A Reconnaissance of Philippine Cities (Part II: The Different City Varieties)

Taguig City by Dex Baldon

Cities in the Philippines take different kinds and forms. Although appearing inconsequential, their classifications dictate the legal schemes governing their and their residents' political and economic rights so it is very important to know what kind of city you are living in.
 
From the moment a city's charter is being lobbied in the Congress for its creation, it is already facing a very important crossroad - whether to remain part of its mother province or be independent from it.

The different kinds of cities in the Philippines, although confusing for starters, may be grouped into two simple classifications - the component and the independent.

Component cities remain part of their mother province whereas the independent component and highly-urbanized cities are independent of any province. The characteristics of a city are hinged on its independence – or lack thereof – from a province, which in turn determines its political and economic rights.

 

Political Levels

 
For easy comprehension, we introduce the term “political levels”. This concept is very crucial in understanding the differences between component and independent cities.
 
The concept of political levels can be more easily understood in the context of administrative supervision. 

Administrative supervision refers to the duty of the President to see to it that local governments and their officials execute their tasks in accordance with law. With this duty comes the concomitant power of the President to nullify acts of local governments and their officials that are found to be unlawful.


The President exercises supervisory authority directly over provinces and independent cities; through the province with respect to component cities and municipalities; and through the city and municipality with respect to barangays. (Section 25 of the Local Government Code)


Hence, component cities are of the same political levels as municipalities while independent cities are of the same political levels as provinces since their acts are to be reviewed directly by the President, and not by any province.


The concept of political levels does not affect the power of administrative supervision alone as it also affects other matters, political and economic, which then defines the characteristics of the type of city.

 
The Component City

The Component City remains part of its mother province. As a consequence thereof, its political and economic rights are determined by this attribute.

 
Their ordinances are still subject to the power of oversight by the province's sanggunian, which has the power to determine if the city's ordinances are not only in accordance with national laws but also with the province's ordinances. 

Additionally, the ordinances of the province also cover residents and properties within the city as a necessary incidence of the city's characteristic as a component of the province. Lastly, residents of such city may vote and be voted for provincial positions. These are the political incidents of a component city's lack of independence from its mother province.

As regards economic rights, the city's population and land area are included in the computation of the province's total population and land area for purposes of computing the latter's internal revenue allotment. This rule is an effect of the situation where the component city remains within the territorial jurisdiction of the province.

Another consequence of its constituency to a province is the province's authority to levy taxes on residents living and properties found within the city's borders. Later on, this becomes material when the city is converted into an independent component or highly-urbanized city.


Lastly, the province remains responsible for delivering basic services to the residents of the component city.


The Independent Cities

The independent cities are further subdivided into two - the independent component and the highly-urbanized cities. Before we discuss their differences, we shall discuss their similarities first.


Both such cities, in contrast to the component cities, are independent from any province. Such independence affects both their political and economic rights.
 
Their Political Rights

As regards their political rights, the independent cities are free from any province's power of oversight - their ordinances need not be in accordance with any province's ordinances and need only to be compliant with national laws. 

As a consequence of freedom from the province's power of administrative supervision, their ordinances are to be examined directly by the President through the Secretary of Interior and Local Government. The city's ordinances need not be compliant with the ordinances of any province. It is sufficient that they do not transgress the national laws of the land. 

Likewise, ordinances of any province cannot take effect within the borders of any independent city. However, the rights to vote and to be voted for provincial positions will depend on the kind of the city - whether it is independent component or highly-urbanized - and the laws in effect at the time of their conversion. This is a set of very complex legal ramifications which deserves a separate discussion.

Their Economic Rights
  
For the purpose of computing the mother province's internal revenue allotment, the independent city's population and land area are not included, no matter where the city is located even though it may have been once a part of the mother province.


It is explained by the Supreme Court in Umali v. Comelec, promulgated April 22, 2014, that because the city's residents cease to have the privilege to vote for provincial positions - thereby ceasing to be the province's political constituents - the city's population is no longer included in the computation of the province's total population. 

 
Since population is included in the computation of the internal revenue allotment, the province's IRA is effectively reduced by the city's independence.

 
Another effect of independence is the accrual of taxes. The taxes levied upon by the independent city shall accrue to itself alone. (Local Government Code, Sec. 151, as interpreted in the Umali case, supra) On the other hand, the component city shall share its revenues with the province.

 
As a result of the non-sharing of taxes, the independent city's revenues shall considerably increase while that of the province will decrease.

