League of Cities to question constitutionality passage of 12 cityhood bills

By ELI C. DALUMPINES (PIA Samar)
March 2, 2007

CATBALOGAN, Samar  –  It may not be a smooth sail at all for the 12 towns that are now in the process of being granted city status with the approval of their respective House Bills by the senate recently.

This after the Secretary-General of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) confirmed that the League has initially concurred to send a petition to the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the said bill.

Calbayog City Mayor Mel Sarmiento, in an interview Tuesday, said the majority of the members of the League aired their opposition to the bills as this will mean a reduction of their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRAs) which may drastically affect their operations.

Sarmiento informed it is the prevailing sentiment among the members of the League that the Senate’s approval of the 12 cityhood bills of municipalities is unconstitutional as Republic Act 9009, which set a basic income requirement of P100 million for those who apply for cityhood status, was not amended or repealed but is still in effect.

League members believed that the exemption of these towns from R.A. 9009 will serve as a bad precedent and may send a wrong signal to others, he said.

He informed that three other towns, that were not included in the 12, are now seeking the same exemption.

To recall, the Senate approved the 12 cityhood bills (HB 5998 for Catbalogan) in third reading last February 5 granting the towns of Bogo and Carcar, Cebu; Baybay, Leyte; Catbalogan, Samar; Lamitan, Basilan; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Batac, Ilocos Norte; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Tayabas, Quezon and Tabok, Kalinga exemption from the income requirement set by R.A. 9009.

The bill likewise granted the conversion of these towns into cities after residents of each town approve it in a plebiscite.