Charter Establishing City of Davao

City immunity from damages

The city is not liable for damages or injuries arising from the failure of the Mayor, City Council, or any other city officer to enforce this Charter or any other law or ordinance, or from negligence of those officers while enforcing or attempting to enforce such provisions (Section 5).

Police jurisdiction over area and water-supply

The City of Davao’s police jurisdiction extends three miles from the shore into the sea and over a zone surrounding the city on land of two and one-half miles in width (Section 6).
For water-supply protection, police jurisdiction also extends over all territory within the drainage area of the city water supply or within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with city water service (Section 6).
Police of several concerned municipalities have concurrent jurisdiction for maintenance of good order and enforcement of lawful ordinances throughout the zone, area, and spaces described (Section 6).
Any license lawfully granted within that zone, area, and spaces is granted by the proper municipality authorities, and the fees appertain to that municipality’s treasury, not to the City of Davao (Section 6).

Mayor: appointment, acting Mayor, powers

The Mayor is the city’s chief executive (Section 7).
The President appoints the Mayor with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, and the Mayor holds office at the pleasure of the President (Section 7).
The Mayor receives a salary of four thousand and eight hundred pesos a year (Section 7).
With the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Mayor may receive an additional not commutable allowance of two thousand pesos per annum (Section 7).
When the Mayor is sick, absent, or temporarily incapacitated, or when there is a definitive vacancy, the city engineer performs the duties of the Mayor until the office is filled according to law (Section 8).
If the city engineer is incapacitated or the city engineer office is vacant, the city treasurer performs the Mayor’s duties until the Mayor’s office is filled as provided by law (Section 8).
If the officials mentioned above cannot perform the Mayor’s duties for any reason, the President appoints an acting Mayor (Section 8).
The acting Mayor has the same powers and duties and receives the same compensation as the Mayor (Section 8).
The Mayor has immediate control over executive and administrative functions of different departments, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, and is accountable for proper administration of all city affairs (Section 9).
The Mayor must enforce laws and city ordinances and resolutions, safeguard city lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits, and property rights, oversee collection of city taxes and revenues, ensure funds are applied according to appropriations, and institute or defend actions to protect city interests (Section 9).
The Mayor must see that officers and employees discharge duties properly and must examine and inspect books, records, and papers of executive/administrative officers, agents, and employees whenever occasion arises and at least once a year (Section 9).
The Mayor must annually submit a city budget of receipts and expenditures to the City Council before the thirty-first day of October of each year (Section 9).
The Mayor must render an annual report to the Secretary of the Interior (Section 9).
The Mayor must have authority to receive, hear, and decide petitions, complaints, and claims concerning administrative/executive municipal matters (Section 9).
The Mayor must be responsible for granting and refusing municipal licenses/permits of all classes and for revoking them for lawful reasons including violations of conditions and lawful prohibitions connected with the licensed business or premises (Section 9).
The Mayor may exempt, with the concurrence of the division superintendent of schools, deserving poor pupils from the payment of school fees or part thereof (Section 9).
The Mayor must make appointments except as otherwise provided in the Charter (Section 9).
The Mayor may take emergency measures to avoid fires, floods, storms, and other public calamities (Section 9).
The Mayor has the power of veto; a vetoed ordinance or resolution may be repassed by a two-thirds vote of all City Council members (Section 9).
The Mayor performs other executive powers and duties prescribed by law or ordinance (Section 9).

Mayor’s secretary and records duties

The Mayor appoints a secretary in accordance with Civil Service Law, rules, and regulations (Section 10).
The secretary serves as the Mayor’s chief clerk and acts as secretary of the City Council, the Board of Tax Appeals, and any other boards or committees created by law or ordinance, keeping a journal of proceedings (Section 10).
The secretary has charge of city records and documents where not otherwise provided; keeps the corporate seal and affixes it with the secretary’s signature to ordinances and official acts of the Mayor or Council (Section 10).
The secretary records in a designated book all ordinances passed by the City Council, including the dates of passage and publications (Section 10).
The secretary must post proposed ordinances at the main entrance of the city building at least five days before final Council action, except for emergency ordinances certified by the Mayor as such (Section 10).
The secretary must translate or cause translation of each ordinance into the native language generally spoken in the city, and post copies at the main entrance and in other frequented places of the city and in each barrio; on demand, the secretary must furnish certified copies of all city records and documents (Section 10).
The secretary must collect fees for certified copies “for the use of the city,” as the Council prescribes (Section 10).
The secretary must keep the civil register and record births, marriages, and deaths with their dates (Section 10).
The secretary performs other duties directed by the Mayor or Council (Section 10).

