Republic Act No. 5520: Charter of the City of Dipolog

REPUBLIC ACT No. 5520

AN ACT CREATING THE CITY OF DIPOLOG

ARTICLE I Title of Act

Section 1

Title of Act This Act shall be known as the "Charter of the City of Dipolog."

ARTICLE II General Provisions

Section 2. Territory of the City of Dipolog

The City of Dipolog, which is hereby created, shall comprise the present territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of Dipolog, Province of Zamboanga del Norte.

Section 3. Corporate character of the City

The City of Dipolog constitutes a political body corporate and as such is endowed with the attributes of perpetual succession and possessed of the powers which pertain to a municipal corporation, to be exercised in conformity with the provisions of this Charter.

Section 4. Seal and general powers of the City

The city shall have a common seal, and may alter the same at pleasure. It may take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for public use, contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, prosecute as well as depend to final judgment and execution actions where its interests are involved and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred.

Section 5. City not liable for damages

The city shall not be liable or held for damages or injuries to persons or property arising from the failure of the City Mayor, the City Council, or any other city officer or employee, to enforce the provisions of this Charter, or of any other law or ordinance, or from the negligence of said City Mayor, City Council or other city officers or employees while enforcing or attempting to enforce said provisions: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall prevent any aggrieved party from filing a personal action in the proper court against any official or employee of the city government for any act or omission in the performance of his duties.

Section 6. Jurisdiction of the city

The jurisdiction of the City of Dipolog for police purposes shall be co-extensive with its territorial jurisdiction; and shall extend to three miles from the shores of the city; and for the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply of the city, such police jurisdiction shall also extend over all territory within the drainage area of such water supply, or within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with the city water service. The City Court of the city shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the Municipal Court of the respective municipalities to try crimes and misdemeanors committed within said drainage area, or within said spaces of one hundred meters. The court first taking jurisdiction of such an offense shall thereafter retain exclusive jurisdiction thereof. The police force of the several municipalities concerned shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the police force of the city for the maintenance of good order and the enforcement of ordinances throughout said zone, area and spaces. But any license that may be issued within said zone, area or spaces shall be granted by the proper authorities of the municipality concerned, and the fees arising therefrom shall accrue to the treasury of the said municipality concerned and not to that of the city.

ARTICLE III The City Mayor and the City Vice-Mayor

Section 7. The City Mayor

The City Mayor shall be the chief executive of the city. He shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city and shall hold office for a term of four years. He shall receive a compensation of eight thousand six hundred pesos per annum, and shall be entitled, in addition to his salary, to a non-commutable allowance of not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum. No person shall be eligible for election as City Mayor unless he is thirty years of age, a resident of the city or that of the former Municipality of Dipolog for at least two years prior to his election, and a qualified voter therein.

Section 8. The City Vice-Mayor

There shall be a City Vice-Mayor who shall be chosen in the same manner as the City Mayor, and shall possess the same qualifications as that of the City Mayor. He shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the City Mayor in the event of death, sickness, absence or other temporary incapacity of the incumbent, or in the event of a permanent vacancy in the position of City Mayor. If, for any reason, the City Vice-Mayor is temporarily incapacitated for the performance of the duties of the City Mayor, or said office of the City Vice-Mayor is vacant, the duties and powers of the City Mayor shall be performed and exercised by the councilor who obtained the highest number of votes during the election for members of the City Council. The City Vice-Mayor shall be the presiding officer of the City Council, with no right to vote except in case of tie, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the City Mayor or prescribed by law or ordinance. He shall receive a compensation of four thousand eight hundred pesos per annum.

Section 9. General powers and duties of the City Mayor

Unless otherwise provided by law, the City Mayor shall have immediate control over the executive and administrative functions of the different departments of the city, subject to the authority and supervision of the Office of the President. He shall have the following general powers and duties:

(a)To comply with and enforce and give the necessary orders for the faithful enforcement and execution of the laws and ordinances in effect within the jurisdiction of the city;

(b)To safeguard all the lands, buildings, records, moneys, credits, and other properties and rights of the city, and, subject to the provisions of this Charter, have control over all its property.

(c)To see that all taxes and other revenues of the city are collected, and applied in accordance with appropriations to the payment of municipal expenses.

(d)To cause to be instituted judicial proceedings to recover property and funds of the city whenever found, to cause to be defended all suits against the city, and otherwise to protect the interest of the city.

(e)To see that the executive officers and employees of the city properly discharge their respective duties. The City Mayor may, in the interest of the service and with the approval of the Department Head of the National Government first had, transfer officers and employees not appointed by the President of the Philippines from one section, division, or service to another section, division, or service within the same department without changing the compensation they receive.

