Conversion of Malolos into a Component City

Corporate status and general powers

The City constitutes “a political body corporate” with perpetual succession and municipal-corporation attributes exercisable in conformity with the Charter.
The City may: maintain continuous succession in its corporate name; sue and be sued; have and use a corporate seal; acquire, hold, and convey real or personal property; and enter into contracts and agreements.
Section 4 provides the City’s general corporate powers, including the power to levy taxes and to close roads, streets, alleys, parks or squares.
Section 4 authorizes the City to take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for the general interests of the City, and to appropriate or condemn private property for public use.
Section 5 states that the City and its officials are not exempt from liability for death or injury to persons or damage to property.

Police jurisdiction and concurrent criminal jurisdiction

Section 6 limits the City’s police jurisdiction for police purposes to the City’s territorial jurisdiction and extends it for protecting and ensuring the purity of the water supply.
The police jurisdiction also extends over the drainage area of the City water supply, or within one hundred (100) meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with city water service.
Section 6 grants concurrent jurisdiction to the regional trial courts and city courts of the City of Malolos with the regional trial courts and metropolitan trial courts or city or municipal trial courts of adjoining municipalities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within one hundred (100) meters.
Section 6 provides that the court first taking jurisdiction retains exclusive jurisdiction thereafter over the offense.
Section 6 provides that licenses in the affected zone/area/space are granted by the proper city or municipal authorities, and the resulting fees accrue to the treasury of the concerned city or municipality.

City officials and appointment rules

The City has the following officials: a city mayor, city vice mayor, sangguniang panlungsod members, a secretary to the sangguniang panlungsod, a city treasurer and assistant city treasurer, a city assessor and assistant city assessor, a city accountant, a city budget officer, a city planning and development coordinator, a city engineer, a city health officer, a city civil registrar, a city administrator, a city legal officer, a city veterinarian, a city social welfare and development officer, a city general services officer, and a city agriculturist.
The city mayor may appoint additional officers including a city architect, city information officer, city population officer, city environment and natural resources officer, a city agriculturist, and a city cooperatives officer.
The City must establish a city fire station headed by a city fire marshal, a city jail headed by a city jail warden, and a city school division headed by a city school division superintendent.
Section 7 authorizes the City to maintain existing offices not mentioned, create other offices necessary for city government purposes, or consolidate office functions for efficiency and economy.
Unless otherwise provided, 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; the sangguniang panlungsod must act within fifteen (15) days or the appointment is deemed confirmed.

City mayor powers, term, and specific duties

The city mayor is the chief executive of the City and is elected at large by qualified voters of the City.
Section 8 disqualifies eligibility unless, at the time of election, the person is at least twenty-one (21) years of age, an actual resident of the City for at least one (1) year prior to election, and a qualified voter.
The city mayor holds office for three (3) years, unless sooner removed, and receives a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to salary grade thirty (30) under Republic Act No. 6758 and implementing guidelines.
The city mayor’s powers and duties include directing city policy programs and being responsible to the sangguniang panlungsod for the program of government.
The city mayor must, among other duties: formulate and implement a city development plan with assistance from the city development council and upon sangguniang panlungsod approval; submit the program of government and propose policies and projects; initiate legislative measures; appoint officials and employees paid wholly or mainly from city funds unless otherwise provided, except those appointed by the vice mayor under Section 9; represent the City in business transactions and sign bonds, contracts, and obligations with sangguniang panlungsod authority or pursuant to law or ordinance.
The city mayor must carry out emergency measures during and after man-made and natural disasters and calamities, determine the time/manner/place of payment of salaries or wages, allocate office space, and ensure administrative or judicial proceedings against officials or employees who commit offenses in the performance of official duties.
The city mayor must furnish copies of executive orders within seventy-two (72) hours, visit component barangays at least once every six (6) months, act on leave applications and leave credit commutations under law, authorize official trips outside the City not exceeding thirty (30) days, solemnize marriages, conduct an annual palarong panlungsod in coordination with the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, and submit specified annual and supplemental reports to the provincial governor.
For enforcement and public safety, the city mayor must enforce laws and ordinances, issue executive orders for faithful enforcement, carry necessary firearms within territorial jurisdiction, act as deputized representative of the National Police Commission, formulate and implement the peace and order plan upon approval in accordance with Republic Act No. 6975, and call law enforcement agencies to suppress disorder and apprehend violators when public interest so requires and city police forces are inadequate.
The city mayor must maximize generation of resources and revenues, collect taxes and revenues, apply city funds lawfully, issue licenses and permits and suspend or revoke them for violations of conditions, authorize permits for charitable/welfare activities excluding prohibited games or shows, require permits for illegally constructed houses/buildings/structures and impose lawful demolition/removal when required, safeguard land and other resources, manage city property and protect city funds and credits, and institute or cause institution of administrative or judicial proceedings for ordinance violations in tax and recovery actions.
For basic services, the city mayor must ensure construction and repair of roads and highways funded by the national government are carried out in spatially contiguous manner coordinated with City and provincial roads/bridges and coordinate technical services rendered by national and provincial offices.
The city mayor must also perform other duties and functions under Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991) and those prescribed by law or ordinance.

