Charter converting Tayabas into a component city

Corporate personality and general powers

The City is a political body corporate with attributes of perpetual succession and powers of a municipal corporation exercisable in conformity with this Charter and other laws.
The City’s corporate powers include continuous succession, sue and be sued, having and using a corporate seal, acquiring/holding/conveying real or personal property, and entering into contracts and obligations in accordance with its enabling authority.
The City may exercise broad corporate powers subject to limitations provided in this Act or laws.
The City has the power to levy taxes, close and open roads, streets, alleys, parks or squares, expropriate or condemn private property for public use, and prosecute and defend suits where it is involved.
The City and its officials are not exempt from liability for death or injury to persons or damage to property.

City jurisdiction for police and water purity

The City’s police jurisdiction for police purposes only is co-extensive with its territorial jurisdiction.
For protecting and ensuring the purity of the City water supply, the police jurisdiction extends over the drainage area of the water supply.
The same police jurisdiction further extends over all territory within one hundred meters (100 m.) of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with City water service.
The City court has concurrent jurisdiction with city or municipal courts of adjoining municipalities or cities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within the 100 m. spaces described above.
The police forces of concerned municipalities and cities have concurrent jurisdiction with the City police for maintaining good order and enforcing ordinances in the described zone/area/spaces, and fees accrue to the treasury of the concerned city or municipality.

City officials and created offices

The City shall have the following officials: 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 cooperatives officer, and city building officer.
The city mayor may appoint an environment and natural resources officer, a city architect, a city information officer, a city population officer, and a city agriculturist.
A city fire station headed by a city fire marshal, a city jail headed by a city jail warden, and a city schools division headed by a city schools division superintendent must be established.
The sangguniang panlungsod may maintain existing offices, create other offices as necessary, or consolidate functions of offices for efficiency and economy.
Unless otherwise provided, department and office heads are appointed by the city mayor with concurrence of the majority of all sangguniang panlungsod members, subject to civil service rules; the sangguniang panlungsod must act within fifteen (15) days or the appointment is deemed confirmed.

Mayor and vice mayor authority

The city mayor is the chief executive of the City and is elected at large by qualified voters of the City.
No city mayor candidate is eligible unless he is at least twenty-one (21) years of age, an actual resident of the City for at least one year prior to election, and a qualified voter.
The city mayor serves three years unless sooner removed and receives minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Thirty (30) under Republic Act No. 6758 (Salary Standardization Law) and its implementing guidelines.
The City mayor shall determine city policy guidelines, direct the formulation and implementation (after approval by the sangguniang panlungsod) of the city development plan, and present the program of government at the opening of the regular session of the sangguniang panlungsod every calendar year and as needed.
The city mayor shall appoint all officials and employees whose appointments are not otherwise provided in this Act, represent the City in transactions, sign bonds/contracts/obligations/documentation subject to sangguniang panlungsod authority or law/ordinance, and conduct emergency measures during and after disasters and calamities.
The city mayor shall have listed executive duties including: enforcing laws and ordinances; ensuring barangay acts remain within powers; issuing executive orders; carrying necessary firearms within territorial jurisdiction; acting as deputized representative of the National Police Commission and implementing the peace and order plan upon approval; and calling law enforcement to suppress disorder, riot, lawless violence, rebellion or sedition.
The City mayor must furnish copies of executive orders to the Office of the President and the Office of the Secretary of the DILG within seventy-two (72) hours after issuance, and must visit component barangays at least once every six months.
The city mayor must submit to the provincial governor an annual report summarizing City management, administration, development, and political, social and economic conditions, plus supplemental reports when unexpected events arise, particularly disasters or calamities affecting the City’s general welfare.
During incumbency, the city mayor must hold office in the city hall.
The city vice mayor is elected in the same manner as the city mayor, with the same qualifications, serves three years unless sooner removed, and receives Salary Grade Twenty-six (26).
The vice mayor presides over the sangguniang panlungsod, signs warrants drawn on the city treasury for sangguniang panlungsod expenditures, appoints sangguniang panlungsod officials/employees except those whose appointment is specifically provided by existing laws, assumes the mayor’s unexpired term for permanent vacancy, and exercises mayoral powers in temporary vacancy.

