City corporate powers and general powers
- The City is a political body corporate with perpetual succession and powers of a municipal corporation, exercised in conformity with this Charter and laws.
- The City has the power to sue and be sued and to have and use a corporate seal.
- The City may acquire, hold, and convey real or personal property and may enter into contracts and/or agreements.
- The City may levy taxes.
- The City may close and open roads, streets, alleys, parks or squares.
- The City may expropriate or condemn private property for public use.
- The City may prosecute and defend suits wherein it is involved and exercise corporate powers granted by law or this Charter.
Liability for damages and police jurisdiction
- The City and its officials are not exempt from liability for death or injury to persons or damage to property under Section 5.
- The City’s police jurisdiction for police purposes only is coextensive with its territorial jurisdiction.
- For protecting and ensuring purity of the City’s water supply, the police jurisdiction extends over:
- 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 in connection with the City water service.
- Regional trial courts and City courts of Tanauan have concurrent jurisdiction with courts of adjoining municipalities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within the drainage area or within 100 m., and the court first taking jurisdiction retains exclusive jurisdiction.
- Licenses issued within the zone/area/space are granted by the proper authorities of the concerned City or municipality, and the fees accrue to the treasury of the concerned City or municipality under Section 6.
City officials and appointments framework
- The City government includes: a city mayor, city vice mayor, sangguniang panlungsod members, a 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 agriculturist, city cooperatives officer, and an environment and natural resources officer.
- The city mayor may appoint a city architect, a city information officer, and a city population officer.
- The City must establish: a city fire station headed by a city fire marshal, a city jail headed by a city jail warden, a city school division headed by a city school division superintendent, and a city prosecution service headed by a city prosecutor.
- The City may maintain existing offices not listed, create other necessary offices, or consolidate functions for efficiency and economy under Section 7.
- Unless otherwise provided, department and office heads are appointed by the city mayor with the concurrence of the majority of all the sangguniang panlungsod members, subject to civil service law.
- The sangguniang panlungsod must act on the appointment within fifteen (15) days; otherwise, the appointment is deemed confirmed.
City mayor and vice mayor powers
- The city mayor is the chief executive of the City and is elected at large by qualified voters.
- The mayor must be 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 mayor serves three (3) years, unless sooner removed.
- The mayor receives a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to salary grade thirty (30) under Republic Act No. 6758 and related implementing guidelines.
- The city mayor exercises powers and duties under the Local Government Code of 1991 and other laws, including program governance, executive direction of city development planning, and initiation of legislative measures.
- The mayor represents the City in business transactions and signs, with authority, bonds, contracts, obligations, and other documents.
- The mayor must:
- carry out emergency measures during and after disasters and calamities;
- ensure faithful discharge of executive duties and cause proceedings for offenses committed in office;
- examine books/records and require national officials stationed in the City to make available non-confidential records;
- furnish copies of executive orders to the provincial governor within seventy-two (72) hours;
- visit component barangays at least once every six (6) months;
- authorize official trips not exceeding thirty (30) days;
- issue executive orders for faithful enforcement of laws and ordinances.
- The city mayor is entitled to carry necessary firearms within territorial jurisdiction after securing required permits and/or licenses.
- The city mayor acts as deputized representative of the National Police Commission, formulates and implements the peace and order plan approved by the City under Republic Act No. 6975, and exercises general and operational control and supervision over police forces.
- The vice mayor is elected similarly to the mayor, has the same qualifications at election, serves three (3) years, unless sooner removed, and receives compensation corresponding to salary grade twenty-six (26) under Republic Act No. 6758.
- The vice mayor presides over the sangguniang panlungsod, signs warrants drawn on the City treasury for sanggunian expenditures, appoints officials/employees subject to civil service rules (except those with special appointment rules), and assumes the mayor’s office in permanent or temporary vacancy under Sections 9 and 24.
Sangguniang panlungsod: composition and lawmaking
- The sangguniang panlungsod is the legislative body of the City, composed of the city vice mayor as 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 sectoral representatives.
- Three (3) sectoral representatives are included:
- one (1) from the women;
- one (1) from the agricultural or industrial workers chosen by the sanggunian within ninety (90) days prior to local elections;
- one (1) from other sectors, including urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, or disabled persons.
- Regular and sectoral members are elected as provided by law; elective members must have the qualifications under Section 39 of Republic Act No. 7160.
- The sangguniang panlungsod approves ordinances and passes resolutions necessary for efficient and effective city government.
- The sangguniang panlungsod must review ordinances approved by the sangguniang barangay and executive orders of the punong barangay for consistency with their prescribed powers.
