Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This unit presents the general and specific requirements prescribed by the Code for the creation of
LGUs. It also identifies the source of the authority to create LGUs.
LESSON 1
Authority to Create LGUs, General Requirements
and Corporate Existence of LGUs
Objectives
1. Recite the codal provision providing authority to create, divide, merge or abolish local
government units;
2. Summarize the general and specific requirements; and
From the foregoing provision of the Code, it is clear that a province, city, municipality, or any
other political subdivision or unit may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundaries
substantially altered only by a law passed by Congress. In the same vein, the creation, division, merger,
abolition, or substantial alteration of the boundaries of a barangay may be effected through an ordinance
of the sangguniang panlalawigan or sangguniang panlungsod in the case of the barangay located within its
territorial jurisdiction subject to the limitations and requirements prescribed in Book III of the Code.
However, Congress may create barangays in indigenous cultural communities to enhance and speed up
the delivery of services in these areas regardless of the population of the same. It may also create
barangays within the Metropolitan Manila Area.
The phrase “any other political subdivision” refers to the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao and the Cordillera Administrative Region, as defined in Art. X of the Constitution of the
Philippines, and other political subdivisions that may be created later aside from barangays.
General Requirements for the Creation, Conversion, Division, Merger and Abolition of LGUs
● The Secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF) will attest to the compliance with
the income requirement in the case of provinces and cities, and the provincial treasurer
in the case of municipalities.
● As to the population requirement, the Administrator of the National Statistics Office
(NSO) is the certifying officer,
● while the Director of the Lands Management Bureau (LMB) of the Department of
Environment and Natural resources (DENR) certifies compliance with the land area
requirement.
Abolition
When the income, population, or land area of a local government unit has been irreversibly
reduced to less than the minimum standards prescribed for its creation under Book III of the Code, as
certified by the national government agencies mentioned in Section 7 hereof to the Congress of the
Philippines or to the sanggunian concerned, as the case may be, so much so that its viability and capacity
to provide services is in serious doubt, the local government unit may be abolished (Sec. 9, LGC). A local
government created through a legislative enactment of Congress or through an ordinance of the
In such a law or ordinance, where applicable, abolishing a local government unit shall clearly
specify the local government unit to which the local government unit sought to be abolished will be
attached, merged, or incorporated (Ibid.).
Plebiscite Requirement
The creation, division, merger, abolition, or substantial alteration of boundaries of local
government units will take effect only if approved in a plebiscite. Sec. 10 of the Code provides that “No
creation, division, merger, abolition, or substantial alteration of boundaries of local government units
shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite called for the purpose in
the political unit or units directly affected.”
Under the supervision of the COMELEC, the plebiscite is to be held within 120 days from the
date of the effectivity of the law or ordinance authorizing such action, unless a different date is
fixed by said law or ordinance (Ibid.). It is the duty of the COMELEC to conduct an intensified
information campaign in the LGUs affected or concerned at least twenty days before the plebiscite in the
case of provinces, cities, and municipalities, and ten days, in case of barangays.
Naming of Local Government Units and Other Public Places, Streets and Structures
Pursuant to the Code (Sec. 13) the sangguniang panlalawigan, after consultation with the
Philippine Historical Institute (PHI) should change the name of the following within its territorial
boundaries:
1. component cities and municipalities, upon the recommendation of the sanggunian
concerned;
2. provincial roads, avenues, boulevards, thoroughfares, and bridges;
3. public vocational or technical schools and other post-secondary and tertiary schools;
4. provincial hospitals, health centers, and other health facilities; and
5. any other place, building, or structure owned by the provincial government.
Highly-urbanized cities and component cities whose charters or the laws creating them do not
allow their voters to vote for provincial elective officials, through their sanggunians and in consultation
with the PHI may change the name of the following within the limits of their territorial boundaries:
1. barangays within the city upon the recommendation of the barangays concerned;
2. city roads, avenues, boulevards, thoroughfares, and bridges;
In consultation with the PHI, sanggunians of component cities and municipalities may change the
name of the following within the boundaries of their territorial jurisdiction:
1. barangays of the city or municipality upon the recommendation of the affected barangay;
2. city, municipal and barangay roads, avenues, boulevards, thoroughfares, and bridges;
3. city and municipal public elementary, secondary and vocational or technical schools,
post-secondary and other tertiary schools;
4. city and municipal hospitals, health centers and other health facilities; and
5. any other public place, building, or structure owned by the city or municipal government.
