Revised Manila City Charter

City corporate character and powers

The City of Manila is a political body corporate with perpetual succession and the powers of a municipal corporation, to be exercised under the charter (Section 2).
The city may have and alter a common seal, and may take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for city interests (Section 3).
The city may condemn private property for public use, and may contract, sue and be sued, and prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution (Section 3).
The city may exercise all powers conferred elsewhere in the charter (Section 3).

Municipal liability and city boundaries

The city is not liable for damages or injuries arising from a failure of the Mayor, the Municipal Board, or any other city officer to enforce chapter provisions or other laws/ordinances, or from the negligence of these officers while enforcing or attempting to enforce them (Section 4).
The city’s boundaries are fixed by a detailed metes-and-bounds description, beginning near the south bank of the Estero de Maytubig at the line of low water on the shore of Manila Bay, and ending at the point of beginning, with the description extending through specified monuments, shorelines, rivers, and related reference points (Section 5).
The city boundary description expressly ties boundary points to the line of low water and line of high water on the shore of Manila Bay at the start and end segments (Section 5).

Municipal districts and representative districts

The City of Manila is divided into fourteen municipal districts for all administrative and other municipal purposes, including property description (Section 6).
The municipal districts are: Tondo, San Nicolas, Binondo, Santa Cruz, Quiapo, San Miguel, Sampaloc, Intramuros, Port Area, Ermita, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, and Sta. Ana; each district has a metes-and-bounds boundary description (Section 6).
The City is divided into four representative districts for purposes of national representation, each represented by one member in the House of Representatives (Section 7).
The representative districts allocate territories as follows: First District—Tondo; Second District—San Nicolas, Binondo, Quiapo and Sta. Cruz; Third District—Sampaloc and San Miguel; Fourth District—Intramuros, Port Area, Ermita, Malate, Paco, Pandacan and Sta. Ana (Section 7).

Police jurisdiction over waters and drainage area

For police purposes only, the city’s jurisdiction extends three miles from the shore into Manila Bay (Section 8).
For protecting and insuring the purity of the city water supply, police jurisdiction extends over:
- all territory within the drainage area of the water supply, or
- within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with the city water service (Section 8).
The Court of First Instance and the municipal court of the City of Manila have concurrent jurisdiction with provincial and municipal courts to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within the one-hundred-meter spaces (Section 8).
The court first taking jurisdiction over an offense retains exclusive jurisdiction thereafter (Section 8).

Office of the Mayor and vice-mayor

The Mayor is the city’s chief executive with immediate control over executive functions of city departments, subject to supervision of the Secretary of the Interior (Section 9).
The Mayor is elected at large by qualified city electors (Section 9).
The Mayor must be at least thirty years of age, be a resident of the city at least five years prior to election, and be a qualified voter (Section 9).
The first election for mayor is held at the general elections for provincial and municipal officials next following the approval of the Act (Section 9).
The Mayor holds office for four years unless sooner removed and receives a salary of twelve thousand pesos a year (Section 9).
With the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Municipal Board may provide quarters for the Mayor or commute the same in addition to salary (Section 9).
A Vice-Mayor performs the Mayor’s duties during sickness, absence, or temporary incapacity, and performs duties until the Mayor’s vacancy is filled in accordance with law (Section 10).
If the Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated or the Vice-Mayor’s office is vacant, the city engineer performs the Mayor’s duties (Section 10).
The acting Mayor has the same powers and duties as the Mayor (Section 10).
The Vice-Mayor performs other duties assigned by the Mayor or prescribed by law/ordinance, is elected like the Mayor, must meet the same qualifications, and receives a salary of eight thousand four hundred pesos a year (Section 10).

