60 members of LCP not qualified to become cities - lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines - At least 60 members of the 122-strong League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) who are waging a legal battle against 16 newly created cities are also not qualified to become cities, a former congressman from Mindanao said yesterday.

Former Misamis Oriental (2nd district) congressman Augusto Baculio told reporters yesterday that El Salvador, his hometown, has remitted to the national government P2 billion compared to Marawi City which has only P5 million yearly income.

“Why single us out when 60 of the members of LCP also lack the criteria?” he asked.

El Salvador in Misamis Oriental was singled out by the LCP to have failed to meet all the requirements set by the Local Government Code on cityhood.

The other applicant-cities which were upheld by the Supreme Court in a recent decision are Batac, Ilocos Norte; Tabuk, Kalinga; Tayabas, Quezon; Baybay, Leyte; Catbalogan, Samar; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Guihulngan, Negros Oriental; Bogo, Naga, and Carcar in Cebu; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte; Mati, Davao Oriental; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; and Lamitan, Basilan.

Aside from Marawi, the cities of Gingoog and Tangub also failed to meet the requirement.

Baculio, however, declined to name local government units which do not meet the criteria provided for in the Local Government Code.

Meantime, San Fernando, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, LCP president, said the argument presented by Baculio cannot be applied because the 60 cities were created when the Local Government Code of 1991 was not yet in effect.

“The 60 cities are not covered by the Local Government Code,” he told The STAR in a phone interview.

Under Section 10, Article 10 of the Philippine Constitution, “No province, city, municipality, or barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria established in the Local Government Code.”

Under the Local Government Code, as amended by Republic Act 9009, a municipality may be converted into a component city only if it meets two of three requirements: locally generated average annual income of P100 million for the last two consecutive years and contiguous territory of at least 100 square kilometers, or a population of not less than 150,000 inhabitants.

Rodriguez said the 16 towns allowed by the Supreme Court to become cities failed to meet the P100-million income requirement.