A city () is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities (), whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own specific municipal charters, in addition to the Local Government Code of 1991, which defines their administrative structure and powers. , there are 149 cities in the country.
A city is entitled to at least one representative in the House of Representatives once its population reaches 250,000. Cities are also allowed to have a common seal. As corporate entities, they have the power to acquire, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for their general interests; condemn private property for public use (eminent domain); enter into contracts; sue and be sued; and exercise all other powers conferred on them by Congress. Only an act of Congress can create or amend a city charter, and through this charter, Congress may grant a city certain powers not available to regular municipalities—or even to other cities.
Despite differences in the powers accorded to each city, all cities, regardless of status, receive a larger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) than regular municipalities, and are generally more autonomous than municipalities.
Government
A city's local government is headed by a mayor elected by popular vote. The vice mayor serves as the presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council), which serves as the city's legislative body. Upon receiving their charters, cities also receive a full complement of executive departments to better serve their constituents. Some departments are established on a case-by-case basis, depending on the needs of the city.
+Offices and officials common to all cities Office Head Mandatory / Optional City Government Mayor Mandatory Sangguniang Panlungsod Vice Mayor as presiding officer Mandatory Office of the Secretary to the Sanggunian Secretary to the Sanggunian Mandatory Treasury Office Treasurer Mandatory Assessor's Office Assessor Mandatory Accounting and Internal Audit Services Accountant Mandatory Budget Office Budget Officer Mandatory Planning and Development Office Planning and Development Coordinator Mandatory Engineering Office Engineer Mandatory Health Office Health Officer Mandatory Office of Civil Registry Civil Registrar Mandatory Office of the Administrator Administrator Mandatory Office of Legal Services Legal Officer Mandatory Office on Social Welfare and Development Services Social Welfare and Development Officer Mandatory Office on General Services General Services Officer Mandatory Office for Veterinary Services Veterinarian Mandatory Office on Architectural Planning and Design Architect Optional Office on Public Information Information Officer Optional Office for the Development of Cooperatives Cooperative Officer Optional Office on Population Development Population Officer Optional Office on Environment and Natural Resources Environment and Natural Resources Office Optional Office of Agricultural Services Agriculturist Optional
Subdivisions Cities, like municipalities, are composed of barangays, which can range from urban neighborhoods (e.g., Barangay Socorro in Quezon City and Barangay Pinagsama in Taguig) to rural communities (e.g., Barangay Iwahig in Puerto Princesa and Barangay Linao Norte in Tuguegarao). Barangays are sometimes grouped into officially defined administrative or geographical districts. Examples of such are the cities of Manila (16 districts), Davao (11 districts), Iloilo (seven districts), and Samal (three districts: Babak, Kaputian, and Peñaplata). Some cities such as Caloocan, Manila, and Pasay also have an intermediate level between the district and barangay levels, called a zone. However, geographic districts and zones are not political units; there are no elected city government officials at these administrative levels. Rather, they serve only to facilitate city planning, statistics-gathering, and other administrative functions.
Classification Income classification Republic Act No. 11964, or the Automatic Income Classification of Local Government Units Act, was signed by President Bongbong Marcos on October 26, 2023. The law classifies cities into five classes according to their income ranges, based on the average annual regular income for three fiscal years preceding a general income reclassification.Congress of the Philippines(2023). REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11964. The classification are as follows:
Class Average annual income() First >1,300,000,000 Second 1,000,000,000–1,300,000,000 Third 800,000,000–1,000,000,000 Fourth 500,000,000–800,000,000 Fifth <500,000,000
Legal classification The Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160) classifies all cities into one of three legal categories:
Highly urbanized cities (HUC): Cities with a minimum population of 200,000, as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority, and with the latest annual income of at least 50,000,000 or USD 1,000,000 based on 1991 constant prices, as certified by the city treasurer. However, San Juan in Metro Manila became a highly urbanized city in 2007 through Republic Act 9388 despite having a population of 126,347 people.Republic Act 9388: "An Act Converting the Municipality of San Juan into a Highly-Urbanized City to be known as the City of San Juan." A majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite held on July 21, 2007, approved the conversion.
There are currently 34 highly urbanized cities in the Philippines, 16 of which are located in Metro Manila. Two other cities, Pagadian and Naga, have been declared HUC by the president but have not yet been ratified through plebiscites.
