Conversion of San Pedro Laguna into a city

Core powers and liability rules

Section 4 grants the City power to levy taxes, fees and charges; close and open roads, streets, alleys, parks or squares; and manage real and personal property for the City’s general interests.
Section 4 empowers the City to expropriate or condemn private property for public use, and to contract, be contracted with, and prosecute/defend suits where the City is involved.
Section 5 provides that the City and its officials shall not be exempt from liability for death or injury to persons or damage to property.
Section 6 sets the City’s police jurisdiction as coextensive with its territorial jurisdiction for police purposes.
Section 6 expands police jurisdiction to protect and ensure the purity of the City’s water supply by extending it to all territory within the drainage area of the water supply or within one hundred meters (100 m.) of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct or pumping station used for city water service.
Section 6 grants the city court of the City of San Pedro concurrent jurisdiction with the city or municipal courts of adjoining municipalities or cities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within 100 m. of the relevant water-supply installations.
Section 6 provides a jurisdictional rule: the court first taking cognizance has jurisdiction to the exclusion of others, and police forces concerned have concurrent jurisdiction for order enforcement in the designated zone.
Section 6 states that any license issued within the zone must be granted by the proper authorities of the city or municipality concerned, and the resulting fees accrue to that treasury, not to the City of San Pedro.

City officials and appointments

Section 7 creates the City’s core offices, including city mayor, city vice mayor, sangguniang panlungsod members, secretary to the sangguniang panlungsod, city treasurer, city assessor, city accountant, city budget officer, city planning and development officer, city engineer, city health officer, city civil registrar, city administrator, city legal officer, city social welfare and development officer, city veterinarian, and city general services officer.
Section 7 allows the city mayor to appoint additional officers including city environment and natural resources officer, city architect, city information officer, city cooperatives officer, city population officer, and city agriculturist.
Section 7 requires specific facilities: a city fire station headed by a city fire marshal, a city jail headed by a city jail warden, a city schools division headed by a city schools division superintendent, and a city prosecution service headed by a city prosecutor.
Section 7 allows the sangguniang panlungsod to maintain existing unmentioned offices, create other necessary offices, or consolidate functions for efficiency and economy.
Section 7 provides appointment rule for departmental heads and office heads: unless otherwise provided, heads are appointed by the city mayor with the concurrence of the majority of all sangguniang panlungsod members, subject to civil service rules.
Section 7 imposes a time limit: the sangguniang panlungsod must act within fifteen (15) days; otherwise, the appointment is deemed confirmed.
Section 7 sets compensation rules: elective and appointive officials receive compensation and emoluments determined by law/ordinance subject to budgetary limitations under Title Five, Book II of the Local Government Code of 1991; no increase in compensation of the city mayor, city vice mayor, and sangguniang panlungsod members takes effect until after the expiration of the full term of the local officials approving the increase.
Section 7 authorizes the City’s officials to be established and operated consistent with the Charter’s structure and appointment/concurrence framework.