Rules
Rules on the naming of or changing of the name of local government units, and places are
prescribed by the Code (Sec. 13 pars. d, e, f, g, and h), namely:
⮚ No local government unit, institution, place, building, or structure may be named after a living
person.
⮚ Any change in name may not be made often or more frequent than once every ten (10) years.
⮚ A change of name of public school may be effected or made only upon the recommendation of
the local school board concerned.
⮚ A change of name of public hospitals, health centers, and other health facilities shall be made
only upon the recommendation of the local health board concerned.
⮚ The Office of the President, the representative of the legislative district concerned, and the
Bureau of Posts shall be notified of any change of name.
LESSON 2
Specific Requirements for the Creation, Division, Merger and Abolition of LGUs
Objectives
At the end of this lesson the student should be able to:
1. Enumerate the specific requirements for the creation, division, merger and abolition of barangays,
municipalities, cities and provinces; and
2. Familiarize himself with the steps in the creation, division, merger and abolition of barangays,
municipalities, cities and provinces.
Barangays
The Code provides that “A barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its
boundaries substantially altered, by law or an ordinance of the sangguniang panlalawigan or sangguniang
panlungsod… In the case of the creation of barangays by the sangguniang panlalawigan, the
recommendation of the sangguniang bayan concerned shall be necessary” (Sec. 385).
Strictly speaking, the measures passed by the sangguniang panlalawigan and sangguniang
panlungsod go by the nomenclatures ordinance/resolution, whereas, the enactments of the Congress are
termed law, statute or act. Therefore, the interpretation that Sec. 385 allows the creation by the
sangguniang panlalawigan or the sangguniang panlungsod of a barangay by law is incorrect. The
sangguniang panlalawigan or sangguniang panlungsod can only create a local government unit through an
ordinance. That the foregoing is the intent of the law is supported by Art. 6 of the Code which clearly
states that “A local government unit may be created or its boundaries substantially altered either by law
enacted by Congress in the case of province, city, municipality, or by ordinance passed by the
sangguniang panlalawigan or sanggunian panlungsod concerned in the case of a barangay . . .” Save the
case of barangays in indigenous cultural communities created by an act of Congress to “enhance the
delivery of basic services” to such communities as provided by Sec. 386, LGC, as cited earlier.
The creation, division, merger, abolition, or substantial alteration of the boundaries of a barangay
must be approved by a majority of the votes, not majority of all voters, cast in a plebiscite called for the
purpose by the COMELEC in the local government unit, if there is only one LGU affected, or units, if
there is more than one LGU directly affected. Generally, the plebiscite is to be conducted within 120 days
from the date the ordinance effecting or proposing to effect the creation of a new barangay, unless, a
different date is set by the ordinance (Sec. 385, LGC). The recommendation of the sangguniang bayan
concerned is necessary in the case of the creation of a barangay by the sangguniang panlalawigan (Ibid.).
Requisites
Municipalities
Subject to the provisions of Sec. 6 of the Code, a municipality may be created if it has the
following requirements, namely:
● An average annual income of at least P2,500,000.00 for at least two consecutive years based on
1991 constant prices as certified by the provincial treasurer, including the income accruing to the
general fund, but excluding special funds, transfers and non-recurring income.
● Contiguous territory of at least 50 square kilometers as certified by the LMB. Where the
To safeguard the political integrity of already existing political subdivisions and to discourage
unnecessary raids upon the territories of local government units, the Code provides that in no case should
the creation of a new municipality reduce the land area, population or income of the original municipality
or municipalities at the time of the creation to less than the minimum requirements prescribed in the Code
(Ibid., par. b.).
Municipalities already created and existing at the time of the effectivity of the Code in 1991 are
guaranteed by the Code to exist and operate as such, while municipal districts which have elected their
respective set of municipal officials on same date are considered as regular municipalities by
contemplation of law (Ibid., par. d.).
Cities
A municipality or a cluster or group of barangays may be converted into a component city if it
has an average annual income of at least twenty million pesos for the last two consecutive years based on
1991 constant prices, as certified by the DOF and either a contiguous territory of at least 100 square
kilometers, as certified the LMB, or a population of not less than 150,000 inhabitants (Sec. 450, (a), (i)
and (ii). This means that a city can be fashioned out of a municipality or an aggregate of barangays with
an income of P20,000,000.00 as defined herein and either of the last two requisites: a population of
150,000 inhabitants or land area (100 sq. kms.).
