Territorial jurisdiction and boundary plan
- The City’s territorial jurisdiction is defined by detailed metes and bounds bounded on the Southeast along lines 1-7 by Sorsogon Bay; on the West by the Municipality of Castilla; on the Northwest by the Municipality of Manito, Province of Albay; on the North by Albay Gulf; on the East by the Municipality of Prieto Diaz; on the Southeast by the Municipality of Gubat; on the Southwest by the Municipality of Casiguran; and on the South by Sorsogon Bay.
- The boundary description begins at a point marked “1” on an identifying plan based on specified cadastral references and proceeds through a long series of bearing-and-distance segments labeled by line numbers.
- The described area is thirty-one thousand one hundred fifty-eight (31,158) hectares more or less.
- The boundary computation is based on approved Municipal Boundary Index Maps and technical descriptions of Cad-192, Sorsogon Cadastre, pls-792 (Prieto Diaz Public Land Subdivision), and pls-1046-D (Bacon Public Land Subdivision).
- The Charter states that Point 1 is equivalent to MBM 1, and multiple other points are mapped to corresponding MBM points (including points 2, 3 to 7, 32, 33, 39, 3 to 8, 9 to 13, 17, 18 to 19, 20 to 22, and 23 to 26) in the cited cadastral/subdivision records.
- The Charter provides that the boundary rule is without prejudice to resolution by the appropriate agency or forum of existing boundary disputes or cases involving questions of territorial jurisdiction between the City and adjoining local government units.
Corporate and general city powers
- The City has the power to have a continuous succession in its corporate name.
- The City may sue and be sued and may have and use a corporate seal, which it may alter at pleasure.
- The City may acquire, hold and convey real or personal property.
- The City may enter into contracts and/or agreements.
- The City may exercise other corporate powers, prerogatives, or authority subject to limitations in the Charter and applicable laws.
- The City exercises general powers including the power to:
- Levy taxes;
- Close and open roads, streets, alleys, parks or squares;
- Take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey and dispose of property for the general interest of the City;
- Appropriate or condemn private property for public use; and
- Prosecute and defend suits wherein the City is involved or interested, including to final judgment and execution.
Liability for damages
- The City and its officials are not exempt from liability for:
- Death or injury to persons, and
- Damage to property.
Police jurisdiction and court jurisdiction
- The City’s police jurisdiction for police purposes only is coextensive with its territorial jurisdiction.
- The City’s police jurisdiction also extends for protection of and to ensure the purity of the City water supply, extending over:
- All territory within the drainage area of the water supply, or
- Within one hundred (100) meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct or pumping station used in connection with the City water service.
- Regional trial courts and the City courts of Sorsogon have concurrent jurisdiction with regional trial courts and metropolitan trial courts/city or municipal trial courts of adjoining municipalities for crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within the one hundred (100) meters zone.
- The court first taking jurisdiction retains exclusive jurisdiction thereafter.
- Any license issued within the zone/area/space must be granted by the proper authorities of the City or the municipality concerned, and fees arising therefrom accrue to the treasury of the City or municipality concerned.
City officials and appointments
- The City government includes the following offices: 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 environment and natural resources officer.
- The City mayor may appoint city architect, city information officer, and city population officer in addition to the enumerated offices.
- The City must establish: a city fire station headed by a city fire marshal, a city jail headed by a city jail warden, a city school division headed by a city school division superintendent, and a city prosecution service headed by a city prosecutor.
- The City may:
- Maintain existing offices not mentioned in the Charter’s subsections;
- Create other offices as may be necessary to carry out City purposes; or
- Consolidate functions of any office with another for efficiency and economy.
- Heads of departments and offices are appointed by the city mayor with the concurrence of the majority of all sangguniang panlungsod members, subject to civil service law, rules, and regulations.
- The sangguniang panlungsod must act on the appointment within fifteen (15) days from submission; otherwise the appointment is deemed confirmed.