Mayor and vice mayor powers

Section 8 makes the city mayor the City’s chief executive, elected at large by qualified voters of the City.
Section 8 sets eligibility: the city mayor must be a Philippines citizen, at least twenty-one (21) years of age, a City resident for at least one (1) year prior to election, a qualified voter, and able to read and write Filipino or any other local language or dialect.
Section 8 fixes tenure at three (3) years, removable earlier, with a limit of not more than three (3) consecutive terms.
Section 8 requires a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Thirty (30) under Republic Act No. 6758 (Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989) and implementing guidelines.
Section 8 mandates the mayor’s general executive functions, including initiating and guiding policies, directing development-plan formulation and implementation, presenting the annual program of government, proposing legislation, appointing officers and employees whose salaries are wholly or mainly paid from City funds (unless otherwise provided), representing the City, signing bonds/contracts/obligations, and carrying out emergency measures during and after disasters.
Section 8 requires governance mechanisms including examination of books/records (except those classified confidential by law), furnishing copies of executive orders to the provincial governor within seventy-two (72) hours after issuance, visiting component barangays at least once every six (6) months, acting on leave and commutation in accordance with law, and authorizing official trips outside the City for up to thirty (30) days.
Section 8 grants security and peace-order authority through deputized representation: the mayor acts as deputized representative of the National Police Commission, formulates and implements the City’s peace and order plan upon approval, and exercises control/supervision over police forces in accordance with Republic Act No. 6975.
Section 8 authorizes the mayor to suppress disorder and call law enforcement agencies when public interest so requires and City police forces are inadequate.
Section 8 includes additional resource and services duties: revenue maximization and budget preparation and submission, ensuring collection of taxes/revenues and lawful application of City funds, issuance/suspension/revocation of licenses and permits for violations, permitting charitable/welfare activities excluding prohibited games of chance or unlawful shows, and regulating illegally constructed houses/buildings through permits, penalties under law/ordinance, or demolition/removal within periods prescribed by law/ordinance.
Section 8 requires the mayor to ensure basic services delivery and coordinating national/provincial technical services, including contiguous road construction coordination as far as practicable.
Section 8 states the mayor holds office in the city hall during incumbency.
Section 9 creates the city vice mayor, elected the same manner as the mayor and with the same qualifications, holding office for three (3) years and receiving compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Twenty-six (26) under the Salary Standardization Law and implementing guidelines.
Section 9 requires the vice mayor to serve as presiding officer of the sangguniang panlungsod and to sign warrants drawn on the city treasury for sangguniang panlungsod expenditures.
Section 9 authorizes the vice mayor to appoint sangguniang panlungsod officials and employees subject to civil service rules, except where appointment is specifically provided by the Local Government Code.
Section 9 provides succession and acting authority: the vice mayor assumes the mayor’s office for an unexpired term upon permanent vacancy, and exercises the mayor’s powers for temporary vacancy in accordance with the Local Government Code.
Section 9 includes authority to perform other duties and exercise other powers provided by the Local Government Code and by law/ordinance.