Public works by administration; sealed bids

Public works of construction, repair, and improvement are carried out by administration under the city engineer’s direction (Section 11).
For justified reasons, the Mayor may, upon the city engineer’s recommendation, have work done totally or partially by contract through advertising for sealed bids (Section 11).
The Mayor must advertise in two newspapers of general circulation in the City of Davao—one in the native language generally spoken in the city and one in English or Spanish—for one week, with the first insertion being not less than ten days before the day fixed for opening proposals (Section 11).
Before advertisement, a plan/profile of the work and specifications must be filed in the city engineer’s office and remain open to public inspection at all proper times (Section 11).
Bids must be opened in the presence of the Mayor and the city engineer at the advertised time and place (Section 11).
Each bid must be accompanied by a deposit whose amount and character are fixed by the Mayor and stated in the advertisement; it must not be less than two hundred pesos nor exceed ten per centum of the estimated cost of the improvement or work when the cost exceeds two thousand pesos (Section 11).
The deposit is forfeited to the city if the bidder, after award, neglects or refuses to enter into a contract with approved sureties to execute the work for the bid price according to plans and specifications (Section 11).
The Mayor may reject any or all bids upon the city engineer’s recommendation (Section 11).
If all bids are rejected or new bids are necessary, the subsequent advertisement is for five days in the same manner (Section 11).
Bonds for faithful performance of contracts must be approved by the Mayor (Section 11).
Contracts must be executed in triplicate by the Mayor and contractor, with distribution to the Mayor’s office, the provincial auditor’s office, and the contractor (Section 11).

City Council structure, voting, ordinances

The City Council is the city’s legislative body (Section 12).
The Council is composed of the Mayor (as presiding officer), the city engineer, the city treasurer, and five councilors—two appointed by the President with Commission on Appointments consent, and three elected by popular vote (Section 12).
Pending the next general elections, the terms of the three elected councilors are filled in the same manner as the appointive councilors (Section 12).
If a Council member is a candidate for office in an election, that member is incompetent to act in Council discharge of duties; other members discharge those duties without assistance, or may choose a disinterested elector to act in that matter (Section 12).
Councilors must be residents of the City of Davao and hold the status of provincial officers of a regularly organized province (Section 12).
The Mayor, city engineer, and city treasurer serve in the Council without additional compensation (Section 12).
Councilors receive a per diem of from five to ten pesos per day of attendance as authorized by ordinance approved by the Secretary of the Interior (Section 12).
Regular meetings are held once a week, and special meetings are called by the Mayor; meetings may be adjourned from day to day if needed; regular and special meetings are open to the public unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of a majority of members (Section 12).
The Council keeps a record of its proceedings and determines rules of procedure not provided herein (Section 12).
A majority of the Council constitutes a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time (Section 12).
The Council must record the ayes and nays upon passage of all ordinances, all resolutions or motions directing payment of money or creating liability, and at the request of any member upon any other motion or resolution (Section 12).
Passage of any ordinance or any resolution or motion directing payment of money or creating liability requires the affirmative vote of a majority of all Council members (Section 12).
Ordinances are sealed with the city seal, signed by the Mayor and the secretary of the Council, and recorded in a designated book (Section 12).
Ordinances take effect on and after the tenth day following passage, unless vetoed by the Mayor before the expiration of that ten-day period; the ordinance must be posted on the day following passage at the main entrance of the municipal building (Section 12).
If vetoed, a repassed ordinance takes effect ten days after the veto is overridden by a two-thirds vote of all Council members (Section 12).

