Legal Scribbles

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...

photo by Will Qua   Introduction Textbooks on local governments are usually arranged in the same order as the provisions on Local Government Code, making it hard for lay people and law students alike to understand the legal framework that governs Philippine cities. This short legal treatise is an ambitious endeavor that aims to provide a clear view on that legal framework, the author recognizing that he himself experienced difficulty in understanding even the simplest textbooks on local governments. However, his interest and curiosity on local development and his incessant observations on the cities he himself visited gave him a good perspective on the very confusing, complex, but intricately-interesting ramifications of the legal framework that governs cities in the Philippines. The author, most of his life, has been living in Legazpi, a city over the edge of Luzon Island facing the Pacific Ocean with the pulchritudinous Mayon Volcano on its background. The city's ...

In the middle of a confusing day at the law office, I found a compelling reason to search through the 1962 issues of Official Gazette. The well-renowned author of Civil Law, former Senator Arturo Tolentino, cites a Court of Appeals decision in his one-of-a-kind textbook on Property. I had been looking for answers for my client's suit, which my father describes as a "winning case." However, in the pre-trial conference earlier held, I was caught off-guard with the opposing counsel's theory. I did not expect where the other party is leading us to. So, from then on, I realized not to be too complacent, winning case or not. The pressure is on me. If it's something to be considered as a "winning case" but I still lose, it will be humiliating on my part. So this pressure made me look for that Court of Appeals decision - on Official Gazette's Volume 58. However, I forgot the page number by the time I was already at the library so I actually had to searc...