ARTICLE III

Cities
Section 151. Scope of Taxing Powers. - Except as otherwise provided in this Code, the city, may levy
the taxes, fees, and charges which the province or municipality may impose: Provided, however, That
the taxes, fees and charges levied and collected by highly urbanized and independent component
cities shall accrue to them and distributed in accordance with the provisions of this Code.

ARTICLE IV
Barangays
Section 152. Scope of Taxing Powers. - The barangays may levy taxes, fees, and charges, as provided
in this Article

Section 6. Local government units shall have a just share, as determined by law, in the national
taxes which shall be automatically released to them.

1. Just Share as determined by law (Sec. 285)

2. Automatically Released (Sec. 286)

Fiscal Autonomy - the power to create own source of revenue in addition to the share in the national
taxes and the power to allocate resources

Enabling Law- Sec. 284, Sec. 286

Question
Whether or not mandamus is the proper vehicle to assail the constitutionality of the relevant
provisions of the GAA and the LGC.

Answer:
Mandamus is an improper remedy. The determination of what constitutes just share of the
LGUs in the national taxes is an entirely discretionary power which the Congress cannot be
compelled to act either way.

Question
Whether or not Sec. 284 of the LGC is unconstitutional for being repugnant to Sec. 6, Art. X of the
1987 Constitution.

Answer:
The Congress exceeded its constitutional boundary by limiting to the national internal
revenue taxes the base from which to compute the just share of the LGUs:
Section 6 Art X of the 1987 Constitution: Local government units shall have a just share, as determined
by law, in the national taxes which shall be automatically released to them.
Section 284 of the Local Government Code: Allotment of Internal Revenue Taxes. - Local government
units shall have a share in the national internal revenue taxes

Section 7. Local governments shall be entitled to an equitable share in the proceeds of the
utilization and development of the national wealth within their respective areas, in the manner
provided by law, including sharing the same with the inhabitants by way of direct benefits.

Enabling Law- Sec. 289, 290

QUESTION: What if there is a chemical in your area and you are not sure whether it is a natural
resource or not and whether LGU will share in the natural resource?
ANSWER: Let DOE conduct technical evaluation in determining whether it is a natural resource. If
DOE found that it is a natural resource, then DOE will go to DILG. DILG will endorse it to DBM. DBM
will be the one to talk to Bureau of Treasury and all the taxes collected will go to LGU as their share.

Section 8. The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which shall be
determined by law, shall be three years and no such official shall serve for more than three
consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be
considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was
elected.

Hold over capacity - A public office may hold office after his term until their successors are elected
and qualified.

In our government only the barangay officials have hold over capacity.

Hold over capacity was expressly provided to barangay officials by Section 5 of Republic Act No.
9164 (RA 9164)

Mariano v. Comelec, GR No. 118577, Mar 07, 1995

Facts:
Juanito Mariano, a resident of Makati, along with residents of Taguig suing as taxpayers,
assail Sections 2, 51 and 52 of R.A. No. 7854 (“An Act Converting the Municipality of Makati into a
Highly Urbanized City to be known as the City of Makati”). Another petition which contends the
unconstitutionality of R.A. No. 7854 was also filed by John H. Osmena as a senator, taxpayer and
concerned citizen.

Issues:
1. Whether or not Section 2 of R.A. No. 7854 delineated the land areas of the proposed city of
Makati violating sections 7 and 450 of the Local Government Code on specifying metes and
bounds with technical descriptions
2. Whether or not Section 51, Article X of R.A. No. 7854 collides with Section 8, Article X and
Section 7, Article VI of the Constitution stressing that they new city’s acquisition of a new
corporate existence will allow the incumbent mayor to extend his term to more than two
executive terms as allowed by the Constitution
Held:
1. No. Emphasis has been provided in the provision under dispute. Said delineation did not
change even by an inch the land area previously covered by Makati as a municipality. It must
be noted that the requirement of metes and bounds was meant merely as a tool in the
establishment of LGUs. It is not an end in itself. Furthermore, at the time of consideration or
R.A. No. 7854, the territorial dispute between the municipalities of Makati and Taguig over
Fort Bonifacio was under court litigation. Out of becoming a sense of respect to co-equal
department of government, legislators felt that the dispute should be left to the courts to
decide.
2. No. This challenge on the controversy cannot be entertained as the premise on the issue is
on the occurrence of many contingent events. Considering that these events may or may not
happen, petitioners merely pose a hypothetical issue which has yet to ripen to an actual case
or controversy. Moreover, only Mariano among the petitioners is a resident of Taguig and
are not the proper parties to raise this abstract issue.