Appropriations, re-enactment, Council powers

The City Council makes all appropriations for city government expenses (Section 13).
If the Council fails to pass an appropriation ordinance for any year before the end of the previous year, the prior year’s appropriation ordinance is deemed reenacted and renewed to take effect January 1 of each year until a new appropriation ordinance is enacted (Section 13).
The City Council levies and collects taxes for general and special purposes under law, including a power to levy (in addition to the provincial rate) a real property tax not exceeding one and a half per centum, apportioned one-half to the city school fund and one-half to the city general fund (Section 14).
The City Council fixes the tariff of fees and charges for services rendered by the city and its departments, branches, or offices (Section 14).
The City Council provides for erection and maintenance or rental of buildings for city use (Section 14).
The City Council provides for free public schools for at least primary instruction (Section 14).
The City Council may establish or aid vocational schools and higher learning conducted by the National Government or subdivisions and agencies; with Director of Education approval, it fixes reasonable tuition fees for secondary and vocational instruction and for higher institutions supported entirely by the city (Section 14).
The City Council establishes and maintains an efficient police force and enacts necessary police ordinances for confinement and reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, and persons convicted of violating city ordinances (Section 14).
The City Council maintains the court(s) established or that may be established for the city (Section 14).
The City Council establishes fire zones, regulates building types and construction/repair within the zones, and fixes fees for permits for construction, repair, or demolition (Section 14).
The City Council establishes and maintains fire-fighting facilities and equipment, regulates their management and use, and provides personnel (Section 14).
The City Council regulates the use of lights in stables, shops, and other buildings; regulates and restricts permits for bonfires and use of specified fire- and pyrotechnic devices; and fixes permit fees (Section 14).
The City Council enacts regulations to protect the public from conflagrations and to prevent and mitigate effects of famine, floods, storms, and other public calamities, including providing relief to persons suffering from them (Section 14).
The City Council may regulate and fix license fees for many categories of businesses, services, and public amusements, including specified exemptions (for example, hucksters/peddlers selling only native vegetables, fruits, or goods personally carried) (Section 14).
The City Council may tax and fix license fees, regulate business, and fix locations for match factories, blacksmith shops, foundries, steam boilers, lumber yards, ship yards, the storage and sale of specified hazardous substances, and other establishments endangering public safety or causing explosions or conflagrations, and it may regulate specified health-related manufacturing establishments subject to Bureau of Health regulations (Section 14).
The City Council may tax motor and other vehicles notwithstanding limits in section thirteen of Act Numbered Twenty-five hundred and eighty-seven, as amended, and draft animals not paying any national tax; it provides exemption for automobiles and trucks belonging to national and provincial/municipal governments and automobiles/trucks not regularly kept in the City of Davao (Section 14).
The City Council may regulate the method of using steam engines and boilers and other motive powers other than marine or federal/national government motive powers; provide for inspection and inspection fees; and regulate/fix license fees for engineers operating such engines and boilers (Section 14).
The City Council enacts ordinances for peace and good morals and regulates keeping of dogs, impounding/destruction when running at large contrary to ordinances, and taxes/ regulates fighting cock keeping/training (Section 14).
