and waterworks/sewers (Section 22).
Section 22 authorizes the City Engineer, with previous approval of the Mayor, to order removal of illegal buildings/structures, order removal of illegal construction materials, and require dangerous buildings/structures be made secure or torn down.
Section 23 requires that public works (except parks, boulevards, streets or alleys) involving estimated cost of three thousand pesos or more be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after public advertisement in the Official Gazette for less than ten days by the Mayor upon the recommendation of the City Engineer.
Section 23 allows administration of such public work costing three thousand pesos or more by the City Engineer with approval of the President upon recommendation of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.
Section 23 makes public works below three thousand pesos discretionary with the City Engineer to proceed directly or to contract with the lowest bidder after notice/publication as deemed appropriate by regulations.
Section 24 establishes the City Attorney as chief legal adviser with salary not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum, and mandates representation in civil cases where City or its officers are parties, and prosecutorial/investigative functions as described in the Charter.

Police, fire, assessment functions

Section 25 establishes the Chief of Police with salary not exceeding three thousand pesos per annum.
The Chief of Police may issue supplementary regulations for City police and detective force, must quell riots and disturbances, arrest and prosecute violators, exercise police supervision within the City police jurisdiction, and protect persons and property (Section 25).
The Chief of Police has charge of the City prison and is responsible for safe-keeping of prisoners until release or delivery to proper warden, in accordance with law (Section 25).
The Chief of Police may take good and sufficient bail for municipal ordinance violations and may execute criminal processes within police limits (Section 25).
The Chief of Police serves as deputy sheriff: he attends municipal court sessions (personally or by representative) and executes writs and processes promptly and faithfully (Section 25).
Section 26 establishes a Chief of Secret Service under the Chief of Police with salary not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum to manage detective work.
Section 27 declares specified City officials and police/detective members as peace officers with authority to serve/executed municipal and criminal processes within City police limits; conduct warrantless arrests and pursuits in specified suspicious or in-presence circumstances; and enter buildings/ships/boats/vessels to arrest and take custody of suspected persons and suspected stolen property.
Section 27 limits detention of arrested persons only until they can be brought before the proper magistrate.
In cases of riot, disturbance, or public calamity, or when the Mayor fears serious violation of law and order, the Mayor may swear in special police in the number required, who have the same powers while on duty (Section 27).
Section 28 establishes the Chief of the Fire Department with salary not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum and grants powers to issue supplementary regulations; manage fire apparatus and fire alarm service; exercise police powers in the vicinity of fires; and order removal/demolition of property to prevent spread and protect adjacent property.
Section 28 requires the Fire Chief to investigate and report the origin and cause of fires and inspect buildings for sufficient fire protection and ordinance compliance.
The Fire Chief supervises electrical wire stringing/grounding/installation to avoid conflagrations or interference with safety and supervises manufacture/storage/use of petroleum, gas, acetylene, gunpowder, and other explosives (Section 28).
Section 29 establishes the City Assessor with salary not exceeding three thousand pesos per annum, charged with valuation and assessment functions and empowered to administer oaths for real estate valuation.
The City Assessor must prepare a list of taxable real estate organized by lot and block numbers with owner names, description, and cash value, considering sworn owner statements while also considering other evidence and exercising judgment (Section 29).
The City Assessor may enter real property to examine and measure it, summon witnesses, administer oaths, and examine ownership and real estate value; may examine Register of Deeds records; and until the Municipal Board provides otherwise by ordinance approved by the Department Head, the City Treasurer acts as City Assessor (Section 29).
Section 30 provides real estate tax exemptions, including lands/buildings owned by the Republic of the Philippines, Province of Nueva Ecija, or City of Cabanatuan, burial grounds, churches and adjacent parsonages/convents, and lands/buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes and not for profit, with a limitation that exemption does not extend to lands/buildings held for investment even if income is devoted to such purposes.
Section 30 exempts lands/buildings that are the only real property of the owner with value not exceeding two hundred pesos.
Section 30 exempts machinery, defined to include machines, mechanical contrivances, instruments, appliances, and apparatus attached to real estate used for industrial/agricultural/manufacturing purposes, during the first five years of operation of the machinery.
Section 31 requires persons who acquire real estate or construct/add improvements in the City to submit to the City Assessor within sixty days a sworn declaration of value and property description sufficient for identification.
Under Section 31, failure to file within sixty days waives the right to notice of assessment, and assessment in the name of the former owner is valid and binding as if assessed in the current owner’s name.
Section 32 directs the City Assessor to list for taxation real estate where returns are not made or owner is unknown, charging taxes against the true owner if known and against an unknown owner if unknown; where ownership is in dispute, taxes are levied against the possessor(s); and when land and improvements have separate owners, separate assessment applies (Section 32).
Section 33 requires listing and valuing escaped taxable real property when discovered; taxes due for the current year and the last preceding one year are assessed and collectible; and if the escape is due to owner fault or negligence, penalties are added to back taxes as though assessed when they should have been.
Section 34 directs the City Assessor during the first fifteen days of January to add value of improvements placed during the preceding year and any taxable property that escaped taxation, and to revise/correct assessed values by increasing or reducing existing assessment where not at true money value.
Section 35 requires public notice by newspaper publication for seven days and posted notice for seven days at the City Hall main entrance stating that the complete list is on file for examination; the date fixed must not be later than the tenth day of February for complaint-hearing; the City Assessor must also notify in writing each person whose tax will change during some time in the month of January.
Section 35 mandates the City Assessor to hear complaints on the fixed date and for five days thereafter, decide forthwith, enter decisions into a well-bound book, and amend the list when errors or injustice are found.
Section 36 requires the City Assessor to authenticate each completed assessment list by signing a certificate certifying completeness and true cash value for each person listed and that no taxable real estate has been omitted to the best of his knowledge.