Local government in the Philippines

Officially local government in the Philippines, often called local government units or LGUs, are divided into three levels – provinces and independent cities; component cities and municipalities; and barangays. In one area, above provinces and independent cities, is an autonomous region, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Below barangays in some cities and municipalities are sitios and puroks. All of these, with the exception of sitios and puroks, elect their own executives and legislatures. Sitios and puroks are often led by elected barangay councilors.

Local government hierarchy in the Philippines. The dashed lines emanating from the president means that the president only exercises general supervision on local government.

Map of the Philippines showing provinces

Provinces and independent cities are organized into national government regions but those are administrative regions and not separately governed areas with their own elected governments.

According to the Constitution of the Philippines, the local governments "shall enjoy local autonomy", and in which the Philippine president exercises "general supervision". Congress enacted the Local Government Code of the Philippines in 1991 to "provide for a more responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall, initiative, and referendum, allocate among the different local government units their powers, responsibilities, and resources, and provide for the qualifications, election, appointment and removal, term, salaries, powers and functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters relating to the organization and operation of local units."[1]

Levels of local government

Autonomous Regions

Autonomous regions have more powers than other local governments. The constitution limits the creation of autonomous regions to Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras but only one autonomous region exists: the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). In 2001, a plebiscite in the ARMM confirmed the previous composition of the autonomous region and added Basilan (except for the city of Isabela) and Marawi City in Lanao del Sur. Isabela City remains a part of the province of Basilan despite rejecting inclusion in the ARMM. A Cordillera Autonomous Region has never been formed because no plebiscite has received the required support.

An autonomous region is governed by the regional governor and a legislature such as the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly.

Provinces

Outside the lone autonomous region, the provinces are the highest-level local government. The provinces are organized into component cities and municipalities. A province is governed by the governor and a legislature known as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Cities and municipalities

Municipal government in the Philippines is divided into three – independent cities, component cities, and municipalities (sometimes referred to as towns). Several cities across the country are "independent cities" which means that they are not governed by a province, even though like Iloilo City the provincial capitol might be in the city. Independent city residents do not vote for nor hold provincial offices. Far more cities are component cities and are a part of a province. Municipalities are always a part of a province except for Pateros which was separated from Rizal to form Metro Manila.

Cities and municipalities are governed by mayors and legislatures, which are called the Sangguniang Panlungsod in cities and the Sangguniang Bayan in municipalities.

Barangays

Every city and municipality in the Philippines is divided into barangays, the smallest of the Local Government Units. Barangays can be further divided into sitios and puroks but those divisions do not have leaders elected in formal elections supervised by the national government.

A barangay's executive is the Punong Barangay or barangay captain and its legislature is the Sangguniang Barangay, composed of barangay captain, the Barangay Kagawads (barangay councilors) and the SK chairman. The SK chairman also leads a separate assembly for youth, the Sangguniang Kabataan or SK.

Offices

Local governments have two branches: executive and legislative. All courts in the Philippines are under the Supreme Court of the Philippines and therefore there are no local-government controlled judicial branches. Nor do local governments have any prosecutors or public defenders, as those are under the jurisdiction of the national government.

The executive branch is composed of the regional governor for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, governor for the provinces, mayor for the cities and municipalities, and the barangay captain for the barangays.[2]

Legislatures

The legislatures review the ordinances and resolutions enacted by the legislatures below. Aside from regular and ex-officio members, the legislatures above the barangay level also have three sectoral representatives, one each from women, agricultural or industrial workers, and other sectors.[2]