City mayor: election, eligibility, and powers
- The city mayor is the chief executive of the City.
- The city mayor is elected at large by qualified voters of the City.
- Eligibility for city mayor requires, at the time of election:
- At least twenty-one (21) years of age;
- Actual residence in the City for at least one (1) year prior to election; and
- Being a qualified voter in the City.
- The city mayor holds office for three (3) years, unless sooner removed.
- The city mayor receives a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to salary grade thirty (30) as prescribed under Republic Act No. 6758 and implementing guidelines issued pursuant thereto.
- The city mayor exercises powers and performs duties provided under the Local Government Code of 1991 and other laws, including express Charter duties to:
- Determine guidelines of city policies and be responsible for the program of government before the sangguniang panlungsod;
- Direct the formulation of the city development plan with the assistance of the city development council, implement it upon sangguniang panlungsod approval;
- Present the program of government and propose policies and projects to the sangguniang panlungsod at the opening of the regular session every calendar year and as needed;
- Initiate and propose legislative measures and provide information and data requested for legislative functions;
- Appoint officials and employees whose salaries and wages are wholly or mainly paid out of city funds and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in this Act, except those to be appointed by the vice mayor under the Charter;
- Represent the City in business transactions and sign on its behalf bonds, contracts, obligations, and other documents with authority from the sangguniang panlungsod or pursuant to law or ordinance;
- Carry out emergency measures during and after man-made and natural disasters and calamities;
- Determine the time, manner and place of payment of salaries or wages of city officials and employees in accordance with law or ordinance;
- Allocate and assign office space to entitled officials and employees in City hall and other city-owned or leased buildings;
- Ensure faithful discharge of duties and cause administrative or judicial proceedings against officials or employees who commit offenses in performance of duties;
- Examine books, records, and other documents of offices, officials, agents or employees, and require national officials and employees stationed or assigned to the City to make available such books, records, and documents except those classified by law as confidential;
- Furnish copies of executive orders to the office of the governor within seventy-two (72) hours after issuance;
- Visit component barangays at least once every six (6) months and conduct visits and inspections to improve governance quality of life;
- Act on leave applications and commutation of monetary value of leave credits in accordance with law;
- Authorize official trips outside the City for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days;
- Call upon national officials or employees stationed or assigned to the City for advice, coordinate in formulation and implementation of plans, and initiate actions against offenders;
- Authorize payment for medical care and related expenses for city officials and employees injured in performance of duties, subject to availability of funds;
- Solemnize marriages notwithstanding contrary law;
- Conduct an annual palarong panlungsod featuring traditional sports and disciplines included in national and international games, in coordination with the Department of Education, Culture and Sports;
- Submit to the provincial governor:
- an annual report summarizing matters pertinent to management, administration and development and information/data on political, social and economic conditions; and
- supplemental reports when unexpected events occur, particularly when man-made or natural disasters or calamities affect the general welfare of the City.
Additional mayoral functions and enforcement powers
- The city mayor enforces all laws and ordinances relative to City governance and implements approved policies, programs, projects, services and activities.
- The city mayor ensures that acts of component barangays and their officials and employees are within the scope of their prescribed powers and duties.
- The city mayor calls conventions, conferences, seminars, or meetings of elective or appointive officials (including provincial and national officials and employees stationed or assigned to the City) to promote the general welfare of the City and its inhabitants.
- The city mayor issues executive orders for faithful and appropriate enforcement and execution of laws and ordinances.
- The city mayor is entitled to carry necessary firearms within territorial jurisdiction.
- The city mayor acts as deputized representative of the National Police Commission and formulates the City peace and order plan, upon approval, implements it and exercises general and operational control and supervision over police forces in accordance with Republic Act No. 6975.
- The city mayor calls appropriate law enforcement agencies to suppress disorder, riot, lawless violence, rebellion or sedition, or apprehend violators when public interest so requires and City police forces are inadequate.