 
Lastly, the province cannot levy taxes on persons living and properties found within the independent city's borders since the city is effectively no longer under the jurisdiction of the province. In contrast, the province may still levy taxes on persons living and properties found within the component city. (Umali case, supra) 




Conversion of a Component City into a Highly-Urbanized City

 
The similarities between the independent component cities (ICCs) and highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) were already discussed but before we explore their differences, we shall first tackle how a component city is converted into an HUC; the reason being that it is easier to understand the differences between the two kinds of cities when the requirements for the conversion into an HUC is already discussed.


 
The Requirements (Section 452 of the Local Government Code)

 
1. Population of at least 200,000 inhabitants as certified by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

2. Latest annual income of P 50 million based on 1991 prices. Annual income includes IRA; otherwise, the Local Government Code could have specified that it must be locally-sourced income. Note also that the Local Government Code mentions "1991 constant prices" which means that the income must be adjusted first through the use of consumer price index.

3. Plebiscite conducted wherein majority of the inhabitants of affected areas approve of the conversion. In the Umali case, supra, affected areas include the entire province to which the city belongs since the conversion affects the political and economic rights of the entire province (More elaborate discussion on this topic in the next part of this article).

4. President's Declaration. - This is not really a requirement but more of a step to be taken before the city becomes an HUC. Should the city comply with all the above three requirements, the President has no option but to declare it as an HUC. The President's duty to declare HUC conversion is said to be ministerial. (Umali case, supra)


 

Differences between HUCs and ICCs

 
The differences between the two types of cities relate to: (1) manner of conversion, (2) voting privileges, and (3) requirements for conversion.
 
Manner of Conversion

- HUCs are created by declaration of the President after a plebiscite taken to this effect.

- ICCs are created by charter. It's the Congress that converts a city into an ICC.
 
Voting privileges

- Residents of HUCs cannot vote for provincial positions.

- Residents of ICCs may or may not vote for provincial positions depending on the terms of the city's charter.

A more elaborate discussion on voting privileges will be tackled in the fourth part of this article, to be entitled "The History of Laws on ICCs and HUCs," which will explain how history plays a very crucial role in the resulting complexities of the legal schemes governing HUCs and ICCs. 
 
Requirements for Conversion

- To become an HUC, a city is required to comply with the three above-mentioned requirements (i.e., the 200,000 population mark, etc).

- There are no such requirements for ICCs but the charter has to go through the usual process of enacting a bill into a law.

However, conversion into either an HUC or an ICC requires a plebiscite. This requirement will then be more elaborately discussed in the third part of this article, entitled "The Requirement of Plebiscite in the Conversion of a City." 


 

Benefits of an Independent City

 
Conversion into an independent city has its advantages; otherwise, there would have been no reason why the Philippines has about 38 independent cities to date (Wikipedia). 

 
The benefits of conversion relate to the finances and governance schemes of an independent city.

 
Finances

Since the independent city is no longer required to share its revenues to the province, it will generate more revenues than if it remains a component city.
 
Governance

The city has greater freedom in enacting ordinances but how the officials use this greater autonomy determines if indeed the independent status is truly beneficial in this regard.

Because of higher revenues, it has more funds to support its operations, administration, and services to local residents, than if it remains a component city.


Will a Component City be Converted into an Independent Component City?

This question has not been raised in any Supreme Court decision. However, there is one city - Santiago City - that was converted into an ICC during the effectivity of the Local Government Code. Indeed, there is no prohibition against this type of conversion.


Upcoming Parts

 
The third part of this article will be entitled "The Requirement of Plebiscite in the Conversion of a City." In this part, the requirement of plebiscite is explored in detail as two important Supreme Court cases - Miranda v. Aguirre (1999) and Umali v. Comelec (2014) - were decided in determining whether a plebiscite is required in any form of conversion of a city. 

 
The fourth part will then be entitled "The History of Laws on ICCs and HUCs." It will narrate how the political developments of the late 1970s, in the middle of the Martial Law era, to the early 1990s complicated the laws governing ICCs and HUCs. The article shall also unravel the different kinds of ICCs and HUCs depending on the time of their conversion amidst the historical spectrum of authoritarian rule of the 1970s towards the recovery of democracy in 1986 until the effectivity of the Local Government Code in 1992.

The fifth part will be about Metropolitan cities. The sixth and final part will be the true reconnaissance of selected cities in the Philippines. It will show that many of the cities in the nation can actually be considered sui generis.