Sangguniang panlungsod structure and powers

Section 10 establishes the sangguniang panlungsod as the City’s legislative body with members consisting of the city vice mayor (presiding officer), ten (10) regular 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 three (3) sectoral representatives.
Section 10 specifies sectoral representation: one (1) from the women sector, one (1) from the agricultural or industrial workers sector as determined by the sanggunian within ninety (90) days prior to local elections, and one (1) from the other sectors including urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, or disabled persons.
Section 10 provides compensation for sanggunian members: minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade Twenty-five (25) under the Salary Standardization Law and implementing guidelines.
Section 11 empowers the sangguniang panlungsod to enact ordinances, approve resolutions, and appropriate funds for general welfare under the Local Government Code framework referenced in the Charter.
Section 11 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to review barangay ordinances and punong barangay executive orders for consistency with prescribed powers.
Section 11 requires enactment of ordinances/penalties to maintain peace and order and impose penalties for city ordinance violations as allowed, including ordinances imposing a fine not exceeding Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) or imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Section 11 authorizes a broad set of legislative measures including disaster prevention/relief, habitual drunkenness, vagrancy, prostitution/house of ill-repute, gambling and prohibited games of chance, fraudulent devices, drug addiction and drug dens/drug pushing, juvenile delinquency, and policing obscene/pornographic materials, as well as penalties for environmental endangerment acts such as illegal logging, smuggling of logs and natural resource products, slash-and-burn farming, pollution, siltation acceleration, and ecological imbalance.
Section 11 empowers the sanggunian to determine positions and compensation for officials/employees paid wholly or mainly from City funds, approve honoraria for temporary vacancy fillers at lawful rates, and provide mechanisms and funds for safety/protection of City government properties and public documents/records (inventory, births/marriages/deaths, assessments, taxation, accounts, business permits, and other public-interest records).
Section 11 authorizes additional allowances/benefits for judges, prosecutors, public elementary and high school teachers, and other national officials stationed in the City when finances allow; provides legal assistance to barangay officials in legal actions in performance of official duties; and authorizes group insurance or additional coverage for barangay officials including tanod brigades and service units when finances allow.
Section 11 grants revenue/development-related powers including approving annual/supplemental budgets and appropriating funds; levying taxes/fees/charges and granting tax exemptions/incentives/reliefs through majority vote as permitted by law; authorizing the city mayor to negotiate and contract loans and indebtedness; enacting ordinances authorizing floating of bonds or other indebtedness instruments for development project financing; and prescribing reasonable limits on property use within City jurisdiction.
Section 11 requires adoption of a comprehensive land-use plan in coordination with the approved provincial comprehensive land-use plan, land reclassification consistent with law, integrated zoning ordinances, and establishment of fire limits with regulation of construction/repair/modification in accordance with the Fire Code of the Philippines.
Section 11 requires legislative processing of subdivision plans under national law conditions and provides a deemed approval mechanism for national agency approvals withheld for more than thirty (30) days from receipt of application.
Section 11 authorizes granting exclusive privilege for constructing fish corrals/fish pens and catching/collecting bangus fry, prawn fry, kawag-kawag fry, or fry of any species of fish within City waters subject to Book II of the Local Government Code of 1991.
Section 11 authorizes tax exemptions/incentives/reliefs to community growth-inducing industries upon concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of sanggunian members.
Section 11 permits granting loans or grants to other local government units or to national/provincial/city charitable, benevolent or educational institutions operated and maintained within the City.
Section 11 empowers regulation of numbering of buildings, inspection/weighing/measuring of articles of commerce, and regulation/issuance of licenses, including setting terms for services rendered and fixing license fees for professions/business practices, with revocation conditions.
Section 11 authorizes regulation of city-owned public utilities and leasing conditions, preferably to cooperatives.
Section 11 authorizes licensing of establishment/operation/maintenance of cockpits, regulating cockfighting and commercial breeding of gamecocks while preserving existing rights.
Section 11 allows regulation of bicycles and grant of franchises within City territory subject to DOTC guidelines, and upon majority vote grants franchises for business and permits operation/maintenance of ferries, wharves, markets, slaughterhouses or similar allowed activities, with cooperatives given preference.
Section 11 provides extensive nuisance/public-health/regulatory legislative authority including sanitary conditions, sanitary compliance enforcement and execution at owner/administrator/tenant expense, clinical waste regulation, regulation of restaurants/beerhouses/hotels/motels/inns/pension houses/lodging houses and tourist guides/transports, regulation of intoxicating malt/vino/mixed or fermented liquor retail dispensations, steam boiler inspections and inflammable/highly combustible storage regulation, and regulation/suppression/prohibition of amusement/entertainment forms to protect social and moral welfare.
Section 11 mandates animal-related powers including impounding stray animals, regulating keeping of animals, regulating slaughter/sale/disposition, and adopting measures to prevent and penalize cruelty to animals; it also authorizes regulation of funeral parlors and burial/cremation subject to existing law/rules.
Section 11 includes legislative authority for basic service delivery ordinances: communal forests and watersheds, tree parks/greenbelts/mangroves; establishment/maintenance of markets and slaughterhouses/animal corrals with authorization of city government operation; authorization of ferries/wharves/structures to accelerate marine/seashore/offshore productivity; regulation of foodstuffs preparation and sale for public consumption; regulation of streets and public places and approval of public works; regulation of traffic and removal of encroachments/illegal constructions; waterworks system establishment/operation and purification and regulation of hydrants/pumps/cisterns/reservoirs and water protection within specified ordinance coverage; regulation of drilling/excavation for laying pipes and drains/sewers/cesspools/tunnels and hazards safety; regulation of gas mains and electric/telecom wires and correction/condemnation/removal of dangerous systems.
Section 11 authorizes vocational/technical schools and similar post-secondary institutions supported by the City, with TESDA approval and lawful tuition/charges; establishes scholarship fund for poor but deserving students; authorizes quarantine regulations to prevent spread of diseases; provides for solid waste/garbage collection/disposal and prohibits littering and placing/throwing garbage/refuse/filth/wastes.
Section 11 authorizes care systems and facilities for PWD, paupers, aged, sick, persons of unsound mind, abandoned minors, juvenile delinquents, drug dependents, abused children, and needy/disadvantaged persons particularly children and youth below eighteen (18) years of age, subject to availability of funds.
Section 11 authorizes jails and detention centers maintenance/improvement, sound jail management program, and funds for subsistence of detainees/convicted prisoners.
Section 11 requires creation of a city council for culture and arts and a city council for the elderly and senior citizens, with specified functions and incentives subject to availability of funds.