Sangguniang panlungsod: composition and powers

The sangguniang panlungsod is the City’s legislative body composed of: the city vice mayor as presiding officer, regular sanggunian members, the president of the City chapter of the liga ng mga barangay, the president of the panlungsod federation of the sangguniang kabataan, and sectoral representatives.
There are three sectoral representatives: one from women, one from agricultural or industrial workers, and one from other sectors including the urban poor or disabled persons.
The sangguniang panlungsod determines the selection of the sectoral representatives within ninety (90) days prior to the local elections.
Regular members and sectoral representatives are elected in the manner provided by law.
The sangguniang panlungsod enacts ordinances, approves resolutions, and appropriates funds for the general welfare, exercising corporate powers under the referenced Local Government Code framework.
It must review barangay ordinances and punong barangay executive orders to determine consistency with prescribed powers and authority.
It must maintain peace and order, and may impose penalties for violation of city ordinances, including an ordinance imposing a fine not exceeding P5,000.00 or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, at the court’s discretion.
It may enact ordinances on disasters, habitual drunkenness and specified social vices, environmental protection, and other comprehensive regulatory measures including those on sanitation, gambling, nuisances, and public safety through the mechanisms and limits stated in this Charter.
It must enact measures ensuring efficient delivery of basic services and facilities such as waterworks, solid waste systems, quarantine regulations, markets, slaughterhouses/animal corrals, street regulation, traffic and removals of encroachments, and food regulation for public consumption.
The members of the sangguniang panlungsod receive a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Twenty-five (25) under the Salary Standardization Law and its implementing guidelines.

Legislation process, disclosure, sessions

On the first regular session after election and within ninety (90) days, the sangguniang panlungsod shall adopt or update its rules of procedure.
The rules must cover organization, election of officers, standing committees (including committees on appropriations, revenues, engineering and public works, education and health, women and family, human rights, youth and sports development, environmental protection, peace and order and traffic, and cooperatives), committee jurisdictions, and parliamentary procedures.
The rules must include discipline for disorderly behavior and absences without justifiable cause for four consecutive sessions, with penalties including censure/reprimand/exclusion, suspension for not more than sixty (60) days, or expulsion.
Expulsion or suspension penalties must require concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all sanggunian members.
A member convicted by final judgment to imprisonment of at least one year for any crime involving moral turpitude is automatically expelled.
Every sangguniang panlungsod member must, upon assuming office, make full written disclosure of business and financial interests, including relationships by affinity/consanguinity within the fourth civil degree with persons/firm/entities affected by ordinances/resolutions pending in which he is a member.
Disclosure is required when participation occurs: before a member participates in deliberations; if the member did not participate, before voting on second and third readings; and when the member takes a position or makes a privilege speech on matters affecting the declared interests.
The sangguniang panlungsod fixes the day, time, and place of sessions by resolution, and the minimum number of regular sessions is once a week.
Special sessions may be called by the city mayor or by a majority of the members when public interest demands.
All sessions are open to the public unless a closed-door session is ordered by an affirmative vote of a majority of members present with a quorum for reasons of public interest or security, decency, or morality; no two sessions may be held in a single day.
For special sessions, written notice must be personally served to members at their usual place of residence at least twenty-four (24) hours before the session; only matters stated in the notice may be considered unless two-thirds (2/3) vote of members present, with a quorum.