(f)To examine and inspect the books, records, and papers of all officers, agents, and employees of the city over whom he has executive supervision and control at least once a year, and whenever occasion arises. For this purpose he shall be provided by the City Council with such clerical or other assistance as may be necessary.

(g)To give such information and recommend such measures to the City Council as he shall deem advantageous to the city.

(h)To represent the city in all its business matters and sign in its behalf all its bonds, contracts, and obligations made in accordance with law or ordinance.

(i)To submit to the City Council at least two months before the beginning of each fiscal year a budget of receipts and expenditures of the city.

(j)To receive, hear, and decide as he may deem proper, the petitions, complaints, and claims of the residents concerning all classes of municipal matters of an administrative or executive character.

(k)To grant or refuse municipal licenses or permits of all classes and to revoke the same for violation of the conditions upon which they were granted, or if acts, prohibited by law or municipal ordinance are being committed under the protection of such licenses or in the premises in which the business for which the same have been granted is carried on, or for any other good reason of general interest.

(l)To exempt, with the concurrence of the division superintendent of schools, deserving poor pupils from the payment of school fees or any part thereof.

(m)To take such emergency measures as may be necessary to avoid fires and floods and mitigate the effects of storms and other public calamities.

(n)To submit an annual report to the Office of the President.

(o)To perform such other duties and exercise such other executive powers as may be prescribed by law or ordinances.

Section 10. Secretary to the City Mayor

The City Mayor shall appoint one secretary who shall hold office at the pleasure of the City Mayor and who shall receive a compensation of not less than four thousand two hundred pesos per annum.

The secretary shall have charge and custody of all records and documents of the city and of any office or department thereof for which provision is not otherwise made, shall keep the corporate seal and affix the same with his signature to all ordinances and resolutions signed by the City Mayor and all other official documents and papers of the government of the city as may be required by law or ordinance; shall attest all executive orders, proclamations, ordinances and resolutions signed by the City Mayor; shall upon request, furnish certified copies of all city records and documents in his charge which are not of a confidential character and shall charge one peso for each one hundred words or fraction thereof, including the certificate, such fees to be paid directly to the city treasurer; and shall perform such other duties as the City Mayor may require him.

ARTICLE IV The City Council

Section 11. Composition and compensation

The City Council shall be the legislative body of the city and shall be composed of the City Vice-Mayor, who shall be its presiding officer, and eight councilors who shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city during every election for provincial, city and municipal officials in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code. In case of sickness, absence, suspension or other temporary disability of any member of the Council, or if necessary to maintain a quorum, the President of the Philippines may appoint a temporary substitute who shall possess all the rights and perform all the duties of a member of the Council until the return to duty of the regular incumbent.

If the City Vice-Mayor or any member of the City Council shall be a candidate for office in any election, he shall be disqualified to act with said body in the performance of the duties thereof relative to such election, and if, for such reason, the number of members should be unduly reduced, the President shall appoint any disinterested voter of the City, belonging to the political party of the disqualified member, to act in his place in such matters.

The members of the City Council shall receive a salary of four thousand two hundred pesos each per annum.

Section 12. Qualifications, election, suspension and removal of members

The members of the City Council shall, at the time of their election, be qualified voters of the city, residents for at least two years prior to their election, and not less than twenty-five 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 officials, and the provisions of law governing the suspension or removal of elective provincial officials are hereby made applicable in the suspension or removal of said members.

Elections for members of the Council shall be held on the date of the regular election for provincial, city and municipal officials, and elected members shall assume office on the first day of January immediately following their election, upon qualifying, and shall hold office for four years and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified. The eight candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected. A vacancy in the City Council shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Election Code.

Section 13. Secretary of the Council

The Council shall have a secretary who shall be appointed by it to serve during the term of office of the members thereof. The compensation of the secretary shall be fixed by ordinance at not less than four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. A vacancy in the office of the secretary shall be filled temporarily for the unexpired term in like manner.

The secretary shall be in charge of the records of the City Council. He shall keep a complete record of the proceedings of the Council, and file all documents relating thereto; shall record, in a book kept for the purpose, all ordinances and all resolutions and motions directing the payment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the Council, with the dates of passage of the same, and of the publication of ordinances; shall keep a seal, circular in form with inscription "City Council City of Dipolog", in the center of which shall be placed the coat of arms of the city, and affix the same, with his signature, to all ordinances and other official acts of the Council, and shall present the same for signature to the presiding officer; shall cause each ordinance passed to be published as herein provided; shall, upon request, furnish certified copies of all records of public character in his charge under the seal of his office and collect and receive therefor such fees as may be prescribed by resolution of the Council; and shall keep his office and all records therein which are not of a confidential nature open to public inspection during usual business hours.