Mayor’s executive duties and powers

The Mayor must comply with and enforce and give necessary orders for faithful enforcement and execution of laws and ordinances within city jurisdiction (Section 11).
The Mayor safeguards lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits, and other property and rights of the city and has control of city property subject to the charter (Section 11).
The Mayor ensures collection of taxes and city revenues and applies them in accordance with appropriations for payment of municipal expenses (Section 11).
The Mayor causes judicial proceedings to recover city property and funds wherever found, and causes defense of suits against the city (Section 11).
The Mayor ensures executive officers/employees properly discharge duties; with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Mayor may transfer officers/employees not appointed by the President between sections/divisions/services in the same department without changing compensation (Section 11).
The Mayor must examine and inspect city books, records, and papers of officers, agents, and employees at least once in each year and whenever occasion arises (Section 11).
The Mayor provides information and recommends measures to the Municipal Board for the city’s advantage (Section 11).
The Mayor may attend Municipal Board sessions and participate in discussions but does not vote (Section 11).
The Mayor represents the city in business matters and signs bonds, contracts, and obligations made according to laws or ordinances (Section 11).
The Mayor must submit to the Municipal Board before the fifteenth day of April of each year a budget of receipts and expenditures of the city (Section 11).
The Mayor receives, hears, and decides petitions, complaints, and claims of residents concerning municipal matters of an administrative and executive character (Section 11).
The Mayor grants and refuses municipal licenses or permits of all classes and revokes them for conditions violations or for acts prohibited by law/ordinance committed under license protection or in premises where business is carried on, or for other good reasons of general interest (Section 11).
The Mayor determines the time, manner, and place of payment of salaries and wages of city officers/employees (Section 11).
With the concurrence of the Director of Public Schools, the Mayor excuses deserving poor pupils from payment of school fees or part thereof (Section 11).
The Mayor takes emergency measures necessary to avoid fires, floods, and effects of storms and other public calamities (Section 11).
The Mayor performs other duties and exercises other executive powers prescribed by law or ordinance (Section 11).
Subject to the Civil Service Law, the Mayor appoints all city officers and employees except those whose appointments are vested in the President; the Mayor’s appointments require the consent of the Majority of all members of the Municipal Board (Section 11).

Mayor’s secretary and record custody

The Mayor appoints a Secretary to the Mayor to have charge and custody of city records and documents for which other provisions do not apply (Section 12).
The Secretary keeps the corporate seal, affixes it to ordinances and resolutions signed by the Mayor and other official documents/papers in the Mayor’s discretion/custom, and attests executive orders, proclamations, ordinances, and resolutions signed by the Mayor (Section 12).
The Secretary attests and performs other duties required by the Mayor (Section 12).
The Secretary must furnish, on demand, certified copies of all records and documents in his charge that are not confidential, and collects fees prescribed by Municipal Board resolution (Section 12).
The Secretary is treated as the head of a department for the purposes of Section 21, and performs duties required of heads of departments thereunder (Section 12).
The Secretary position is within the unclassified civil service, but may be filled like classified positions; if so filled, the appointee receives benefits of classified employees but holds office only during the appointing Mayor’s term and until a successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner separated (Section 12).

Municipal Board structure and elections

The Municipal Board is the city’s legislative body and consists of three elective members from each representative district, with a four-year term (Section 13).
Each year, the Board elects from among its members a president for one year who presides at meetings where present; in his absence, the Board elects a temporary presiding officer (Section 13).
The Board president signs all ordinances, and all resolutions and motions directing payment of money or creating liability enacted or adopted by the Board (Section 13).
If a member is sick or if needed to maintain a quorum, the President of the Philippines may make a temporary appointment until the sick/absent member returns; the temporary appointee has all rights and duties of a member during the period of appointment (Section 13).
The president of the Board receives eight thousand four hundred pesos per annum; the other members receive seven thousand two hundred pesos per annum (Section 13).
Municipal Board members are elected at large within each representative district, must be city residents for at least four years, must be qualified electors, must have actually resided in the representative district for at least one year prior to election, and must be at least twenty-three years of age (Section 14).
Board members may be suspended or removed under the same circumstances, in the same manner, and with the same effect as elective provincial officers (Section 14).
Board elections are held on the date of the regular election for provincial and municipal offices; elected members take office on January 1 next following election upon qualifying and hold until successors are elected and qualified (Section 14).
In each representative district, the three candidates with the greatest number of votes are declared elected (Section 14).

