SC stops cityhood of 16 towns

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared as unconstitutional the creation of 16 new cities and ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against the holding of a plebiscite pursuant to cityhood laws in these municipalities. The decision was in response to the consolidated petitions filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) seeking to stop the conversion of 16 of originally 18 municipalities into cities. LCP, led by its national president Iloilo mayor Jerry Trenas and Calbayog Leyte mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento, is assailing what it called the “mad rush” in the conversion last year of 16 municipalities into cities without meeting the requirement for the minimum locally generated income of at least P100 million a year. The 16 laws cover the laws on the cityhood of the municipalities of Baybay in Leyte; Bogo in Cebu; Catbalogan in Samar; Tandag in Surigao del Sur; Borongan in Eastern Samar; Tayabas in Quezon province; Lamitan in Basilan; Tabuk in Kalinga Apayao; Bayugan in Agusan del Sur; Batac in Ilocos Norte; Mati in Davao Oriental; Guihulngan in Negros Oriental; Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte; Carcar in Cebu; El Salvador in Misamis Oriental; and Naga in Cebu. The high court said these cityhood laws violate Section 6 and 10 of the Constitution in applying the P100-million income requirement under the RA 9009, or an act amending Section 450 of the Local Government Code, by increasing the annual income requirement for conversion of a municipality into a city from P20-million to P100-million. Section 10 provides that “no province, city, municipality or barangay shall 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.” Section 6, on the other hand, provides for a just share in the national taxes which shall be automatically released to all local government units. “First, applying the P100-million income requirement in RA 9009 to the present case is a prospective, not a retroactive application, because RA 9009 took effect in 2001 while the cityhood bills became a law more than five years later,” the Court ruled. The high court further said that the Constitution required that Congress shall prescribe all the criteria for the creation of a city in the LGC and not in any other law, including cityhood laws. A city with an annual income of only P20 million should not receive the same share in national taxes as a city with an annual income of P100-million or more. “Thus, using these non-uniform and discriminatory criteria prevents a fair and just distribution of the national taxes to local government units,” the Court said. The SC further said that the Constitution requires that Congress shall prescribe all the criteria for the creation of a city in the Local Government Code and not in any other law, including the cityhood laws. “The Constitution is clear. The creation of local government units must follow the criteria established in the Local Government Code and not in any other law. There is only one Local Government Code. The Constitution requires Congress to stipulate in the Local Government Code all the criteria necessary for the creation of a city, including the conversion of a municipality into a city. Congress cannot write such criteria in any other law, like the cityhood laws,” the SC said. - GMANews.TV