Section 14. Legislative procedure

The City Council shall hold one regular session for the transaction of business each week on a day which it shall fix resolution, and such special sessions as may be necessary for the public interest as may be called by the City Mayor. Its sessions, regular or special, shall be open to the public, unless otherwise ordered by the affirmative votes of a majority of all the members of the Council. It shall keep a record of all its proceedings and determine its rules of procedure not herein set forth. A majority of all the members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the immediate attendance of any member who is absent without good cause by issuing to the police of the city an order for his arrest and attendance at the session under such penalties as shall have been previously prescribed by ordinance. The affirmative votes of a majority of all the members shall be necessary for the passage of any ordinance, or of any resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, but other measures shall prevail upon the majority votes of the members present at any session duly called and held. The ayes and nays shall be taken and recorded upon the passage of all ordinances, upon all resolutions or motions directing the payment of money or creating liability, and, at the request of any member, upon any other resolution or motion. Each approved ordinance, resolution or motion shall be sealed with the seal of the City Council, and recorded in a book kept for the purpose and shall, on the day following its passage, be posted by the secretary at the main entrance of the City Hall and in at least two other public places, and shall take effect and be in force on and after the tenth day following its passage unless otherwise stated in said ordinance, resolution or motion, or vetoed by the City Mayor as hereinafter provided. A vetoed ordinance, if repassed, shall take effect ten days after the veto is overridden by the required votes unless otherwise stated in the ordinance, resolution or motion.

Each ordinance and each resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, enacted or adopted by the Council, shall be forwarded to the City Mayor for his approval. Within ten days after the receipt of the ordinance, resolution or motion, the City Mayor shall return it with his approval or veto. If he does not return it within that time, it shall be deemed to be approved. If he returns it with his veto, his reasons therefor in writing shall accompany it. It may then again be enacted by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the Council.

The City Mayor shall have the power to veto any particular item or items of an appropriation ordinance, or of any ordinance, resolution or motion directing the payment of money or creating liability, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object. The item or items objected to shall not take effect except in the manner heretofore provided in this section as to ordinances, resolutions or motions returned to the Council with his veto; but should an item or items in an appropriation ordinance be disapproved by the City Mayor, the corresponding item or items in the appropriation ordinance of the previous year shall be deemed reenacted.

Section 15. General powers and duties of the Council

Except as otherwise provided by law, and subject to the conditions and limitations thereof, the City Council shall have the following legislative powers:

(a)To provide for the levy and collection of taxes for general and specific purposes in accordance with law, including specifically the power to levy real property tax not to exceed one and one-half per centum ad valorem: Provided, That the said maximum rate of one and one-half per centum shall not be imposed during the first five years of the effectivity of this Act.

(b)To fix with the approval of the Department Head of the National Government the number and salaries of officials and employees of the city not otherwise provided for in this Act;

(c)To make all appropriations for the expenses of the government of the city.

(d)To authorize the free distribution of medicine to the employees and laborers of the city whose salary or wage does not exceed one hundred and twenty pesos per month or four pesos per day, and of evaporated or fresh native milk to indigent mothers, residing in the city and of bread and light meals to indigent children ten years or less of age residing in the city, the distribution to be made under the direct supervision and control of the City Mayor.

(e)To fix the tariff of fees and charges for all services rendered by the city or any of its departments, branches or officials.

(f)To provide for the erection and maintenance or the rental, in case of need, of the necessary buildings for the use of the city.

(g)To provide for the establishment and maintenance of public schools; and, except as otherwise provided by law, to fix, with the approval of the Director of Public Schools, reasonable matriculation and/or tuition fees for intermediate and secondary instruction therein and to acquire sites for schoolhouses for primary and intermediate classes through purchases or conditional or absolute donation.

(h)To establish and maintain or aid in the establishment and maintenance of vocational schools and institutions of higher learning conducted by the National Government or any of its subdivision or agencies; and, with the approval of the Director of Vocational Education, to fix reasonable tuition fees for instruction in the vocational schools and in the institution of higher learning supported by the city.

(i)To maintain the city court established by law which shall have jurisdiction of all criminal cases under the ordinances of the city, and such further jurisdiction as may be herein or hereafter conferred.

(j)To provide for and maintain an efficient police force for the maintenance of law and order in the city, and make all necessary police ordinances, with a view to the confinement and reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, prostitutes and persons convicted or violating any of the ordinance of the city.

(k)To provide for and maintain a city fire department and to establish and maintain engine houses, fire engines, hose trucks, hooks and ladders, and other equipment for the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and to regulate the management and use of the same.

(l)To establish fire zones, determine the kinds of buildings or structures that may be erected within their limits, regulate the manner of constructing and repairing the same, and fix the fees for permits for the construction, repair or demolition, of buildings and other structures.

