The Municipal Board of Cebu City (1937)

The legislative body when the City of Cebu was constituted in 1937 was very much different from what we have today as to its composition and qualifications. Read and find out what the City Charter (Commonwealth Act No. 58) said:

"Section 12. Constitution and organization of the Municipal Board. -The Municipal Board shall be the legislative body of the city and shall consist of the City Mayor and seven elective councilors. The City Mayor shall preside at all the meetings in which he is present. In his absence the City Engineer will act as temporary presiding officer of the Board. The President shall sign all ordinances, and all resolutions and motions directing the payment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the Board. In case of sickness or absence of any member of the Councilor or if for any reason it becomes necessary to maintain a quorum, the President of the Philippines may make a temporary appointment until the return to duty of the sick or absent member. During the period of such temporary appointment the person receiving the same shall possess all rights and perform all the duties of a member of the Board.

Section 13. Qualifications, election, suspension and removal of members of the Board. -The members of the Municipal Board shall be elected at large from the entire city, and each of them at that time of his election shall be a resident for at least one year, and a qualified elector, and not less than twenty-three years of age. Such members may be suspended or removed from office under the same circumstances, in the same manner, and with the same effect, as elective provincial officers, and provisions of law providing for the suspension or removal of elective provincial officers and for the confirmation of their elections are made effective for the suspension or removal of said members of the Board and for the confirmation of their elections. In so far as they are applicable all the provisions of the Election Law are made effective as to members of the Board and to their election to the same extent as if the City of Cebu were a province and the election of said members were the election for member of the provincial board, except where there is a conflict between the provisions of the Election Law and this charter, in which case the provisions of this charter shall prevail.

The qualified voters of the City of Cebu, thus established and created under the present Act, shall be entitled to vote in the election of the provincial governor and the members of the provincial board of the Province of Cebu, and for this purpose, the city shall continue to form part of the province.

Election for members of the Board shall be held on the date of the general triennial election, and elected members shall take office on the sixteenth day of October next following their election, upon qualifying, and shall hold office until their successors are elected and qualified. The seven candidates receiving the greatest number of votes at any election shall be declared elected, and any tie for the seventh place shall be broken by the President of the Philippines designating from among the candidates tied for such place the one to be declared elected."