Legislation process and ordinance effectivity

Section 12 requires the sangguniang panlungsod to adopt or update its rules of procedure on the first regular session following election and within ninety (90) days thereafter.
Section 12 requires the rules to cover organization, election of officers, standing committees (including appropriations, women and family, human rights, youth and sports development, environmental protection, cooperatives), committee jurisdiction, election of committee chairpersons/members, order/calendar of business, legislative process, parliamentary procedures, and discipline rules for disorderly behavior and absences without justifiable cause for four (4) consecutive sessions.
Section 12 authorizes penalties for members for disorderly behavior/absences including censure, reprimand, exclusion, suspension up to sixty (60) days, or expulsion, with expulsion/suspension requiring concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) vote of all sanggunian members.
Section 12 mandates automatic expulsion of a member convicted by final judgment to imprisonment of at least one (1) year for a crime involving moral turpitude.
Section 13 requires every sangguniang panlungsod member to submit full disclosure of business and financial interests upon assumption to office and to disclose potential conflicts including relationships by affinity or consanguinity within the fourth civil degree with persons/firms/entities affected by ordinances/resolutions under consideration that may result in conflict of interests.
Section 13 requires disclosure in writing submitted to the sanggunian secretary or secretary of the committee, and requires the disclosure to form part of the record and follow timing rules: disclosure before participation in deliberations; or before voting on second and third readings if the member did not participate in deliberations; and disclosure when a member takes a position or makes a privilege speech on matters affecting the disclosed business/financial/professional relationship.
Section 14 provides that the sangguniang panlungsod shall fix by resolution the day, time and place of regular sessions on the first day of the session after election; it must hold at least once a week, and barangay sanggunians must have at least twice a month.
Section 14 allows special sessions when public interest demands, called by the city mayor or by majority of sanggunian members.
Section 14 requires that all sanggunian sessions be open to the public unless a closed-door session is ordered by affirmative vote of the majority of members present with quorum, for public interest or reasons of security, decency or morality; no two regular or special sessions may be held in a single day.
Section 14 requires at least twenty-four (24) hours written personal notice to members for special sessions and limits the matters that can be considered unless the sanggunian present grants otherwise by two-thirds (2/3) vote.
Section 15 provides quorum rule: a majority of all sanggunian elected and qualified members constitutes quorum; when a quorum question is raised, the presiding officer calls the roll and announces results.
Section 15 authorizes recess when quorum is lacking, or adjournment from day to day, including compelling immediate attendance of an absent member through police assistance.
Section 15 mandates that if quorum is still lacking despite enforcement, no business is transacted and the presiding officer adjourns for lack of quorum.
Section 16 provides ordinance approval mechanics: each ordinance must be presented to the city mayor; if approved, the city mayor’s signature is affixed on each page; if vetoed, the ordinance is returned with objections and the sanggunian may override by two-thirds (2/3) vote of all its members to make the ordinance/relevant resolutions effective.
Section 16 sets a veto communication deadline: the mayor must communicate veto within ten (10) days; otherwise, the ordinance is deemed approved as if signed.
Section 17 grants the mayor veto power once per ordinance, including vetoes on grounds of ultra vires or prejudicial to public welfare, with written reasons.
Section 17 allows itemized veto of an appropriations ordinance, local development plan adoption, public investment program adoption, and ordinances directing payment/creating liability; vetoed items do not affect non-vetoed items; vetoed items do not take effect unless overridden; if not overridden, corresponding items in the previous year appropriations are deemed reenacted.
Section 17 provides the sanggunian can override any veto by two-thirds (2/3) vote of all its members, making the ordinance effective without mayor approval.
Section 18 requires within three (3) days after approval the sanggunian secretary to forward approved ordinances/resolutions approving local development plans and public investment programs to the sangguniang panlalawigan for review.
Section 18 sets review time and legal examination process: within thirty (30) days after receipt, the sangguniang panlalawigan examines documents or transmits to the provincial attorney or provincial prosecutor for prompt examination; the provincial attorney/prosecutor must inform the sanggunian in writing within ten (10) days of receipt.
Section 18 provides invalidation rule: if sangguniang panlalawigan finds an ordinance/resolution beyond the sanggunian’s power, it declares the ordinance/resolution invalid in whole or in part, records the action in minutes, and advises City authorities; if no action is taken within thirty (30) days, the ordinance/resolution is presumed consistent with law and valid.
Section 19 provides barangay ordinance review: sangguniang barangay must furnish copies to the sangguniang panlungsod within ten (10) days for review for consistency with law/city ordinances.
Section 19 provides deemed approval if no action within thirty (30) days from receipt.
Section 19 provides return-and-suspension procedure if inconsistent: the sangguniang panlungsod returns the ordinance within thirty (30) days with comments/recommendations for adjustment, and the barangay ordinance’s effectivity is suspended until revision is effected.
Section 20 provides consequence for disapproved enactments: any attempt to enforce disapproved ordinances or resolutions approving local development plans and public investment programs is a sufficient ground for suspension or dismissal of the concerned official or employee.
Section 21 establishes effectivity rule: an ordinance or resolution takes effect after ten (10) days from posting on a bulletin board at the entrance of the City Hall and in at least two (2) other conspicuous places, unless the ordinance/resolution provides otherwise.
Section 21 requires the sanggunian secretary to cause posting not later than five (5) days after approval, and to disseminate and post the text in Filipino or English while recording dates of approval and posting.
Section 21 requires publication: the main features must be published once in a local newspaper of general circulation within the City; if absent, publication is in any newspaper of general circulation.
Section 21 requires gist publication for ordinances with penal sanctions in a newspaper of general circulation.