- The city mayor maximizes generation of resources and revenues, applying them to implementation of development plans and priorities, particularly agro-industrial development and countryside growth and progress, including specific Charter duties to:
- Require each office head to prepare and submit an estimate of appropriations for the ensuing calendar year under the Local Government Code of 1991;
- Prepare and submit to the sanggunian for approval the executive and supplemental budgets for the ensuing calendar year in the manner under the Local Government Code of 1991;
- Ensure collection of all City taxes and other revenues and application of City funds to expenses and settlement of obligations as required by law or ordinance;
- Issue licenses and permits and suspend or revoke them for violations of conditions under which they were issued pursuant to law or ordinance, including licenses and permits to gambling operations authorized by law subject to the sangguniang panlungsod ordinance;
- Issue permits without need of approval from any national agency for holding activities for charitable or welfare purposes, excluding prohibited games or shows contrary to law, public policy and public morals;
- Require owners of illegally constructed houses, buildings, or other structures to obtain necessary permits subject to fines and penalties imposed by law or ordinance, or to make necessary changes, or to order demolition/removal within a period prescribed by law or ordinance;
- Adopt adequate measures to safeguard and conserve City land, mineral, forest, marine and other resources;
- Provide efficient and effective property and supply management and protect City funds, credits, rights and other properties;
- Institute administrative or judicial proceedings for violation of ordinances in collection of taxes, fees or charges, and for recovery of funds and property, and defend the City against suits to protect its interests, resources and rights.
Vice mayor: election and duties
- The city vice mayor is elected in the same manner as the city mayor.
- The city vice mayor must possess the same qualifications as the city mayor at the time of election.
- The city vice mayor holds office for three (3) years, unless sooner removed.
- The city vice mayor receives monthly compensation corresponding to salary grade twenty-six (26) under Republic Act No. 6758 and implementing guidelines.
- The city vice mayor serves as presiding officer of the sangguniang panlungsod and:
- Presides as presiding officer and signs all warrants drawn on the city treasury for expenditures appropriated for the sangguniang panlungsod;
- Appoints officials and employees, including the secretary of the sangguniang panlungsod, and employees of individual sangguniang panlungsod members, subject to civil service law and rules and regulations, except those whose appointment manner is specifically provided for under existing laws;
- Assumes the office of the city mayor for the unexpired term in event of a permanent vacancy;
- Exercises the powers and performs duties and functions of the city mayor in cases of temporary vacancy;
- Performs other duties and functions and exercises other powers provided under the Local Government Code of 1991 and by law or ordinance.
Sangguniang panlungsod composition and powers
- The sangguniang panlungsod is the legislative body of the City and is composed of:
- the city vice mayor as presiding officer,
- twelve (12) regular sanggunian members,
- the president of the City chapter of liga ng mga barangay,
- the president of the panlungsod na pederasyon ng mga sangguniang kabataan, and
- sectoral representatives.
- The Charter provides three electoral districts and assigns barangays to each district:
- Bacon District: twenty-eight (28) barangays in Bacon Municipality (list provided in the Charter);
- Sorsogon East District: fourteen (14) barangays in Sorsogon Municipality (list provided in the Charter);
- Sorsogon West District: twenty-two (22) barangays in Sorsogon Municipality (list provided in the Charter).
- Each district elects four (4) members of the sangguniang panlungsod.
- There are three (3) sectoral representatives:
- one (1) from the women, and
- one (1) from the agricultural or industrial workers,
- one (1) from the other sectors, including urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, or disabled persons.
- The sangguniang panlungsod determines within ninety (90) days prior to local elections how the sectoral representatives are chosen for the defined categories.
- Regular members of the sangguniang panlungsod and sectoral representatives are elected in the manner provided by law.
- The Charter provides that qualifications of elective sanggunian members follow Section 39 of Republic Act No. 7160.
- The sangguniang panlungsod receives compensation, emoluments, and allowances determined by law.