Board secretary and records

The Board has a secretary elected by it to serve during the term of the Board members; vacancies are filled temporarily or for the unexpired term in the same manner (Section 15).
The secretary keeps Board records, keeps a full record of proceedings, files related documents, and records ordinances and money/payment liability resolutions/motions in a book with their passage dates and publication of ordinances (Section 15).
The secretary keeps a seal inscribed “Municipal Board City of Manila” with the city arms at the center, affixes the seal with signature to ordinances and official acts, and presents ordinances for signature to the president (Section 15).
The secretary causes each ordinance passed to be published as provided in the charter (Section 15).
The secretary furnishes, on demand, certified copies of public records under the seal of office that are public in character and collects fees prescribed by Board resolution (Section 15).
The secretary keeps the office and non-confidential records open to public inspection during usual business hours (Section 15).
The secretary’s compensation is fixed by the Board but not to exceed six thousand pesos a year (Section 15).

Appropriations, legislative sessions, and voting

The Board makes all appropriations for expenses of the city government (Section 16).
If the Board fails to pass an appropriation ordinance for a year before the end of the previous year, the previous year’s appropriation ordinance is deemed reenacted and goes into effect on July 1 of the new year as the appropriation ordinance for that year; it continues effective July 1 each year until a new appropriation ordinance is duly enacted (Section 16).
The Board holds two ordinary sessions each week on days fixed by Board resolution, plus extraordinary sessions called by the Mayor (Section 17).
The Board sits with open doors unless otherwise ordered by an affirmative vote of a majority of all members (Section 17).
A majority of all Board members constitutes a quorum; ordinances or resolutions/motions directing payment of money or creating liability require affirmative votes of a majority of all members (Section 17).
Ordinary motions may be approved by a majority of those present (Section 17).
The Board must take and record ayes and nays on the passage of all ordinances and on resolutions/motions directing payment of money or creating liability, and on other resolutions/motions upon request (Section 17).
Each proposed ordinance must be published in two daily newspapers of general circulation in the city and cannot be discussed or enacted until after the third day following publication (Section 17).
Each ordinance, and each resolution/motion directing payment of money or creating liability, must be forwarded to the Mayor for approval (Section 17).
Within ten days after receipt, the Mayor returns the ordinance/resolution with approval or veto; failure to return within ten days is deemed approval (Section 17).
If vetoed, the Mayor’s written reasons must accompany the veto (Section 17).
A vetoed ordinance/resolution may be re-enacted only with affirmative votes of two-thirds of all members, then forwarded to the Mayor again; if the Mayor does not again return it with veto within ten days, it is deemed approved (Section 17).
If the Mayor again vetoes, the matter is forwarded forthwith to the President for approval or disapproval, which is final (Section 17).
No partial veto of any ordinance, resolution, or motion is allowed (Section 17).
Approved ordinances must be sealed and signed as required, published in two daily newspapers of general circulation within ten days after approval, and take effect and be in force on and after the twentieth day following publication if no effective date is fixed in the ordinance (Section 17).

