CEBU, Philippines - The League of Cities of the Philippines is opposing House Bill 6303 that seeks to amend the Local Government Code to exempt the municipalities sought for conversion into cities and whose charters have already been approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The proposed bill, sponsored by Representatives Eduardo Gullas of the first district of Cebu, Carmen Cari, Rodolfo Plaza, Philip Pichay, Thelma Almario, Wilfredo Mark Enverga, Manuel Agyao, Sharee Ann Tan, Edelmiro Amante, Mujiv Hataman, Jocelyn Sy Limkaichong, Ferdinand Marcos, Teodulo Coquilla and Yevgeny Vicente Emano, will benefit the 16 municipalities that were recently stripped off their cityhood by the Supreme Court. Benjamin Abalos, Jr., the league’s national president, called on all city mayors in the country to lobby to their respective congressmen to reject the bill.
Abalos said the bill is a violation of the equal protection clause enshrined in the Constitution.
In his letter to all the city mayors, Abalos said that House Bill 6303 is an “attempt to address the violation of the cityhood laws of Section 10, Article 10 of the Constitution.”
This is evident in the incorporation of the paragraph: “The income requirement prescribed herein shall not apply to municipalities which were sought to be converted into cities as embodied in Bills filed before June 30, 2001 and whose charters have already been approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
Abalos said the proposed amendment to Section 450 of the Local Government Code as amended by the Republic Act 9009 favored the 16 municipalities - including the municipalities of Bogo, Naga and Carcar in Cebu - that recently lost in the case before the Supreme Court.
R.A. 9009 increased the P20 million income requirement to P100 million per annum for a municipality to qualify for a city. However, the 16 municipalities fall short in the income requirement and lost the case before the high tribunal. — Fred P. Languido/LPM (THE FREEMAN)