- The sangguniang panlungsod maintains peace and order by enacting measures to prevent and suppress lawlessness, disorder, riot, violence, rebellion, or sedition, and imposes penalties for ordinance violations.
- The sangguniang panlungsod may approve ordinances imposing a fine not exceeding PHP 5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or both at the court’s discretion for violation of a city ordinance.
- The sangguniang panlungsod enacts disaster-preparedness, relief, and rehabilitation ordinances and ordinances to prevent habitual drunkenness and related prohibited activities, including gambling and other prohibited games of chance, fraudulent devices, drug addiction and drug dens, juvenile delinquency, and obscene or pornographic materials.
- The sangguniang panlungsod protects the environment by setting aside at least ten percent (10%) of development funds to maintain and enhance the ecological balance of the City and by imposing penalties for harmful acts such as dynamite fishing, illegal logging, smuggling of logs or natural resources products and endangered species, slash-and-burn farming, and other pollution/ecological-imbalance activities.
- The sangguniang panlungsod determines officials’ powers and duties within the framework of law, and determines positions and salaries/wages/allowances and benefits for officials and employees paid wholly or mainly from City funds.
- The sangguniang panlungsod provides legal assistance to city and barangay officials and members of the City police under conditions described in Section 10 and may authorize the city mayor to engage private counsel for this purpose.
- The sangguniang panlungsod provides for group or additional insurance coverage for officials, including barangay tanod brigades and other service units, when finances allow.
- The sangguniang panlungsod:
- approves annual and supplemental City budgets and appropriates funds for specified programs and other lawful purposes for general welfare;
- upon the majority vote of all members, enacts ordinances levying taxes, fees and charges, prescribing rates, and granting tax exemption, incentive, or relief;
- upon the majority vote, authorizes the city mayor to negotiate and contract loans and other indebtedness under the framework of Book II of Republic Act No. 7160;
- upon majority vote, enacts ordinances authorizing floating bonds or other indebtedness instruments for development projects;
- appropriates for City buildings and, by majority vote, authorizes the city mayor to lease public buildings held in a proprietary capacity subject to law;
- prescribes limits on use of City property;
- adopts a comprehensive land use plan in coordination with the approved provincial plan;
- reclassifies lands subject to Republic Act No. 7160;
- enacts an integrated zoning ordinance, fire limits/zones, and regulates construction/repair/modification within fire limits consistent with the Fire Code;
- processes and approves subdivision plans subject to national law, collects processing fees accruing entirely to the City when national agency approval is required, and ensures agency approval is not withheld for more than thirty (30) days from receipt of application, with failure to act deemed approval;
- grants exclusive privilege for constructing fish corrals/pens or taking/catching bangus fry, prawn fry, kawag-kawag fry, or fry of any species of fish within City waters;
- with concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all members, grants tax exemptions/incentives/relief to entities engaged in community growth-inducing industries subject to Republic Act No. 7160;
- grants loans or grants to other LGUs or to national/provincial/city charitable, benevolent, or educational institutions operating and maintained within the City;
- regulates building numbering and inspection/weighing/measuring of articles of commerce;
- enacts franchises and permits/licenses to promote general welfare, including:
- fixing reasonable fees for services rendered by the City;
- regulating/fixing license fees for businesses and professions and the conditions under which licenses may be revoked;
- setting terms and conditions for operation of City-owned public utilities and leasing preferably to cooperatives;
- regulating sign display and fixing license fees;
- authorizing and licensing cockpits and regulating cockfighting and commercial breeding of gamecocks without prejudicing existing rights;
- regulating tricycles under Department of Transportation and Communications guidelines and granting franchises for operations;
- granting franchises by majority vote for business within the City, constructing/operating/maintaining ferries, wharves, markets, or slaughterhouses, and other lawful activities, with cooperatives given preference.
- The sangguniang panlungsod may:
- declare, prevent, or abate nuisances;
- with concurrence of a majority of members with quorum, deny entry of legalized gambling by ordinance into any part of the City or regulate its location;
- require sanitary maintenance of buildings and premises, impose penalties, or have needed work done at the owner/administrator/tenant’s expense and require filling up of land for sanitation;
- regulate disposal of clinical and similar wastes;
- regulate establishments including cafes, restaurants, beerhouses, hotels, motels, inns, pension houses, lodging houses, tourist guides, and transports;
- regulate sale/giving/distribution/dispensing of intoxicating malt, vino, mixed or fermented liquors at retail outlets;
- regulate steam boilers and heating devices and storage of inflammable and highly combustible materials;
- regulate entertainment/amusement facilities and events that disturb the community, and suspend/suppress them or prohibit forms to protect social and moral welfare;
- regulate funeral parlors and burial/cremation subject to existing laws, rules and regulations;
- impound stray animals, regulate keeping animals in homes or as business, regulate slaughter/sale/disposition, and adopt measures to prevent and penalize animal cruelty.