Municipal Board legislative powers

The Board may levy and collect taxes for general and special purposes in accordance with law (Section 18(a)).
The Board may fix the tariff of fees and charges for all services rendered by the city or its departments/branches/officials (Section 18(b)).
The Board may provide for erection/maintenance or rental of necessary city buildings (Section 18(c)).
The Board may establish and maintain free public schools for intermediate instruction and acquire sites for primary and intermediate schools through purchase or conditional/absolute donation (Section 18(d)).
The Board may establish and maintain secondary and professional schools and, with approval of the Director of Public Schools, fix reasonable tuition fees for instruction (Section 18(e)).
The Board may establish and maintain an efficient police force and enact police ordinances to confine and reform vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, and prostitutes, and to address persons convicted of violating city ordinances (Section 18(f)).
The Board may maintain municipal courts established by law with jurisdiction over criminal cases under city ordinances and other jurisdiction conferred later (Section 18(g)).
The Board may establish fire limits, regulate kinds of buildings within them, regulate construction/repair, and fix permit fees for construction, repair, or demolition (Section 18(h)).
The Board may establish and maintain fire-fighting facilities and regulate management and use of equipment (Section 18(i)).
The Board may regulate use of lights in stables, shops, and other buildings, restrict issuance of permits for bonfires and specified fireworks/pyrotechnic displays, and fix permit fees (Section 18(j)).
The Board may regulate to protect the public from conflagrations and prevent/mitigate effects of famine, flood, storms, and other public calamities and provide relief (Section 18(k)).
The Board may regulate and fix license fees for specified occupations and impose a municipal occupation tax not to exceed fifty pesos per annum on enumerated professionals and service/occupation categories, with an exemption for those exercising the profession only as salaried employees and not as independent practitioners (Section 18(l)).
The Board may tax, fix license fees, and regulate broad categories of businesses (including hotels, restaurants, laundries, and many others), including regulation of location and license fees for numerous listed activities and facilities, and may require agreement to exhibit Philippine-made pictures for theaters/cinematographs; violation of that condition causes revocation (Section 18(m)).
The Board may tax and fix license fees on listed manufacturing types; manufacturers of their own products are not subject to municipal tax/license as retail dealers of their own products, and manufacturing solely by immediate family members in their own home is not subject to any tax or license fee (Section 18(n)).
The Board may tax, fix license fees, and regulate dealers in general merchandise, classify retail dealers into four classes (luxury articles, semi-luxury articles, essential commodities, miscellaneous articles) with a separate license for each class, and allow one license if different classes are sold in one establishment provided the owner pays the higher or highest rate; wholesale dealers pay the license tax as provided by ordinance; “general merchandise” includes poultry and livestock, agricultural products, fish, and other allied products (Section 18(o)).
The Board may tax, fix license fees on, and regulate sale of intoxicating liquors, tax motor and other vehicles operating within the city notwithstanding contrary law, and tax draft animals not paying any national tax; automobiles and trucks belonging to national/provincial/municipal governments are exempt from such tax (Section 18(p)).
The Board may regulate method of using non-marine steam engines/boilers, provide inspection with a reasonable inspection fee, and regulate/fix fees for licenses of engineers operating such equipment (Section 18(q)).
The Board may prohibit/provide punishment for riots, affrays, disturbances, disorderly assemblies, disorderly houses/houses of ill fame, gaming and fraudulent devices, prostitution, vagrancy, intoxication, fighting/ quarrelling, disorderly conduct, and prohibit for the maintenance/preservation of peace and good morals regarding obscene publications (Section 18(r)).
The Board may prohibit and regulate keeping of dogs, authorize impounding and destruction when running at large contrary to ordinances, and tax and regulate keeping/training of fighting cocks (Section 18(s)).
The Board may establish and maintain municipal pounds, regulate restrain and prohibit running at large of domestic animals, and provide for distraining, impounding, and sale with penalties and costs; it may impose penalties on owners for ordinance violations (Section 18(t)).
The Board may prohibit and provide for punishment of cruelty to animals (Section 18(u)).
The Board may require property owners by ordinance to construct/repair sidewalks at their expense according to the city engineer’s specifications and subject to supervision/approval; if owners fail within a specified period after demand, the city engineer causes the work and the cost is collected as a special assessment the owners may pay in full or in ten equal yearly installments; the installments are due and payable like the annual real estate tax, with the same delinquency penalties and enforceable remedies; the assessed sums become liens and take precedence over other liens except those attached due to non-payment of the annual tax (Section 18(v)).
The Board may regulate inspection, weighing, and measuring of specified merchandise such as brick, lumber, coal, and other articles (Section 18(w)).