Vice mayor duties and succession roles

Section 9 provides for a city vice mayor elected in the same manner as the city mayor with the same qualifications at the time of election.
The vice mayor holds office for three (3) years, unless sooner removed, and receives monthly compensation corresponding to salary grade twenty-eight (28) under Republic Act No. 6758 and implementing guidelines.
The vice mayor must act as presiding officer of the sangguniang panlungsod and sign warrants drawn on the city treasury for expenditures appropriated for the operation of the sangguniang panlungsod.
The vice mayor appoints officials and employees, including the secretary to the sangguniang panlungsod and employees of individual sanggunian members, subject to civil service law and excluding those whose appointment is specifically provided for under existing laws.
The vice mayor assumes the office of the city mayor for the unexpired term in the event of permanent vacancy and performs city mayor powers and duties in cases of temporary vacancy.
The vice mayor performs other duties and exercises other powers provided under Republic Act No. 7160 and prescribed by law or ordinance.

Sangguniang panlungsod composition and powers

The sangguniang panlungsod is the City’s legislative body composed of: the city vice mayor as presiding officer, ten (10) regular sanggunian members, the president of the city chapter of the liga ng mga barangay, the president of the panlungsod na pederasyon ng mga sangguniang kabataan, and sectoral representatives.
The Charter provides for three (3) sectoral representatives: one (1) from women, and determined by the sangguniang panlungsod within ninety (90) days prior to local elections, one (1) from agricultural or industrial workers, and one (1) from other sectors including urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, or disabled persons.
Regular and sectoral representatives are elected in the manner provided by law; elective members must possess qualifications under Section 39 of Republic Act No. 7160.
The sangguniang panlungsod receives compensation, emoluments, and allowances as determined by law.
The sangguniang panlungsod approves ordinances and passes resolutions for an efficient and effective city government, including: reviewing barangay ordinances and punong barangay executive orders for consistency with powers; maintaining peace and order and imposing penalties for ordinance violations; and approving ordinances that impose penalties of a fine not exceeding Five thousand pesos (P5,000) or imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or both, at the court’s discretion.
The sangguniang panlungsod enacts ordinances for disaster preparedness and relief; habitual drunkenness in public places; vagrancy; mendicancy; prostitution and houses of ill-repute; gambling and prohibited games; fraudulent devices and ways to obtain money or property; drug addiction, drug dens, drug pushing; juvenile delinquency; and obscene or pornographic materials.
The sangguniang panlungsod protects the environment and imposes penalties for harmful acts such as dynamite fishing and other destructive fishing; illegal logging and smuggling of logs; smuggling of natural resources products; and harm to endangered species, slash-and-burn farming, pollution, eutrophication, and ecological imbalance.
The sangguniang panlungsod determines city officials’ positions and compensation for those paid wholly or mainly from city funds and authorizes specific payments and insurance coverage when finances allow.
The sangguniang panlungsod may provide legal assistance to city and barangay officials (and members of the city police) for cases arising from performance of official duties, and may authorize the city mayor to engage private counsel for this purpose.
With respect to revenue and development, the sangguniang panlungsod approves annual and supplemental budgets and appropriate funds, and subject to Book II of Republic Act No. 7160, and upon majority vote of all members, enacts tax ordinances prescribing rates and granting tax exemptions/incentives/relief.
Subject to Book II and applicable laws, and upon majority vote, it authorizes the city mayor to negotiate and contract loans and other indebtedness and authorizes floating bonds for development projects.