Level of government	Legislature	Composition[2]	Head
Autonomous region	Regional Legislative Assembly[lower-alpha 1]	total of 24 members:[3] Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao (excluding Cotabato City), Sulu: 6 each, 3 elected from each assembly district Basilan (except Isabela City), Tawi-Tawi: 3 each, elected at-large Sectoral representatives	Assembly speaker
Province	Sangguniang Panlalawigan[lower-alpha 2]	varies, as of 2019:[3] Cavite: 16 SP members, 2 elected from each district Cebu: 14 SP members, 2 elected from each district Batangas, Isabela,[lower-alpha 3] Negros Occidental and Pangasinan:[lower-alpha 4] 12 SP members, 2 elected from each district All other provinces of the first and second income classes:[lower-alpha 5] 10 SP members, with seat distribution among districts varying.[lower-alpha 6] Provinces of the third and fourth income classes:[lower-alpha 7] 8 SP members, with seat distribution among districts varying.[lower-alpha 6] Provinces of the fifth and sixth income classes: 6 SP members, 3 per district President of the provincial chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay President of the provincial chapter of the League of Councilors President of the provincial federation of the Sangguniang Kabataan Sectoral representatives	Vice Governor
City	Sangguniang Panlungsod[lower-alpha 8]	varies, as of 2019:[3] Manila and Quezon City: 36 councilors, 6 elected from each district Davao City: 24 councilors, 8 elected from each district Antipolo, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Makati, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Taguig, Zamboanga City: 16 councilors, 8 elected from each district Bacoor, Calbayog, San Jose del Monte, and all other cities in Metro Manila: 12 councilors, 6 elected from each district Samal, Sorsogon City: 12 councilors, 4 elected from each district Bacolod, Baguio, Batangas City, Biñan, Calamba, Dasmariñas, General Santos, Iligan, Iloilo City, Imus, Lapu-Lapu, Lipa, San Fernando (La Union), Tuguegarao: 12 councilors, elected at-large All other cities: 10 councilors, elected at-large President of the city chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay President of the city federation of the Sangguniang Kabataan Sectoral representatives	Vice Mayor
Municipality	Sangguniang Bayan	varies, as of 2016:[3] Pateros, Metro Manila: 12 councilors, 6 elected from each district All other municipalities: 8 councilors, elected at-large President of the municipal chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay President of the municipal federation of the Sangguniang Kabataan Sectoral representatives	Vice Mayor
Barangay	Sangguniang Barangay	7 members elected at-large Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson	Barangay captain
Barangay	Sangguniang Kabataan	7 members elected at-large	Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson

The boundaries of ARMM assembly districts are coterminous with the existing congressional districts, except for the 1st Assembly District of Maguindanao (which excludes Cotabato City and the Lone Assembly District of Basilan (which excludes Isabela City).
Provinces that comprise a single congressional district are divided into two SP districts. For provinces comprising multiple congressional districts, boundaries of SP and congressional districts are coterminous, with the exception of the following:
• Independent cities which are not allowed by law to participate in electing provincial officials are excluded from SP districts.
• The cities of Biñan and San Jose del Monte, despite forming their separate congressional districts, remain part of the 1st SP district of Laguna and the 4th SP district of Bulacan.
Santiago City is excluded from the 4th SP district of Isabela.
Dagupan is excluded from the 4th SP district of Pangasinan.
Independent cities excluded from provincial elections:
• Naga from Camarines Sur—3rd
• Tacloban from Leyte—1st
• Ormoc from Leyte—4th
• Cotabato City from Maguindanao—1st
• Puerto Princesa from Palawan—3rd
• Angeles from Pampanga—1st
• General Santos from South Cotabato—1st.
The manner of seat distribution varies, per Republic Act No. 7166:[4]
• For provinces comprising multiple congressional districts and need no boundary adjustments due to independent cities being excluded: each district receives the same number of members first, then any remainder will get assigned to the districts with higher population counts.
• For provinces comprising multiple congressional districts but have district boundary adjustments: seats are distributed according to the population size of each SP district after factoring out the independent cities.
• For provinces comprising a single congressional district: seats are usually distributed equally between the two SP districts drawn by COMELEC, although proportional allocation exists in cases where geography and circumstance have resulted in grossly uneven SP district population distributions (e.g. Benguet's and Sarangani's SP districts).
Butuan is excluded from the 1st SP district of Agusan del Norte.
The number of city council members and districts varies per city, as determined by different statutes. For cities comprising multiple congressional districts, boundaries of city council districts are coterminous with congressional districts, with the exception of the Legislative district of Taguig-Pateros which encompasses the 2nd SP district of Taguig and the 1st and 2nd SB districts of Pateros. By law, some cities that are not divided into multiple congressional districts are specifically divided into two (Bacoor, Calbayog, Las Piñas, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Pasig, San Juan, San Jose del Monte, Valenzuela) or three (Samal, Sorsogon City) city council districts.

Elected officials

All elected officials have 3-year terms, and can only serve a maximum of three consecutive terms before being ineligible for reelection.[5]

LGU	Official	Minimum age (18 is the voting age[6])
Autonomous region	Regional governor	35 years old on election day[7]
	Regional vice governor	Same as regional governor
	Regional legislative assembly member	21 years old on election day[7]
Provinces	Governor	23 years old on election day[5]
	Vice governor	Same as governor
	Sangguniang Panlalawigan member	Same as governor
Highly urbanized cities	Mayor	Same as governor
	Vice mayor	Same as governor
	Sangguniang Panlungsod member (Councilor)	Same as governor
Independent component and component cities	Mayor	21 years old on election day
	Vice mayor	Same as independent component and component city mayor[5]
	Sangguniang Panlungsod member (Councilor)	Same as independent component and component city mayor
Municipalities	Mayor	Same as independent component and component city mayor
	Vice mayor	Same as independent component and component city mayor
	Sangguniang Bayan member (Councilor)	Same as independent component and component city mayor
Barangay	Punong Barangay	18 years old on election day
	Barangay kagawad	Same as Punong Barangay
	Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson	15 to 21 years old on election day*
	Sangguniang Kabataan member	Same as Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson*