- The sangguniang panlungsod approves ordinances ensuring delivery of basic services and facilities under Republic Act No. 7160, including:
- communal forest and watershed protection, tree parks, greenbelts, mangroves, and similar projects;
- markets/slaughterhouses/animal corrals and City operation/authorization;
- regulation of private markets and similar structures;
- City operation of ferries, wharves, and structures accelerating marine/offshore productivity;
- regulation of preparation and sale of meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, fresh dairy products, and other foodstuffs for public consumption;
- regulation of streets and public places (including bus/vehicle stops and terminals, garages for hire, vehicle stands, signs/awnings) and street lighting/cleaning/sprinkling;
- traffic regulation on streets and bridges, prohibition of encroachments, and authorization to remove encroachments and illegal constructions when public welfare requires;
- subject to existing laws and funds, establishment and operation of waterworks systems for water supply and purification, regulation of hydrants/pumps/cisterns/reservoirs, and extension of ordinances over the water drainage area and within 100 m. of water facilities, including regulation of water consumption/use/wastage and collection of charges;
- regulation of drilling/excavation for laying pipes and construction/repair of public drains/sewers and similar structures, hazards to safety, and private water closets/privies and similar structures;
- regulation of gas mains and electric/communication wires, conduits, meters and apparatus, and correction/condemnation/removal when dangerous;
- establishment/operation of vocational/technical schools and similar post-secondary institutions when funds allow, and fixing reasonable tuition fees and school charges with approval by Department of Education, Culture and Sports and subject to tuition-related laws;
- scholarship fund for poor but deserving students in schools within the City or for City residents;
- quarantine regulations to prevent introduction/spread of diseases;
- solid waste/garbage collection/disposal and prohibition of littering and garbage/refuse/filth/waste throwing;
- care for disabled persons, paupers, the aged, sick persons, persons of unsound mind, abandoned minors, juvenile delinquents, drug dependents, abused children, and other needy/disadvantaged persons (particularly children and youth below eighteen (18) years), and operation of centers/facilities when funds allow;
- maintenance and improvement of jails and detention centers, a sound jail management program, and appropriations for subsistence of detainees and convicted prisoners;
- establishment of a city council for culture and arts and a city council for the elderly, including elderly benefits, incentives for NGOs, and appropriations when funds allow.
Legislative procedure, sessions, veto, review
- The sangguniang panlungsod adopts or updates internal rules within ninety (90) days after the first regular session following the election of its members.
- Internal rules must provide for: organization and election of officers; standing committees including 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; legislative process and parliamentary procedures; member discipline for disorderly behavior and absences for four (4) consecutive sessions (including censure/reprimand/exclusion, suspension up to sixty (60) days, or expulsion requiring two-thirds (2/3) vote); automatic expulsion for members convicted by final judgment to imprisonment of at least one (1) year for crimes involving moral turpitude; and other adopted rules.
- Each sangguniang panlungsod member must make a full written disclosure of business and financial interests upon assumption to office, including relationships within the fourth civil degree of affinity or consanguinity with persons/entities affected by ordinances or resolutions under consideration.
- The disclosure must identify ownership of stock/capital/investment and contracts/agreements connected to the ordinance or resolution.
- Conflict of interest is defined functionally as one where a sanggunian member may not act in the public interest due to private pecuniary or personal considerations affecting judgment to the prejudice of public service.
- The written disclosure must be submitted to the secretary of the sanggunian or the secretary of the committee and included in the record of proceedings.
- The disclosure must be made before participation in deliberations; if the member did not participate, it must be made before voting on second and third readings; it must also be made when the member takes a position or makes a privilege speech affecting the identified business/financial/professional relationships.
- The sangguniang panlungsod sets the day, time, and place of sessions by resolution on the first day of the session immediately following the election.
- Minimum regular sessions are 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 the sanggunian when public interest demands.
- Sessions are open to the public unless a closed-door session is ordered by affirmative vote of a majority of members present with quorum in the public interest or for security, decency, or morality.
- No two (2) regular or special sessions may be held in a single day.
- For special sessions, written notice must be personally served on members at their usual residences at least twenty-four (24) hours before the session.
- In special sessions, only matters stated in the notice may be considered unless two-thirds (2/3) vote of members present with quorum is obtained.
- The sanggunian keeps a journal and may publish it upon sanggunian resolution.
- Quorum is a majority of all elected and qualified members.