With majority vote, the sangguniang panlungsod prescribes reasonable limits on property use, adopts comprehensive land use plans in coordination with the provincial plan, reclassifies lands under Republic Act No. 7160, and enacts an integrated zoning ordinance consistent with the land use plan.
The sangguniang panlungsod establishes fire limits or zones and regulates building construction, repair, and modifications within them consistent with the Fire Code.
Subject to national law, it processes and approves subdivision plans for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes and other development purposes and collects processing fees and other charges accruing entirely to the City; where a national agency or office approval is required, it must not be withheld for more than thirty (30) days from receipt of the application, and failure to act within the period is deemed approval.
With respect to fisheries, the sangguniang panlungsod grants the exclusive privilege of constructing fish corrals or pens and taking or catching bangus fry, prawn fry, kawag-kawag fry, or fry of any species within City waters.
With the concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all sanggunian members, it grants tax exemptions/incentives/relief to entities engaged in community growth-inducing industries.
With respect to community growth, it grants loans or grants to other local government units and to national, provincial and city charitable, benevolent, or educational institutions operated and maintained within the City.
It regulates building numbering and inspection/weighing/measuring of articles of commerce, and enacts ordinances granting franchises and authorizing permits/licenses, including fixing reasonable fees for city services and regulating license fees for businesses and professions.
Notwithstanding contrary law, it authorizes and licenses cockpits, regulates cockfighting, and regulates commercial breeding of gamecocks, while requiring that existing rights are not prejudiced.
It regulates tricycles and grants franchises for their operation within City jurisdiction subject to Department of Transportation and Communications guidelines.
With majority vote, it grants franchises to persons, partnerships, corporations, or cooperatives to do business in the City and to establish, construct, operate and maintain ferries, wharves, markets, or slaughterhouses, or other activities allowed by existing laws, with cooperatives given preference.
On land and nuisance regulation, it can declare, prevent, or abate nuisances; with two-thirds (2/3) concurrence, deny entry of legalized gambling into any part of the City or regulate its location; require sanitary condition and impose penalties; regulate disposal of clinical and other wastes; regulate establishment/operation of numerous entertainment, hospitality, and related establishments; regulate sale of intoxicating malt/vino/mixed or fermented liquors at retail outlets; and regulate steam boilers, inflammable materials storage, amusement facilities, and burial/cremation funeral parlors.
It regulates stray animals, animal keeping, slaughter/sale/disposition of animals, and adopts measures to prevent and penalize cruelty to animals.
For delivery of basic services, it ensures communal forests and watersheds, tree parks, greenbelts, mangroves and similar projects; establishes markets/slaughterhouses/animal corrals and regulates private markets; authorizes City ferries and wharves for marine/offshore productivity acceleration; regulates preparation and sale of foodstuffs; regulates use of public ways and approves public works; regulates traffic and removal of encroachments; provides for waterworks systems and related protections and controls consumption/charges; regulates ground drilling and waterworks-related hazards; regulates gas mains and electric/telecom lines and removal of dangerous apparatus; and provides for public safety, solid waste control, quarantine regulations, and support for disabled persons and needy/disadvantaged persons with centers and facilities as finances allow.
The sangguniang panlungsod performs additional duties under Republic Act No. 7160 and other laws or ordinances.

