MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court ruling reverting 16 new cities back to municipalities was welcomed by the League of Cities of the Philippines but dismayed the affected mayors who immediately moved to file a motion for reconsideration.
Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos, the LCP president, said he was against “shortcuts” to the cityhood process, noting that the 16 municipalities did not meet the eligibility requirements, such as population and income.
“Our position is everyone should comply with the requirements. Look at Navotas. Navotas worked hard for it, to meet the P100 million [income requirement]. There should be no exceptions,” Abalos said in a phone interview.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treńas, the LCP chair, said the ruling upheld the law. “It means that the position of the LCP was correct all along,” he said.
On Tuesday, the high tribunal, acting on an LCP petition, declared as unconstitutional the laws that elevated the 16 towns into city status in 2007, saying they were in violation of the Local Government Code.
Local government officials had argued that the 16 towns should be exempted from Republic Act 9009 which amended the Local Government Code to increase the income requirement for converting a municipality into a city from P20 million to P100 million.
But the high court said: “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.”
The 16 municipalities are Baybay, Leyte; Bogo, Carcar and Naga in Cebu; Catbalogan, Samar; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Tayabas, Quezon; Lamitan, Basilan; Tabuk, Kalinga; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; Batac, Ilocos Norte; Mati, Davao Oriental; Guihulngan, Negros Oriental; Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte; and El Salvador, Misamis Oriental.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not sign the individual bills that elevated them into cities, so these lapsed into law between March and July 2007.
The Supreme Court upheld the LCP which argued that the “wholesale conversion” of municipalities into cities would reduce the share of existing cities in the Internal Revenue Allotment, since more of them would be sharing the amount of IRA allotted for all cities.
Abalos said many towns aspire to cityhood because they stand to get an increased share of the budget while existing cities would see their share getting smaller as more towns are turned into cities.
Malone Samaco, the mayor of Maasin, the capital city of Southern Leyte, said he was happy with the decision “because some P27 million in IRA shares taken away with the creation of these cities will be given back to us.”
The mayors of the reverted cities were dismayed by the decision and have agreed to band together to file a motion for consideration with the high court so they can keep their new status.
“We will file our motion for reconsideration in the next few days,” said Guinhulngan Mayor Ernesto Reyes who was reached at the office of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., one of the sponsors of the cityhood bills.
Tayabas Mayor Faustino Silang said it was important that the motion be filed immediately because if the Supreme Court decision becomes final, the reversal into municipality status would greatly affect their planned projects and programs which greatly depend on the increased IRA share.
Mayors Coefredo Uy of Catbalogan and Michael Cari of Baybay, in separate interviews, said the ruling was a big setback to their efforts to attract more investors.