The City Council may establish municipal pounds, regulate running at large of domestic animals, and provide for distraining, impounding, and sale for penalties and proceedings costs, including imposing penalties on owners for ordinance violations (Section 14).
The City Council prohibits and punishes cruelty to animals (Section 14).
The City Council regulates inspection, weighing, and measuring of brick, lumber, coal, and other merchandise (Section 14).
The City Council regulates and provides for streets, public places, lighting, cleaning, sprinkling, signs/advertising/placards/hand bills, obstacles and offensive matter in public places, inspection and regulation of openings for gas/water/sewer pipes and related public works, construction/repair/nuisance abatement, crosswalks/curbs/gutters, house and lot numbering, traffic and sales regulation, bridges/viaducts/culverts, amusement activities that annoy or frighten, and speed/light regulations for animals/vehicles/cars/locomotives; it may regulate railroad track location, grade, crossings, raising/lowering, fencing, and drainage works (Section 14).
The City Council provides for construction and maintenance of canals and navigation regulation on water courses; it maintains navigation and landing places/wharves/piers/docks/levees, including private ones, and regulates drainage/filling of private premises when necessary to enforce sanitary ordinances (Section 14).
The City Council fixes charges paid by water craft landing at or using public wharves, docks, levees, or landing places (Section 14).
The City Council maintains waterworks for supply and purification of water, regulates water consumption and use, sets rents/fees, and regulates construction/repair/use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns, and reservoirs (Section 14).
The City Council establishes and maintains public drains, sewers, latrines, and cesspools for city sanitation (Section 14).
The City Council sets fees and regulates public stables, laundries, and baths, and public markets and slaughterhouses subject to Bureau of Health regulations, and it prohibits any person/entity/association/corporation other than the city from establishing or operating public markets and slaughterhouses within city limits (Section 14).
The City Council regulates measures preventing discrimination or exclusion of any race or races in or from any public institution/establishment/service open to the public within the city, including gas/electricity, telephone, and street-railway service; it fixes and regulates charges where not fixed by the National Assembly; it regulates inspection of gas/electric/telephone/street-railway conduits/mains/meters and equipment, including condemnation/substitution/removal of defective/dangerous apparatus (Section 14(aa)).
The City Council abates nuisances; regulates ringing of bells and loud or unusual noises; requires owners/agents/tenants to keep buildings and premises sanitary; it allows assessment of the cost of sanitation after sixty days from service of written notice, capped at not to exceed sixty per centum of the assessed value, and the cost constitutes a lien on the property (Section 14(bb)).
The City Council regulates or prohibits or fixes license fees for use of property on or near public ways/grounds/places for display of electric signs or erection/maintenance of billboards or structures of any material for posters/signs/pictorial/reading matter, except when signs are displayed at the place where the advertised profession or business is in whole or in part conducted (Section 14(bb)).
The City Council may enforce Bureau of Health regulations and prescribe penalties for violations by ordinance (Section 14(cc)).
The City Council extends its ordinances over all waters within the city, the sea three miles beyond city limits, and any boat or floating structure thereon; for water-supply purity, over all territory within the drainage area and within one hundred meters of specified water facilities (Section 14(dd)).
The City Council may enact ordinances for sanitation and safety and to further prosperity, morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the city and inhabitants; it fixes penalties that do not exceed a two-hundred-peso fine or six months imprisonment, or both, for a single offense (Section 14(ee)).