Quorum, ordinance approval, and ordinance effectivity

A quorum consists of a majority of all members elected and qualified.
If a quorum question arises, the presiding officer calls the roll immediately and announces results.
If there is no quorum, the presiding officer may declare a recess until quorum is constituted, or members present may adjourn and compel attendance of an absent member by designating a member assisted by police assigned in the City.
If there is still no quorum after enforcement, no business may be transacted, and the presiding officer shall adjourn for lack of quorum upon proper motion duly approved by members present.
Every ordinance enacted must be presented to the city mayor; if the city mayor approves, he signs every page; if not, he vetoes and returns it with written objections for sangguniang panlungsod reconsideration.
The sangguniang panlungsod may override the veto by two-thirds (2/3) vote of all its members, making the ordinance effective.
The veto must be communicated within ten (10) days; otherwise, the ordinance is deemed approved as if signed.
The city mayor may veto any ordinance on the ground that it is ultra vires or prejudicial to the public welfare, stating reasons in writing.
The city mayor may veto particular items in specified types of ordinances/resolutions (including appropriations ordinance items, local development plan/public investment program adoption, public investment programs, and ordinances directing payment of money or creating liability); vetoed items do not take effect unless overridden; non-vetoed items remain.
The city mayor may veto an ordinance or resolution only once; the sangguniang panlungsod may override by two-thirds (2/3) of all its members to make it effective even without the mayor’s approval.
The sangguniang panlungsod secretary forwards approved ordinances and resolutions approving local development plans/public investment programs to the sangguniang panlalawigan for review within three (3) days after approval.
Within thirty (30) days after receipt, the sangguniang panlalawigan examines documents or transmits them to the provincial attorney or provincial prosecutor for prompt examination.
The provincial attorney or provincial prosecutor must inform the sangguniang panlalawigan in writing within ten (10) days from receipt of documents with comments/recommendations.
If the sangguniang panlalawigan finds an ordinance/resolution beyond the sangguniang panlungsod’s power, it declares the ordinance/resolution invalid in whole or in part, records its action in the minutes, and advises City authorities.
If the sangguniang panlalawigan takes no action within thirty (30) days after submission, the ordinance/resolution is presumed consistent with law and valid.
The sangguniang barangay furnishes copies of barangay ordinances to the sangguniang panlungsod within ten (10) days for review; if the sangguniang panlungsod fails to act within thirty (30) days from receipt, the barangay ordinance is deemed approved.
If barangay ordinances are found inconsistent, the sangguniang panlungsod returns them within thirty (30) days for adjustment/amendment, and the barangay ordinance’s effectivity is suspended until revisions are made.
Attempts to enforce disapproved ordinances or resolutions after disapproval constitute sufficient ground for suspension or dismissal of the concerned official or employee.
Ordinances and resolutions take effect after ten (10) days from posting in a bulletin board at the entrance of City Hall and in at least two other conspicuous places, posted not later than five (5) days after approval, unless otherwise stated.
The secretary must disseminate and post the text in Filipino or English, record posting dates in a dedicated book, and ensure main features are published once in a local newspaper of general circulation within the City.
The gist of all ordinances with penal sanctions must be published in a newspaper of general circulation.
The secretary must cause posting in the bulletin board at the City Hall entrance and in at least two conspicuous places not later than five (5) days after approval.