Legislative internal rules and disclosure

Section 11 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to adopt or update internal rules of procedure on the first regular session following elections and within ninety (90) days thereafter.
The rules of procedure must include: organization and election of officers; standing committees including, among others, appropriations, revenues, engineering/public works, education/health, women and family, human rights, youth and sports development, environmental protection, peace and order and traffic, and cooperatives; general committee jurisdiction; election of committee chairmen and members; order/calendar of business; legislative process; parliamentary procedures and member conduct; and discipline rules.
Discipline rules must allow censure, reprimand, or exclusion from sessions, or suspension for not more than sixty (60) days, or expulsion for disorderly behavior and absences without justifiable cause for four (4) consecutive sessions, with expulsion or suspension requiring concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all sanggunian members.
Final judgment for imprisonment of at least one (1) year for a crime involving moral turpitude automatically results in expulsion from the sanggunian.
Section 12 requires each sangguniang panlungsod member, upon assumption to office, to make full disclosure of business and financial interests and disclose conflicts arising from relationship by affinity or consanguinity within the fourth civil degree with persons or entities affected by ordinances or resolutions considered by the member.
Disclosures cover ownership of stock/capital/investment in affected entities and contracts or agreements with persons or entities affected.
“Conflict of interest” is understood as a situation where it may be reasonably deduced that a sanggunian member may not act in the public interest due to private pecuniary or other personal considerations affecting judgment to the prejudice of service or the public.
Section 12 requires written disclosure submitted to the secretary of the sanggunian or committee; it must form part of the record of proceedings; and it must be made before participation in deliberations, or if the member does not participate, before voting on second and third readings, and also when taking a position or making a privilege speech on matters affecting business interest, financial connection, or professional relationship.

Sessions, quorum, ordinance approval, review

Section 13 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to fix, by resolution, the day, time, and place of its sessions on the first day of the session immediately following election, and the minimum number of regular sessions is once a week for the sangguniang panlungsod and twice a month for the sangguniang barangay.
Special sessions may be called by the city mayor or by a majority of sanggunian members when public interest demands.
All sessions are open to the public unless a closed-door session is ordered by affirmative vote of a majority of members present, with a quorum, in the public interest or for security, decency, or morality; no two sessions may be held in a single day.
For special sessions, written notice must be served personally to members at their usual place of residence at least twenty-four (24) hours before the special session; unless otherwise concurred in by two-thirds (2/3) of members present with a quorum, only matters stated in the notice may be considered.
The sangguniang panlungsod must keep a journal and record of proceedings, which may be published upon resolution.
Section 14 provides that a majority of all elected and qualified members constitutes a quorum; if quorum is questioned, the presiding officer calls the roll and announces results.
Where there is no quorum, the presiding officer may recess or members present may adjourn from day to day and may compel attendance of absent members without justifiable cause by designating a member of the sanggunian assisted by police to arrest and present the absent member.
If there is still no quorum after enforcement, no business is transacted and the presiding officer adjourns for lack of quorum.
Section 15 requires each ordinance enacted by the sangguniang panlungsod to be presented to the city mayor; upon approval, the city mayor signs each and every page; upon veto, he returns it with objections for sanggunian reconsideration.
The sangguniang panlungsod may override the mayor’s veto by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of all its members, making the ordinance or resolution effective.
The city mayor must communicate the veto within ten (10) days; otherwise, the ordinance is deemed approved as if signed.
Section 16 allows the city mayor to veto ordinances on the ground of being ultra vires or prejudicial to the public welfare, with written reasons.
The city mayor may veto particular items and resolutions adopting a local development plan, public investment program, or ordinances directing payment of money or creating liability; the veto does not affect non-objected items, and vetoed items do not take effect unless overridden.
If the sangguniang panlungsod does not override the veto, the corresponding items in the previous year appropriations ordinance are deemed enacted.
The city mayor may veto an ordinance or resolution only once, and the sangguniang panlungsod may override by two-thirds (2/3) vote.
Section 17 mandates that within three (3) days after approval, the sangguniang panlungsod secretary forwards approved ordinances and resolutions approving local development plans and public investment for review by the sangguniang panlalawigan.
The sangguniang panlalawigan must decide within thirty (30) days of receipt, examining documents or transmitting them to the provincial attorney or prosecutor; the prosecutor or attorney must provide written comments within ten (10) days from receipt.
The sangguniang panlalawigan invalidates any ordinance or resolution found beyond the sanggunian’s powers, in whole or in part; its action is recorded in minutes and advised to City authorities.
If no action is taken within thirty (30) days, the ordinance or resolution is presumed consistent with law and valid.
Section 18 requires barangay ordinances to be furnished to the sangguniang panlungsod within ten (10) days for review for consistency with law and city ordinances; failure to act within thirty (30) days deems approval.
If inconsistent, the sangguniang panlungsod must return barangay ordinances within thirty (30) days with comments and recommendations for adjustment/amendment; the barangay ordinance’s effectivity is suspended until revisions are effected.
Section 19 makes any attempt to enforce an ordinance or a resolution approving the local development plan and public investment after disapproval sufficient ground for suspension or dismissal of the official or employee concerned.
Section 20 provides effectivity rules: ordinances or resolutions take effect after ten (10) days from posting on a bulletin board at City Hall entrance and in at least two (2) other conspicuous places, unless the ordinance/resolution states otherwise.
The secretary must cause posting not later than five (5) days after approval; the text must be disseminated and posted in Filipino or English and in the language or dialect understood by the majority of people in the City, and the posting fact is recorded in a book stating dates of approval and posting.
The main features must be published once in a local newspaper of general circulation within the City; if none, publication occurs in any newspaper of general circulation.
The gist of all ordinances with penal sanctions must be published in a newspaper of general circulation.