The Board may regulate streets and public places including street lighting/cleaning/sprinkling; regulate processions, signs, signposts, awnings/awning posts, banners/placards/advertisements/hand bills, and the flying of signs/flags/banners; prohibit placing/throwing/depositing/leaving obstacles, garbage, refuse, or offensive matter in streets and public places and provide collection/disposition; regulate openings for laying gas/water/sewer and other pipes and structures under/within streets; regulate cross-walks, curbs, gutters, naming streets and numbering houses/lots; regulate traffic and street sales; provide for abatement of nuisances and punish authors/owners; regulate bridges, viaducts, culverts; prohibit/regulate amusements; regulate speeds of horses/animals/vehicles/cars/locomotives and lights used thereon; regulate railroad tracks and enforce fencing/protective works and drainage maintenance tied to tracks (Section 18(x)).
The Board may regulate navigation on canals and water courses and cleansing/purification; regulate public landing places/wharves/piers/docks/levees including those of private ownership; and provide for or regulate drainage and filling of private premises when necessary for sanitary ordinance enforcement (Section 18(y)).
The Board may fix charges for water craft landing at or using public landing facilities, subject to an exemption for certain listed facilities within/below the breakwater and below Jones Bridge (Section 18(z)).
The Board may maintain waterworks for supplying water, purify sources of supply, regulate consumption and use, fix/provide collection of rents, and regulate construction/repair/use of hydrants/pumps/cisterns/reservoirs (Section 18(aa)).
The Board may establish and maintain public drains, sewers, latrines, and cesspools (Section 18(bb)).
Subject to ordinances issued by the Department of Health in accordance with law, the Board may establish and maintain public stables/laundries/baths and public markets/slaughterhouses, fix fees, and prohibit or permit establishment/operation of such markets/slaughterhouses by other persons/entities except the city (Section 18(cc)).
The Board may regulate inspection and measures preventing discrimination or exclusion of any race in institutions/services open to the public and in sale/supply of gas or electricity or telephone/street-railway service; fix and regulate charges where not fixed by national law; regulate and inspect conduits/mains/meters and other apparatus and provide for condemnation/substitution/removal when defective/dangerous (Section 18(dd)).
The Board may declare, prevent, and provide for abatement of nuisances; regulate ringing bells and loud/unusual noises; require building owners/agents/tenants keep premises sanitary, and if they fail after sixty days from serving written notice, assess cost not exceeding sixty per centum of assessed value as a lien; and regulate/prohibit or fix license fees for property near public ways/grounds/places for electric signs/billboards/structures displaying posters/signs/reading matter, except signs displayed where the advertised profession/business is conducted in whole or part (Section 18(ee)).
The Board may authorize the free distribution of medicine by the city physician to city employees and laborers and fresh native milk, if available, to indigent mothers residing in the city (Section 18(ff)).
The Board may extend its ordinances over waters within the city, the Bay of Manila three miles beyond city limits, and any boat or floating structures thereon, and for water purity protection over the city water drainage area and within one hundred meters of specified water facilities (Section 18(gg)).
The Board may establish and regulate size, speed, and operation of motor and other public vehicles within the city; establish bus stops and terminals; and prohibit/regulate entrance of provincial public utility vehicles into the city except those passing through (Section 18(hh)).
The Board may tax, license, permit, and regulate any business/trade/occupation conducted within the city not enumerated in preceding subsections, including percentage taxes based on gross sales or receipts, subject to approval of the President except amusement taxes (Section 18(ii)).
The Board may tax, license, permit, and regulate wagers/betting by the public on boxing and specified sports/contests, and may grant exclusive rights to establishments for this purpose notwithstanding contrary existing law (Section 18(jj)).
The Board may enact ordinances necessary for sanitation, safety, prosperity, morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the city and inhabitants, and fix penalties not exceeding two hundred pesos fine or six months’ imprisonment, or both, for a single offense (Section 18(kk)).

Removal of offensive signs and billboards

No commercial sign, signboard, or billboard may be erected or displayed on public lands, premises, or buildings (Section 19).
If the Mayor investigates and gives owners an opportunity to be heard, the Mayor may decide that any displayed/exposed sign is offensive to sight or otherwise a nuisance, and order removal (Section 19).
If not removed within ten days from the Mayor’s order, the Mayor may cause removal and the sign becomes forfeited to the City (Section 19).
Removal expenses become a lawful charge against any person or property liable for the sign’s erection/display (Section 19).

City departments and supervisory authority

The city has the following departments under the Mayor’s direct supervision and control: Department of Engineering and Public Works, Police Department, Law Department, Fire Department, Department of Finance, Department of Assessment, Department of Health, and Department of Public Services (Section 20).
The Board may readjust duties among departments based on public interest (Section 20).

Heads of departments: powers, certifications, and reports

Each department head controls the department under the Mayor’s direct supervision and control and has powers prescribed by the charter or ordinance (Section 21).
Each department head must certify the correctness of pay rolls and vouchers covering payment of money before payment, unless