● Government center site of not less than ten thousand (10,000) square meters which
shall include the city hall site and those of other government buildings;
● Market site of not less than ten thousand (10,000) square meters, located out of view
of the city hall, schools, plaza, and cemetery and near but not along a provincial road,
railroad station, navigable river, or sea;
● Plaza or park of not less than ten thousand (10,000) square meters located preferably
● School site of not less than ten thousand (10,000) square meters, in well-drained
location that conforms with the requirements prescribed by public school authorities;
and
● Cemetery site of not less than five thousand (5,000) square meters for every ten
However, the required land area and contiguity of territory are waived if the city proposed to be
created is made of an island or group of islands (Ibid., par. b). Simply stated, if a city is to be created out
of an island or group of islands, the size of that island or group of islands which will constitute the
territory of the proposed city need not be contiguous or compact, as islands are disparate, and may be
smaller than 100 sq. kms. in size.
Similarly, there is still the common requirement that the creation of the new city shall not reduce
the land area, population, and income of the original unit or units affected by such creation to less than the
Provinces
Only an enactment of Congress can create, merge, abolish, or substantially alter the boundaries of
a province and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite called for the purpose
conducted by the COMELEC in the local government unit or units directly affected. The plebiscite shall
be held within 120 days from the date of effectivity of the Act creating it, unless a different date is set in
said Act (Sec. 460, LGC).
The Code (Sec. 461) enumerates the requisites for the creation of a province, as follows:
1. An average annual income of at least P20,000,000.00 based on 1991 constant prices as
certified by the DOF; and
2. Contiguous territory of at least 2,000 sq. kms. as certified by the LMB or a population of at
least 250,000 inhabitants as certified by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
The territory need not be contiguous if it is comprise of two or more islands or if it is separated
by a chartered city or cities which do not contribute to the income of the province. The average annual
income shall include the income accruing to the general fund, exclusive of special funds, trust funds,
transfers, and non-recurring income.
What happens to sub-provinces existing at the time of the approval of the Code? Existing sub-
provinces are converted into regular provinces as the Code ordains in Sec. 462 thereof subject to approval
by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be held in said areas (sub-provinces) and original
provinces directly affected and is conducted by the COMELEC simultaneously with the national elections
following the effectivity of the Code in 1991.
⮙ Petition – Interested municipalities or component cities shall submit the petition, in the form
shall submit to the Congress its comments and recommendations on the petition for creation
of the proposed province.
⮙ Documents to support petition – The following documents shall be attached to the petition for
creation:
(i) Certification by the DOF that the average annual income of the proposed province meets
the minimum income requirement and that its creation will not reduce the income, based
on 1991 constant prices of the original LGU or LGUs to less than the prescribed
minimum;
(ii) Certification by NSO as to population of the proposed province and that its creation will
not reduce the population of the original LGUs to less than the prescribed minimum;
(iii) Certification by LMB that the land area of the proposed province meets the minimum
land area requirement and that its creation will not reduce the land area of the original
LGU or LGUs to less than the prescribed minimum;
(iv) Map of the original LGU or LGUs, indicating the areas to be created into a province. The
map is to be prepared by the provincial, city, or district engineer clearly indicating the
road network within the proposed province; and
(v) Such other information that the petitioners may deem relevant for consideration in the
petition.
All costs incurred in the production of the required documents shall be borne by the petitioning
LGUs.
⮙ Plebiscite
(i) Upon the effectivity of the law creating a province, the COMELEC shall conduct a
plebiscite in the LGU or LGUs directly affected within one hundred twenty (120) days or
within the period specified in the law.
The COMELEC shall conduct an intensive information campaign in the LGUs concerned at least
twenty (20) days prior to the plebiscite. For this purpose, the COMELEC may seek the assistance of
national and local government officials, mass media, NGOs, and other interested parties.
Develop a matrix summarizing the requirements for the creation of LGUs. The left side of the matrix
should indicate the LGUs (barangay, municipality, city or province). on the right side, should be written
the requirements as to populations, land area, and income (30 points).
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1991/10oct/19911010-RA-7160-CCA.pdf