Disqualifications and succession of city officials

Section 21 disqualifies the following from running for any elective position in the City: those sentenced by final judgment for an offense involving moral turpitude or an offense punishable by one (1) year or more of imprisonment within two (2) years after serving sentence; those removed from office via administrative case; those convicted by final judgment for violating the oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines; those with dual citizenship; fugitives from justice in criminal or nonpolitical cases here and abroad; permanent residents in a foreign country or those who acquired the right to reside abroad and continue to avail of the same right after effectivity of Republic Act No. 7160; and the insane or feeble-minded.
Section 22 provides permanent vacancy succession: if the city mayor permanently vacates, the concerned city vice mayor becomes city mayor; if the city vice mayor permanently vacates, the highest ranking sanggunian member becomes city mayor or city vice mayor as applicable, or the second highest ranking if the highest ranking is permanently incapacitated; subsequent vacancies follow automatic succession according to ranking.
Ranking ties among highest ranking sanggunian members are resolved by drawing of lots.
Succession applies only to the unexpired terms.
Section 22 defines permanent vacancy as occurring when an elective local official fills a higher vacant office, refuses to assume office, fails to qualify, dies, is removed from office, voluntarily resigns, or is otherwise permanently incapacitated to discharge functions.
Ranking in the sanggunian is determined by the proportion of votes obtained by each winning candidate to the total number of registered voters in the City immediately preceding local election.
Section 23 provides filling of permanent vacancies where automatic succession does not apply: the provincial governor makes appointments.
Only the nominee of the political party under which the sanggunian member was elected shall be appointed; the appointee must come from that political party and nomination and a certificate of membership from the party’s highest official are conditions sine qua non, with appointments without these being null and void ab initio and a ground for administrative action against the responsible official.
If the vacancy is caused by a sanggunian member not belonging to any political party, the city mayor appoints a qualified person upon recommendation of the sangguniang panlungsod.
If the vacancy is in representation of youth and the barangay in the sangguniang panlungsod, the vacancy is filled automatically by the next official in rank of the concerned organization.
Section 24 governs temporary vacancy in the city mayor’s office: when temporarily incapacitated due to physical or legal reasons such as leave, travel abroad, or suspension, the city vice mayor or highest ranking sanggunian member automatically exercises mayoral powers and duties except the power to appoint, suspend, or dismiss employees, which is exercisable only if temporary incapacity exceeds thirty (30) working days.
Temporary incapacity ends upon submission to the sangguniang panlungsod of a written declaration by the city mayor that he has reported back, and if due to legal cause, submission of necessary documents showing the legal cause no longer exists.
If traveling within the country but outside territorial jurisdiction for not more than three (3) consecutive days, the city mayor may designate in writing an officer-in-charge, specifying powers and functions exercisable in the mayor’s absence except appointment/suspension/dismissal powers.
If the city mayor fails or refuses to issue such authorization, the vice mayor or highest ranking sanggunian member may assume the mayor’s powers and duties on the fourth day of absence, subject to the limitation on employee appointment/suspension/dismissal under the Section 24 framework.
Except for the authorized scenarios, the city mayor may not authorize any local official other than the city vice mayor or the highest ranking sanggunian member to assume the powers and duties of the office.