*a Sangguniang Kabataan official who has surpassed 21 years of age while in office is allowed to serve for the rest of the term.[2]

Offices that are common to municipalities, cities and provinces

There are 21 offices in a government, whether it is municipal, city or provincial. There are some mandatory and optional offices to the government.

Office	Head	Municipality	City	Province
Office of the Secretary to the Sanggunian	Secretary to the Sanggunian	√	√	√
Treasurer's Office	Treasurer	√	√	√
Assessor's Office	Assessor	√	√	√
Accounting Office	Accountant	√	√	√
Budget Office	Budget Officer	√	√	√
Planning and Development Office	Planning and Development Coordinator	√	√	√
Engineer's Office	Engineer	√	√	√
Health Office	Health Officer	√	√	√
Office of the Civil Registry	Civil Registrar	√	√	X
Office of the Administrator	Administrator	√	√	√
Office of the Legal Services	Legal Officer	?	√	√
Office of Agricultural Services/Office of the Agriculturist	Agriculturist	?	?	√
(Office of) Social Welfare and Development Office	Social Welfare and Development Officer	√	√	√
(Office of) Environment and Natural Resources Office	Environment and Natural Resources Officer	?	?	?
Office of Architectural Planning and Design	Architect	?	?	?
Office of Public Information	Information Officer	?	?	?
Office for the Development of Cooperatives/Cooperatives Development Office	Cooperatives Officer	X	?	?
Population Office	Population Officer	?	?	?
Veterinary Office/Office of Veterinary Services	Veterinarian	X	√	√
(Office of) Public Safety Office	Public Safety Officer	?	?	?
(Office of) General Services Office	General Services Officer	X	√	√

Legend:

√ – Mandatory

? – Optional

X – Not Applicable

Source: Local Government Code of 1991[8]

Responsibilities

Among the social services and facilities that local government should provide, as stipulated in Section 17 of the Local Government Code, are the following:

facilities and research services for agriculture and fishery activities, which include seedling nurseries, demonstration farms, and irrigation systems;
health services, which include access to primary health care, maternal and child care, and medicines, medical supplies and equipment;
social welfare services, which include programs and projects for women, children, elderly, and persons with disabilities, as well as vagrants, beggars, street children, juvenile delinquents, and victims of drug abuse;
information services, which include job placement information systems and a public library;
a solid waste disposal system or environmental management system;
municipal/city/provincial buildings, cultural centers, public parks, playgrounds, and sports facilities and equipment;
infrastructure facilities such as roads, bridges, school buildings, health clinics, fish ports, water supply systems, seawalls, dikes, drainage and sewerage, and traffic signals and road signs;
public markets, slaughterhouses, and other local enterprises;
public cemetery;
tourism facilities and other tourist attractions; and
sites for police and fire stations and substations and municipal jail.

Creation and modification of local governments

As a matter of principle, higher legislative entities have the power to create, divide, merge, abolish, or substantially alter boundaries of any lower-level local government through a law or ordinance, all subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in the local government unit or units directly affected.[2] The Local Government Code has also set requisites for creating local government units.[2] A summary can be found in the table below:

Local government	Area	Population	Income	Legislative bodies that can create, merge, abolish or substantially alter the boundaries of the LGU
Province	2,000 square kilometers*	250,000*	₱20 million for the last two (2) consecutive years based on 1991 constant prices	Congress^
City	100 square kilometers*	150,000*	₱100 million for the last two (2) consecutive years based on 2000 constant prices[9]	Congress^
Municipality	50 square kilometers	25,000	₱2.5 million for the last two (2) consecutive years based on 1991 constant prices	Congress ARMM Regional Assembly
Barangay	None	5,000 (Metro Manila and highly urbanized cities) 2,000 (rest of the country)	None	Congress ARMM Regional Assembly Sangguniang Panlalawigan, with recommendation from the concerned Sangguniang Bayan(s) required Sangguniang Panlungsod

*either area or population; meeting only one of these requirements is sufficient
^The ARMM Regional Assembly was conferred by Congress (through Article VI, Section 19 of Republic Act 9054[7]) the power to create or modify lower-level LGUs under its jurisdiction, including provinces and cities. However, the Supreme Court's decision on the unconstitutionality of the now-defunct province of Shariff Kabunsuan[10] has effectively confined the regional assembly's powers to creating or modifying only municipalities and barangays.