Restriction on commercial signage

No commercial sign, signboard, or billboard may be erected or displayed on public lands, premises, or buildings (Section 15).
If, after due investigation and after giving owners opportunity to be heard, the Mayor finds a sign is offensive to sight or is otherwise a nuisance, the Mayor may order removal (Section 15).
If removal is not done within ten days after the Mayor’s order, the Mayor may cause removal and the sign is forfeited to the city (Section 15).
Removal expenses are charged as a lawful charge against any person or property liable for erection or display of the sign (Section 15).

City offices: departments, municipal court

The city provides a department of engineering and public works headed by the city engineer, a law department headed by the city attorney, a finance department headed by the city treasurer, and a police department headed by the chief of police, plus other departments established by law or ordinance approved by the Secretary of the Interior (Section 16).
Pending establishment of such departments, existing officials performing functions for or on behalf of the municipal government of Davao continue their functions and receive their present compensation (Section 16).
The City Council may by ordinance approved by the Secretary of the Interior readjust duties of departments, or alter, consolidate, or abolish them as public interest demands (Section 16).
The city has a Municipal Court presided over by a Judge (Section 16).

City engineer and engineering powers

The city engineer is in charge of the department of engineering and public works (Section 17).
The city engineer handles surveying and engineering work of the city and provides engineering services for city projects and departmental works requiring civil engineering skill and experience (Section 17).
The city engineer establishes city survey monuments, extends city surveys from monuments, and locates, establishes, and surveys city property and abutting private property when directed by the Mayor (Section 17).
The city engineer prepares and submits plans, maps, specifications, and estimates for buildings, streets, bridges, docks, and other public works and supervises construction and repair (Section 17).
The city engineer conducts tests and inspections of engineering materials used in construction and repair to protect the city from poor or dangerous materials (Section 17).
The city engineer inspects and reports on the condition of public property and works whenever required by the Mayor (Section 17).
The city engineer has care and custody of public buildings (including markets and slaughterhouses and city-rented buildings) and of lighting systems established for streets, public places, and public buildings (Section 17).
The city engineer prevents encroachment on streets and public places by private buildings and fences (Section 17).
The city engineer inspects and supervises construction, repair, removal, and safety of private buildings and enforces city ordinance numbering of houses (Section 17).
The city engineer cares for public streets, parks, and bridges and maintains, cleans, sprinkles, and regulates them for purposes provided by ordinance (Section 17).
The city engineer collects and disposes of garbage, refuse, contents of closets/vaults/cesspools, and other offensive/dangerous substances within the city (Section 17).
The city engineer has custody of public docks, wharves, piers, levees, and landing places and supervises private docks and other harbor/river/estero/waterway-bordering property (Section 17).
The city engineer issues permits for construction, repair, and removal of docks/wharves/piers/levees/landing places and enforces ordinances relating to them (Section 17).
The city engineer has care and custody of public waterworks and sewers and sources of water supply, and controls/maintains/regulates use in accordance with ordinances (Section 17).
The city engineer inspects and regulates, subject to Mayor approval, the use of private systems supplying water to the city and its inhabitants and private sewers and their connections with the public sewer system (Section 17).
The city engineer supervises the laying of mains and connections for supplying gas to inhabitants (Section 17).
The city engineer, subject to Mayor approval in each case, may cause buildings dangerous to the public to be made secure or torn down (Section 17).
The city engineer supervises and regulates placement and use of engines, boilers, forges, and other manufacturing/heating appliances in accordance with law and city ordinance (Section 17).
The city engineer may charge sanitation and transportation services and supplies furnished by the department at rates fixed by the City Council with approval of the Department Head (Section 17).
With previous Mayor approval, the city engineer may order removal of buildings/structures erected in violation of ordinances or removal of materials used in violation (Section 17).
The city engineer files and preserves all maps, plans, notes, surveys, and documents pertaining to the office (Section 17).

Municipal Court judges and territorial jurisdiction

The Municipal Court has a Judge and an auxiliary Judge (Section 18).
The auxiliary Judge has the same powers, duties, and jurisdiction as justices of the peace and auxiliary justices generally, and additionally has territorial jurisdiction over the entire police zone of the city (Section 18).
All fines, forfeitures, and fees imposed and collected by the judges authorized by this section accrue to the city treasury (Section 18).
The Municipal Court of the City of Davao has concurrent territorial jurisdiction with the Court of First Instance of the Province of Davao and the courts of justices of the peace of respective municipalities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within the police zone described in Section 6 (Section 18).
The court first taking jurisdiction retains exclusive territorial jurisdiction thereafter (Section 18).

City attorney: legal adviser, prosecutions, investigations

The city attorney is the chief legal adviser of the city (Section 19).
The city attorney represents the city in all civil cases where the city or its officers in their official capacity are parties (Section 19).
The city attorney draws ordinances, contracts, bonds, leases, and other instruments involving city interests when required and inspects/passes on instruments already drawn (Section 19).
The city attorney gives written opinions requested by the Mayor or Council on questions relating to city matters or rights/duties of city officers (Section 19).
The city attorney investigates or causes investigation when informed that a city officer is guilty of neglect or misconduct in office, or that any person/firm/corporation holding a franchise or public privilege granted by the city failed to comply with conditions or to pay considerations mentioned in the franchise/privilege grant (Section 19).
The city attorney prosecutes all crimes and misdemeanors and violations of city ordinances triable in the Municipal Court (Section 19).
The provincial fiscal of Davao prosecutes crimes and misdemeanors and city ordinance violations appealed to or brought before the Court of First Instance of Davao (Section 19).
The city attorney investigates charges of crimes, misdemeanors, and city ordinance violations and prepares necessary informations or complaints for persons accused (Section 19).
The city attorney may conduct investigations and, by subpoena, summon witnesses to appear and testify under oath; enforcement of attendance of absent or recalcitrant witnesses is done through application to the Municipal Court or the Court of First Instance of the Province of Davao (Section 19).
The city attorney investigates causes of sudden deaths not satisfactorily explained where there is suspicion from unlawful acts/omissions or foul play, may cause autopsies if deemed necessary, and may demand the aid of the city health officer for those purposes (Section 19).
When directed by the Mayor, the city attorney institutes and prosecutes in the city’s interest suits on bonds, leases, or other contracts for breach or violation (Section 19).

Acting city attorney appointment

If the city attorney is temporarily disabled or