MANILA, Philippines
– The 118-strong League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), led by
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas and Calbayog City Mayor Mel Senen S.
Sarmiento, LCP President and Secretary General, respectively, filed a
petition before the Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 27) to declare
null and void the cityhood laws of six towns.
The towns which
include Baybay, Leyte; Bogo, Cebu; Catbalogan, Samar; Tandag, Agusan
del Sur; Borongan, Eastern Samar; and, Tayabas, Quezon were named
respondents to the petition for violating Section 10, Article X and
Section 1, Article III of the 1987 Constitution.
LCP has designated
Puno and Puno Law Office to file the petition for prohibition in its
behalf as well as the request for the issuance of a Temporary
Restraining Order (TRO) against the conduct of a plebiscite in the
said towns.
Treñas said the towns
failed to meet the requirements provided for under the Local
Government Code which technically disqualifies them from conversion
into cities.
The cityhood bills
lapsed into law after the President failed to sign them 30 days after
they were submitted to Malacañang. Despite failing to meet the
requirements of Republic Act 9009, these were still passed by
Congress.
Under RA 9009, a town
should have a locally generated income of at least P100 million
annually before it could be classified into a city. It should also
either have a land area of at least 100 square kilometers or a
population of 150,000.
The League argued that
the cityhood laws violated Section 10, Article X of the 1987
Constitution by unlawful exemption of these towns from complying with
the minimum income requirement imposed by the Local Government Code.
Treñas further stated
that the cityhood laws also violate the equal protection clause under
Section 1, Article III of the Constitution as it unreasonably grants
special treatment to these municipalities by exempting them from
compliance with the minimum income requirement impose by the Local
Government Code.
The six are part of
the 16 towns which sought exemption from the requirements of RA 9009.
The Congress has so far approved the cityhood laws of the 15 towns
despite strong opposition from the LCP.
Sarmiento said the
conversion of these “unqualified” towns into cities will set a “bad
precedent” and shall invite a deluge of application practically from
all towns which have the same status. He said that LCP will be filing
similar suits against the other towns as their cityhood bills lapse
into law.