- If quorum is challenged, the presiding officer calls the roll and announces results.
- Without quorum, the presiding officer may declare a recess until quorum is constituted or members present may adjourn 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 no quorum persists after these steps, no business is transacted and the presiding officer adjourns the session for lack of quorum upon proper motion.
- Ordinances passed by the sangguniang panlungsod are presented to the city mayor.
- If the city mayor approves, he signs each and every page; if not, he vetoes and returns with objections for reconsideration.
- The sangguniang panlungsod may override a veto by two-thirds (2/3) vote of all its members to make the ordinance effective.
- The city mayor must communicate a veto within ten (10) days; otherwise, the ordinance is deemed approved as if signed.
- The city mayor may veto an ordinance on grounds of ultra vires or prejudicial to public welfare, stating reasons in writing.
- The city mayor may veto particular items in an appropriations ordinance, local development plan/public investment program adoption, a public investment program, or an ordinance directing payment of money or creating liability; vetoed items do not take effect unless overridden as required.
- The city mayor may veto only once for an ordinance or resolution.
- The sangguniang panlungsod may override a veto by two-thirds (2/3) vote even without city mayor approval.
- For review by the sangguniang panlalawigan:
- Within three (3) days after approval, the sanggunian secretary forwards approved ordinances and resolutions approving local development plans and public investment programs to the sangguniang panlalawigan.
- 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 prosecutor must inform the sangguniang panlalawigan in writing within ten (10) days of receipt.
- If found beyond power, the sangguniang panlalawigan declares the ordinance/resolution invalid in whole or in part, records 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.
- For review of barangay ordinances by the sangguniang panlungsod:
- Within ten (10) days after enactment, the sangguniang barangay furnishes copies to the sangguniang panlungsod for review for consistency with law and city ordinances.
- If the sangguniang panlungsod does not act within thirty (30) days from receipt, barangay ordinances are deemed approved.
- If inconsistent, the sangguniang panlungsod returns them with comments within thirty (30) days for adjustment/amendment/modification; barangay ordinance effectivity is suspended until revisions are effected.
- Enforcement of disapproved ordinances/resolutions: any attempt to enforce after disapproval is a sufficient ground for suspension or dismissal of the concerned official or employee.
- Ordinance effectivity:
- Ordinances and resolutions approving local development plans and public investment programs take effect after ten (10) days from posting on the bulletin board at the City Hall entrance and in at least two (2) other conspicuous places, unless otherwise stated.
- Posting must be done by the sanggunian secretary not later than five (5) days after approval.
- The text must be disseminated and posted in Filipino or English and in the language/dialect understood by the majority of people in the City, with the secretary recording the approval and posting dates in a book kept for that purpose.
- Main features must be published once in a local newspaper of general circulation within the City; if none, publication is in any newspaper of general circulation.
- The gist of ordinances with penal sanctions must also be published in a newspaper of general circulation.
Disqualifications and succession of elective officials
- The following persons are disqualified 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 due to an 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 the effectivity of the Local Government Code of 1991;
- the insane or feeble-minded.
- Permanent vacancy in the office of city mayor:
- the city vice mayor becomes mayor;
- if the vice mayor refuses to assume, the highest ranking sanggunian member becomes mayor.
- Permanent vacancy in the office of city vice mayor:
- the highest ranking sanggunian member becomes mayor or vice mayor, as the case may be; if the highest ranking member is permanently incapacitated, the second highest ranking member assumes.
- Subsequent vacancies are filled automatically by other sanggunian members according to ranking, and ties are resolved by drawing of lots.
- Successors serve only the unexpired terms of predecessors.
- A permanent vacancy exists when 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.
- Ranking in the sanggunian for purposes of succession is based on 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.
- Permanent vacancies in the sanggunian where automatic succession does not apply are filled by appointments by the provincial governor.
- Appointments for such sanggunian vacancies must come only from the political party under which the sanggunian member was elected, with nomination and certificate of membership as conditions sine qua non; appointments without them are null and void ab initio and trigger administrative action against the responsible official.
- If the vacancy is caused by a sanggunian member who does not belong to any political party, the city mayor appoints a qualified person upon recommendation of the sanggunian.
- If vacancy is in representation of youth and the barangay, the vacancy is filled automatically by the official next in rank of the organization concerned.
- Temporary vacancy in the office of the city mayor:
- the city vice mayor automatically exercises mayoral powers and duties except the power to appoint, suspend or dismiss employees, which the vice mayor may exercise 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 to office, and if due to legal cause, upon submission of documents showing the legal cause no longer exists.
- if the mayor travels within the country but outside territorial jurisdiction