QUESTION: If the term of office of a public officer, whether appointive or elective, has been fixed by
law with a certain period, will the becoming of that period can a public officer still continue his office
even if the period has already been lapsed?
If fixed by law and it states that the public officer shall hold office for 3 years up to June 30 NN,
following the last election, if there was no one elected after June 30 NN, can he still hold the office?

ANSWER: When the term of office is fixed by law, upon the arrival of that time, the public officer
needs to go down but if the term was fixed in a way that he shall serve until a certain period or until
his successor should have been elected or qualified then that means that public officer has been given
the Hold Over Capacity.

Section 9. Legislative bodies of local governments shall have sectoral representation as may be
prescribed by law.

QUESTION: What if the Vice Governor and Governor will not accept the IP representative? Is there a
case?

ANSWER: Yes, graft under Section 3 (E) of RA 3019 which caused injury to another.

(e) Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any
unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or
judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence. This
provision shall apply to officers and employees of offices or government corporations charged with
the grant of licenses or permits or other concessions.

Section 10. No province, city, municipality, or barangay may be created, divided, merged,
abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria
established in the local government code and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast
in a plebiscite in the political units directly affected.

Requisites for creation, division, merger or abolishment of a province, city and municipality:

a. There must be a law which is passed by the Congress

 Section 460. Manner of Creation. - A province may be created, divided, merged,
abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, only by an Act of Congress and
subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by
the COMELEC in the local government unit or units directly affected. The plebiscite
shall be held within one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of effectivity of
said Act, unless otherwise provided therein.
 Section 449. Manner of Creation. - A city may be created, divided, merged, abolished,
or its boundary substantially altered, only by an Act of Congress, and subject to
approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by the
COMELEC in the local government unit or units directly affected. Except as may
otherwise be provided in such Act. the plebiscite shall be held within one hundred
twenty (120) days from the date of its effectivity.
 Section 441. Manner of Creation. - A municipality may be created, divided, merged,
abolished, or its boundary substantially altered only by an Act of Congress and
subject to the approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted
by the COMELEC in the local government unit or units directly affected. Except as
may otherwise be provided in the said Act, the plebiscite shall be held within one
hundred twenty (120) days from the date of its effectivity.

b. It must possessed the minimum requirements (for creation) (verifiable indicators):

1. Land Area determined by Land Management Bureau (LMB)
2. Population determined by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)
3. Income determined by Department of Finance (DOF)
Umali v. Comelec, G.R. No. 203974, April 22, 2014
Doctrine: Scope of Plebscite
Facts:
On July 11, 2011, the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cabanatuan City passed Resolution No.
183-2011, requesting the President to declare the conversion of Cabanatuan City from a component
city of the province of Nueva Ecija into a highly urbanized city (HUC). Acceding to the request, the
President issued Presidential Proclamation No. 418, Series of 2012, proclaiming the City of
Cabanatuan as an HUC subject to “ratification in a plebiscite by the qualified voters therein, as
provided for in Section 453 of the Local Government Code of 1991.”
Respondent COMELEC, acting on the proclamation, issued the assailed Minute Resolution
No. 12-0797 which reads: WHEREFORE, the Commission RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, that for
purposes of the plebiscite for the conversion of Cabanatuan City from component city to highly-
urbanized city, only those registered residents of Cabanatuan City should participate in the said
plebiscite.
The COMELEC based this resolution on Sec. 453 of the Local Government Code of 1991
(LGC), citing conversion cases involving Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Tacloban City in Southern
Leyte, and Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, where only the residents of the city proposed to be converted
were allowed to vote in the corresponding plebiscite.
Petitioner Aurelio M. Umali, Governor of Nueva Ecija, filed a Verified Motion for
Reconsideration, maintaining that the proposed conversion in question will necessarily and directly
affect the mother province of Nueva Ecija. His main argument is that Section 453 of the LGC should
be interpreted in conjunction with Sec. 10, Art. X of the Constitution. He argues that while the
conversion in question does not involve the creation of a new or the dissolution of an existing city,
the spirit of the Constitutional provision calls for the people of the LGU directly affected to vote in a
plebiscite whenever there is a material change in their rights and responsibilities. The phrase
“qualified voters therein” used in Sec. 453 of the LGC should then be interpreted to refer to the
qualified voters of the units directly affected by the conversion and not just those in the component
city proposed to be upgraded. Petitioner Umali justified his position by enumerating the various
adverse effects of the Cabanatuan City’s conversion and how it will cause material change not only in
the political and economic rights of the city and its residents but also of the province as a whole.
On October 4, 2012, the COMELEC En Banc on October 16, 2012, in E.M No. 12-045 (PLEB),
by a vote of 5-2 ruled in favor of respondent Vergara through the assailed Minute Resolution 12-
0925.