Succession rules for elected city positions

If a permanent vacancy occurs in the office of the city mayor, the city vice mayor becomes city mayor.
If a permanent vacancy occurs in the office of the city vice mayor, the highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod member becomes city vice mayor; if permanently incapacitated, the second highest ranking member becomes vice mayor.
If permanent vacancies occur in both mayor and vice mayor offices, the first and second highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod members become city mayor and city vice mayor, respectively; if incapacitated, the next highest ranking members assume accordingly.
The successors serve only the unexpired terms of their predecessors.
A tie among highest ranking sanggunian members is resolved by drawing of lots.
A permanent vacancy includes situations where an elective local official fills a higher vacant office, refuses to assume office, fails to qualify, dies, is removed, voluntarily resigns, or is otherwise permanently incapacitated to discharge the functions of office.
Ranking in the sanggunian for succession is determined by the proportion of votes obtained by each winning candidate to the total number of registered voters in the City immediately preceding the local election.
If automatic succession does not apply for permanent vacancies in the sangguniang panlungsod, the governor makes appointments.
Only the nominee of the political party under which the sanggunian member was elected may be appointed; the appointee must come from that political party and serves the unexpired term.
A nomination and certificate of membership from the political party’s highest official are conditions sine qua non; appointments without them are null and void ab initio and are grounds for administrative action against the responsible official.
If the vacancy is caused by a sangguniang panlungsod member who does not belong to any political party, the city mayor, upon recommendation of the sangguniang panlungsod, appoints a qualified person.
If the vacancy is in the representation of the youth and the barangay in the sangguniang panlungsod, the vacancy is filled automatically by the official next-in-rank of the organization concerned.
When the city mayor is temporarily incapacitated for physical or legal reasons, the city vice mayor or highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod member exercises the city mayor’s powers and duties except appointment, suspension, or dismissal of employees, which may be exercised only if the temporary incapacity exceeds thirty (30) working days.
Temporary incapacity ends upon submission to the sangguniang panlungsod of the city mayor’s written declaration that he reported back to office; if due to legal cause, he submits documents showing the legal causes no longer exist.
If the city mayor travels within the country but outside territorial jurisdiction for not exceeding three consecutive days, he may designate in writing an officer-in-charge, specifying powers and functions to be exercised except appointment/suspension/dismissal.
If the city mayor fails or refuses to issue such authorization, the city vice mayor or highest ranking sanggunian member assumes powers on the fourth day of the city mayor’s absence, subject to limitations on appointment/suspension/dismissal as stated.
The city mayor may not authorize any other local official to assume the office’s powers and duties except the city vice mayor or the highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod member, as applicable.

Appointive officials: secretary and treasurer

The secretary to the sangguniang panlungsod must be a career official with rank and salary equal to a head of a department or office.
No person may be appointed secretary unless he is a citizen of the Philippines, resident of the City of Tayabas, of good moral character, and a holder of a college degree preferably in law, commerce or public administration from a recognized college or university, and a first grade civil service eligible or equivalent.
The secretary attends sanggunian meetings, keeps a journal of proceedings, keeps the City seal and affixes it with his signature to ordinances/resolutions and official acts, and presents acts for the presiding officer’s signature.
The secretary forwards copies of enacted ordinances to the city mayor for approval, and forwards appropriation ordinances to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and approved ordinances to the sangguniang panlalawigan in the manner provided by the referenced Local Government Code provisions.
The secretary furnishes certified copies of records of public character upon request of interested parties upon payment of fees prescribed by ordinance, records all ordinances/resolutions with passage and publication dates, keeps non-confidential records open to the public during business hours, and translates ordinances/resolutions into the dialect used by the majority of inhabitants immediately after approval and publishes them in the manner provided by the Local Government Code.
The secretary must take custody of local archives, where applicable the local library, and annually account for them, and performs other duties under the Local Government Code and law/ordinance.
The city treasurer is appointed by the Secretary of Finance from a list of at least three ranking eligible recommendees of the city mayor, subject to civil service rules.
No person may be appointed city treasurer unless he is a citizen, resident of the City of Tayabas, of good moral character, has a college degree preferably in commerce, public administration or law, and is a first grade civil service eligible or equivalent, and has at least five years experience in treasury or accounting service.
The city treasurer’s compensation, emoluments, and allowances are determined by law.
The city treasurer takes charge of the city finance department, advises on disposition of local funds and public finance matters, takes custody and manages City funds, handles disbursements of City funds and other entrusted funds, inspects private commercial and industrial establishments for tax ordinance implementation, maintains and updates the City’s tax information system, and performs other powers and duties under the Local Government Code and other laws.