References

"The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines". www.gov.ph. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
Local Government Code of the Philippines, Book III Archived October 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Department of Interior and Local Government official website.
Commission on Elections (August 18, 2015). "COMELEC Resolution No. 9982". Republic of the Philippines – Commission on Elections. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
Congress of the Philippines (November 26, 1991). "Republic Act No. 7166 – An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral. Reforms, Authorizing Appropriations Therefor, And For Other Purposes". Retrieved May 23, 2017.
Local Government Code, Book I Archived May 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Department of Interior and Local Government official website.
Quismundo, Terra (May 29, 2007). "Election law must prevail over culture, says Abalos". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
Republic Act 9054
"Local Government Code of 1991 (Book III: Local Government Units)". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
Republic Act 9009, Chanrobles Law Library.
Creation of the province of Shariff Kabunsuan voided Archived April 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

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[3] The boundaries of ARMM assembly districts are coterminous with the existing congressional districts, except for the 1st Assembly District of Maguindanao (which excludes Cotabato City and the Lone Assembly District of Basilan (which excludes Isabela City).

[5] Provinces that comprise a single congressional district are divided into two SP districts. For provinces comprising multiple congressional districts, boundaries of SP and congressional districts are coterminous, with the exception of the following:
• Independent cities which are not allowed by law to participate in electing provincial officials are excluded from SP districts.
• The cities of Biñan and San Jose del Monte, despite forming their separate congressional districts, remain part of the 1st SP district of Laguna and the 4th SP district of Bulacan.

[6] Santiago City is excluded from the 4th SP district of Isabela.

[7] Dagupan is excluded from the 4th SP district of Pangasinan.

[8] Independent cities excluded from provincial elections:
• Naga from Camarines Sur—3rd
• Tacloban from Leyte—1st
• Ormoc from Leyte—4th
• Cotabato City from Maguindanao—1st
• Puerto Princesa from Palawan—3rd
• Angeles from Pampanga—1st
• General Santos from South Cotabato—1st.

[distribution-10] The manner of seat distribution varies, per Republic Act No. 7166:[4]
• For provinces comprising multiple congressional districts and need no boundary adjustments due to independent cities being excluded: each district receives the same number of members first, then any remainder will get assigned to the districts with higher population counts.
• For provinces comprising multiple congressional districts but have district boundary adjustments: seats are distributed according to the population size of each SP district after factoring out the independent cities.
• For provinces comprising a single congressional district: seats are usually distributed equally between the two SP districts drawn by COMELEC, although proportional allocation exists in cases where geography and circumstance have resulted in grossly uneven SP district population distributions (e.g. Benguet's and Sarangani's SP districts).

[11] Butuan is excluded from the 1st SP district of Agusan del Norte.

[12] The number of city council members and districts varies per city, as determined by different statutes. For cities comprising multiple congressional districts, boundaries of city council districts are coterminous with congressional districts, with the exception of the Legislative district of Taguig-Pateros which encompasses the 2nd SP district of Taguig and the 1st and 2nd SB districts of Pateros. By law, some cities that are not divided into multiple congressional districts are specifically divided into two (Bacoor, Calbayog, Las Piñas, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Pasig, San Juan, San Jose del Monte, Valenzuela) or three (Samal, Sorsogon City) city council districts.

[constitution:-1] "The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines". www.gov.ph. Retrieved November 12, 2015.

[code3-2] Local Government Code of the Philippines, Book III Archived October 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Department of Interior and Local Government official website.

[res9982-4] Commission on Elections (August 18, 2015). "COMELEC Resolution No. 9982". Republic of the Philippines – Commission on Elections. Retrieved May 23, 2017.

[RA7166-9] Congress of the Philippines (November 26, 1991). "Republic Act No. 7166 – An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral. Reforms, Authorizing Appropriations Therefor, And For Other Purposes". Retrieved May 23, 2017.

[code-13] Local Government Code, Book I Archived May 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Department of Interior and Local Government official website.

[14] Quismundo, Terra (May 29, 2007). "Election law must prevail over culture, says Abalos". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 27, 2009.

[ra9054-15] Republic Act 9054

[16] "Local Government Code of 1991 (Book III: Local Government Units)". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved November 6, 2010.

[17] Republic Act 9009, Chanrobles Law Library.

[shk-18] Creation of the province of Shariff Kabunsuan voided Archived April 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

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