- The sangguniang panlungsod approves ordinances and passes resolutions necessary for an efficient and effective city government and:
- Reviews all sangguniang barangay ordinances and punong barangay executive orders to determine whether these are within the scope of prescribed powers of the sangguniang barangay and punong barangay;
- Maintains peace and order by enacting measures to prevent and suppress lawlessness, disorder, riot, violence, rebellion, or sedition and impose penalties for ordinance violations;
- Approves ordinances imposing a fine not exceeding Five thousand pesos (P5,000) or imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or both at the discretion of the court, for violation of a City ordinance;
- Adopts measures to protect inhabitants during and after man-made or natural disasters and calamities and to provide relief services and assistance for victims during and following such events;
- Enacts ordinances to prevent, suppress, and impose penalties for habitual drunkenness in public places, vagrancy, mendicancy, prostitution, establishment and maintenance of houses of ill repute, gambling and other prohibited games of chance, fraudulent devices and ways to obtain money or property, drug addiction, maintenance of drug dens, drug pushing, juvenile delinquency, and the printing, distribution or exhibition of obscene or pornographic materials or publications, and other activities inimical to welfare and morals;
- Protects the environment and imposes penalties for acts endangering the environment such as dynamite fishing and other destructive fishing, illegal logging, smuggling of logs and natural resource products, smuggling of endangered species of flora and fauna, slash-and-burn farming, and activities that result in pollution, acceleration of eutrophication of rivers and lakes, or ecological imbalance;
- Determines positions and prescribes salaries, wages, allowances, and other emoluments and benefits of officials and employees paid wholly or mainly from City funds and provides for expenditures necessary for programs, projects, services and activities;
- Authorizes payment of compensation to a qualified person not in government service who fills a temporary vacancy or grants honorarium to a qualified official or employee designated to fill a temporary vacancy in a concurrent capacity at the rate authorized by law;
- Provides for a mechanism and funds for safety and protection of City government property and public documents or records such as property inventory, land ownership, record of births, marriages, deaths, assessments, taxation, accounts, business permits, and other records of public interest;
- When finances allow, provides for additional allowances and benefits to judges, prosecutors, public elementary and high school teachers, and other national government officials stationed or assigned in the City;
- Provides legal assistance to City and barangay officials and members of the City police who must initiate judicial proceedings or defend themselves against legal actions, and may authorize the city mayor to engage private counsel for this purpose;
- Provides for group insurance or additional insurance coverage for all officials, including barangay tanod brigade members and other service units, when finances allow, with public or private insurance companies.
Budgeting, tax, zoning, and development approvals
- The sangguniang panlungsod approves the annual and supplemental budgets and appropriates funds for specific programs, projects, services and activities of the City or other purposes not contrary to law to promote general welfare.
- The sangguniang panlungsod, subject to Book II of the Local Government Code of 1991 and applicable laws, and upon the majority vote of all its members, enacts ordinances levying taxes, fees and charges, prescribing their rates for general and specific purposes, and granting tax exemptions, incentives or relief.
- The sangguniang panlungsod, subject to Book II of the Local Government Code of 1991 and upon the majority vote, authorizes the city mayor to negotiate and contract loans and other forms of indebtedness.
- The sangguniang panlungsod, subject to Book II of the Local Government Code of 1991 and applicable laws, and upon the majority vote, enacts ordinances authorizing the floating of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness to raise funds to finance development projects.
- The sangguniang panlungsod appropriates funds for construction and maintenance or rental of buildings for City use and may, upon the majority vote, authorize the city mayor to lease to private parties such public buildings held in a proprietary capacity, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.
- The sangguniang panlungsod prescribes reasonable limits and restraints on the use of property within the City’s jurisdiction.
- The sangguniang panlungsod adopts a comprehensive land use plan for the City in coordination with the approved provincial comprehensive land use plan.
- The sangguniang panlungsod may reclassify lands within the City jurisdiction subject to provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991.
- The sangguniang panlungsod enacts an integrated zoning ordinance in consonance with the approved comprehensive land use plan, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.