Independent component cities (ICC): Cities of this type have charters that explicitly prohibit their residents from voting for provincial officials. All four of them are considered independent from the province in which they are geographically located: Cotabato, Dagupan, Ormoc, and Santiago. Component cities (CC): Cities which do not meet the preceding requirements are deemed part of the province in which they are geographically located. If a component city is located along the boundaries of two or more provinces, it is considered part of the province of which it used to be a municipality.
Independent cities
There are 38 independent cities in the Philippines, all of which are classified as either "Highly urbanized" or "Independent component" cities. A city classified as such: does not have its Sangguniang Panlungsod legislation subject to review by any province's Sangguniang Panlalawigan; does not share tax revenue with any province; and is directly supervised by the President of the Philippines through the city government (given that the provincial government no longer exercises supervision over city officials), as stated in Section 29 of the Local Government Code.
Currently, there are only four independent cities in two classes that can still participate in the election of provincial officials (governor, vice governor, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members): Cities declared highly urbanized between 1987 and 1992, whose charters (as amended) explicitly permitted residents to both vote and run for elective positions in the provincial government, and therefore allowed by Section 452-c of the Local Government Code to maintain these rights: Lucena (Quezon), Mandaue (Cebu); Independent component cities whose charters (as amended) only explicitly allow residents to run for provincial offices: Dagupan (Pangasinan) and Naga (Camarines Sur)
Registered voters of the cities of Cotabato, Ormoc, Santiago, as well as all other highly urbanized cities, including those to be converted or created in the future, cannot participate in provincial elections.
In addition to the eligibility of some independent cities to vote in provincial elections, a few other situations become sources of confusion regarding the complete autonomy of independent cities from provinces: Some independent cities still serve as the seat of government for the province in which they are geographically located: Bacolod (Negros Occidental), Cagayan de Oro (Misamis Oriental), Cebu City (Cebu), Iloilo City (Iloilo), Lucena (Quezon), Puerto Princesa (Palawan) and Tacloban (Leyte). In such cases, the provincial government, apart from already financing the maintenance of its properties such as provincial government buildings and offices, may also provide the government of the independent city with an annual budget (determined by the province at its discretion) to aid in relieving incidental costs incurred by the city such as road maintenance due to increased vehicular traffic in the vicinity of the provincial government complex. The independent city of Butuan was the capital and seat of government in the province of Agusan del Norte until Cabadbaran became the province's capital since 2000. Some independent cities are still grouped with their former provinces for the purposes of representation in Congress. While several independent cities have their own representative(s) in Congress, some remain part of the congressional representation of the province to which they formerly belonged. Puerto Princesa, for example, is still part of the Palawan's 3rd congressional district. In cases like this, independent cities that do not vote for provincial officials are excluded from Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial council) districts, and the allotment of SP members is adjusted accordingly by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) with proper consideration of population. On the other hand, the city of Lucena, which is eligible to vote for provincial officials, still forms part of the province of Quezon's 2nd Sangguniang Panlalawigan district, which is coterminous with the 2nd congressional district of Quezon. General lack of distinction for independent cities, for practical purposes: Many government agencies, as well as Philippine society in general, still continue to classify many independent cities outside Metro Manila as part of provinces due to historical and cultural ties, especially if these cities were once or currently socio-economic and cultural capitals of the provinces to which they once belonged. Furthermore, most maps of the Philippines showing provincial boundaries almost never separate independent cities from the provinces in which they are geographically located, for cartographic convenience. Despite being first-level administrative divisions (i.e., on the same level as provinces, as stated in Section 25 of the LGC), independent cities are still treated by many to be on the same level as municipalities and component cities (second-level administrative divisions) for educational convenience and simplicity.
A component city, while enjoying relative autonomy on some matters compared to a regular municipality, is still considered part of a province. However, there are several sources of confusion: Some component cities form their own congressional representation, separate from their province. The representation of a city in the House of Representatives (or lack thereof) is not a criterion for independence from a province, as Congress is the national legislative body and is part of the national (central) government. Despite Antipolo, Biñan and San Jose del Monte having their own representatives in Congress, they are still component cities of Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan, respectively, as their respective charters specifically converted them into component cities and have no provision stating a severance in relations with their respective provincial governments.