Disqualification and succession of elective officials

Section 22 disqualifies persons from running for any elective position in the City if they: have been sentenced by final judgment for an offense involving moral turpitude or punishable by one (1) year or more within two (2) years after serving sentence.
Section 22 disqualifies persons removed from office as a result of an administrative case; convicted by final judgment for violating oath of allegiance; with dual citizenship; fugitives from justice in criminal or nonpolitical cases here and abroad.
Section 22 disqualifies permanent residents in a foreign country or those who acquired the right to reside abroad and continue to avail of that right after effectivity of the Local Government Code of 1991, and disqualifies the insane or feeble-minded.
Section 23 provides permanent vacancy succession for City mayor and vice mayor: vice mayor becomes mayor if the mayor position becomes permanently vacant; if vice mayor becomes permanently vacant, the highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod member becomes vice mayor or mayor as applicable; subsequent vacancies are filled automatically by ranking.
Section 23 resolves ties among highest ranking sangguniang panlungsod members by drawing of lots.
Section 23 limits successors to serving only the unexpired terms.
Section 23 defines permanent vacancy as arising when an elective local official fills in a higher vacant office, refuses to assume office, fails to qualify, dies, is removed, voluntarily resigns, or is otherwise permanently incapacitated to discharge functions.
Section 23 defines ranking for succession using the proportion of votes obtained by each winning candidate to the total number of registered voters in the City in the immediately preceding local election.
Section 24 provides permanent vacancies in the sangguniang panlungsod not covered by automatic succession: the provincial governor makes appointments.
Section 24 restricts appointment to the nominee of the political party under which the vacant member was elected, ensuring same political party representation; the nominee must have a nomination and certificate of membership from the highest party official as conditions sine qua non; appointments without these are null and void ab initio and ground for administrative action against the responsible official.
Section 24 provides a mayor appointment rule when the vacancy is caused by a sangguniang member with no political party; the city mayor appoints upon recommendation of the sangguniang panlungsod a qualified person.
Section 24 provides for youth and barangay representation: vacancies are filled automatically by the official next-in-rank of the organization concerned.
Section 25 sets temporary vacancy in the city mayor office: if temporarily incapacitated for physical or legal reasons (including leave, travel abroad, or suspension), the vice mayor or highest sangguniang member automatically exercises mayor powers except appointment/suspension/dismissal of employees, which can only be exercised if incapacity exceeds thirty (30) working days.
Section 25 terminates temporary incapacity upon the city mayor’s written declaration to the sangguniang panlungsod that he or she has reported back; if due to legal cause, the mayor also submits documents showing the legal cause no longer exists.
Section 25 permits travel within the country but outside territorial jurisdiction for up