Issue:
Whether the qualified registered voters of the entire province of Nueva Ecija or only those in
Cabanatuan City can participate in the plebiscite called for the conversion of Cabanatuan City from a
component city into a Highly Urbanized City (HUC).

Held:
Entire province of Nueva Ecija should vote in the plebiscite. The upward conversion of a
component city, in this case Cabanatuan City, into an HUC will come at a steep price. It can be
gleaned from the above-cited rule that the province will inevitably suffer a corresponding decrease in
territory brought about by Cabanatuan City’s gain of independence. With the city’s newfound
autonomy, it will be free from the oversight powers of the province, which, in effect, reduces the
territorial jurisdiction of the latter. What once formed part of Nueva Ecija will no longer be subject to
supervision by the province. In more concrete terms, Nueva Ecija stands to lose 282.75 sq. km. of its
territorial jurisdiction with Cabanatuan City’s severance from its mother province. This is equivalent
to carving out almost 5% of Nueva Ecija’s 5,751.3 sq. km. area. This sufficiently satisfies the
requirement that the alteration be “substantial.”

Requisites for creation, division, merger or abolishment of a barangay:

a. Created by Provincial or City Ordinance

  Section 385. Manner of Creation. - A barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or
its boundary substantially altered, by law or by an ordinance of the sangguniang
panlalawigan or panlungsod, subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a
plebiscite to be conducted by the COMELEC in the local government unit or units directly
affected within such period of time as may be determined by the law or ordinance creating
said barangay. In the case of the creation of barangays by the sangguniang panlalawigan, the
recommendation of the sangguniang bayan concerned shall be necessary.
 Permissive delegation: Congress delegates to enact law to LGUs:
Section 48. Local Legislative Power. - Local legislative power shall be exercised by the
sangguniang panlalawigan for the province; the sangguniang panlungsod for the city; the
sangguniang bayan for the municipality; and the sangguniang barangay for the barangay.
 Law v. Ordinance - Law is enacted by Congress in exercise of their power. Ordinance is also a
law which is enacted by LGUs in exercise of their permissive power to enact laws.

QUESTION: If there is a tribe with a population of only 200, can they form a barangay?

ANSWER: No, the law provides that a barangay needs at least 2,000 inhabitants to be created. If the
population requirement is not met, the remedy is to go to Congress and let Congress pass a law
creating that barangay with less than 2,000 inhabitants.

QUESTION: What if there was a volcano eruption and the municipality was buried by the
lahar/ashes, is the municipality automatically abolished?

ANSWER: No, what has been created by law can only be abolished by another law. The mere fact that
it was buried will not automatically abolished the municipality but it will be a ground to abolish the
municipality.

The metes and bounds in the creation of the local government units should be described in a
technical description.

- the case of Mariano vs. COMELEC is the exception wherein Makati was converted from municipality
into a city and the law that converted Makati did not provide the metes and bounds because there
was still boundary disputes between Taguig, Pateros and Makati