(m)To regulate the use of light in stables, shops, and other buildings and places and to regulate and restrict the issuance of permits for the building of bonfires and rockets, and other pyrotechnic displays, and to fix the fees for such permits.

(n)To make regulations to protect the public from conflagrations and to prevent and mitigate the effects of famine, floods, storms and other public calamities, and provide relief for victims thereof.

(o)To tax, regulate and fix the amount of the license fees for the following: hawkers, peddlers, hucksters, not including hucksters or peddlers who sell only native vegetables, fruits, or food personally carried by the hucksters or peddlers, barbers, collecting agencies, manicurists, hairdressers, tattooers, jugglers, slot machines, merry-go-rounds and other similar riding devices, and the keeping, preparation, and sale of meat, poultry, fish, game, butter, cheese, lard, vegetable, bread, and other provisions; and to impose a municipal occupation tax, not to exceed fifty pesos per annum, on lawyers, physicians, dentists, architects, civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical, or mining engineers, radio engineers or technicians, certified public accountants, opticians and optometrists, veterinarians, land surveyors, insurance agents and sub-agents, business agents and business consultants, professional appraisers or connoisseurs of tobacco or other domestic or foreign products, music teachers, piano tuners, nurses, midwives, auctioneers, plumbers, electrical contractors, building contractors, massagists, physical culture instructors, chiropodists, money changers, real estate, commercial and other brokers, and persons engaged in the transportation of passengers or freight by hire, including common carriers and transportation contractors: Provided, That persons exercising their profession or occupation only as salaried employees and not as independent practitioners shall be exempt from the municipal occupation tax therein prescribed.

(p)To tax, fix the license fee and regulate the business of hotels, restaurants, refreshment places, cafes, lodging houses, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, laundries, dyeing and cleaning establishments, beauty parlors, physical or beauty culture and fashion schools, clubs, livery garages, public warehouses, pawnshops, theaters, cinematographs, and the letting or subletting of lands and buildings, whether used for commercial, industrial or residential purposes; and further to fix the location of, and to tax, fix the license fee on, and regulate the business of, livery stables, boarding stables, embalmers, public billiard tables, public pool tables, bowling alleys, dance halls, public dancing halls, cabarets, night clubs, circuses and other similar parades, public vehicles, public ferries, cockpits, dealers in second hand materials or merchandise, junk dealers, theatrical performances, boxing contests, public exhibitions, blacksmith shops, foundries, steam boilers, lumber yards, shipyards, the storage and sale of gunpowder, tar, pitch, resin, coal, oil, gasoline, benzine, turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitroglycerin, petroleum or any of the products thereof and of all other combustible or explosive materials, and other establishments likely to endanger the public safety or give rise to conflagrations or explosions, and subject to the provisions of ordinances issued by the Bureau of Health Services in accordance with law, tanneries, renderies, tallow chandleries, bone factories, soap factories: Provided, That no license shall be granted to any theater or cinematograph unless the applicants for said license agrees to exhibit pictures made in the Philippines to the extent of five per centum of their annual exhibitions: And provided, further, That any violation of this condition shall cause the revocation of said license.

(q)To tax and fix the license fees on printers or bookbinders or both, rope, paper, leather goods, including shoes, slippers, sandals, harnesses and valises or bags, sporting goods, rubber goods, plastics and celluloid products, hardware, including glasswares, cooking utensils, electrical goods, and construction materials, chemical products including drugs, perfumes, toilet articles, paints, dyes and inks, textiles, shell lamps or lamp shades or both, statuettes or tombstones or both, sacks, furniture of all kinds, including rattan goods, wire, beds or both, clothing, hats, eyeglasses or optical goods or both, fertilizers or buttons. Manufacturers above-mentioned shall not be subject to the payment of any municipal tax or license fees as retail dealers of their own products: Provided, That any manufacturing conducted solely by the immediate members of a family at their own home shall not be subject to any tax or license fee.

(r)To tax and fix the license fee on dealers in general merchandise, including importers and indebtors, except those dealers who may be expressly subject to the payment of some other municipal tax under the provisions of this section. Dealers in general merchandise shall be classified as (a) wholesale dealers and (b) retail dealers. For purposes of the tax on retail dealers, general merchandise shall be classified into four main classes, namely:

(1)luxury articles, (2) semi-luxury articles, (3) essential commodities, and (4) miscellaneous articles. A separate license shall be prescribed for each class but where commodities of different class are sold in the same establishment, it shall not be compulsory for the owner to secure more than one license if he pays the higher or highest rate of tax prescribed by ordinance. Wholesale dealers shall pay the license tax as such, as may be provided by ordinance. For purposes of this section, the term "general merchandise" shall include poultry and livestock, agricultural products, fish and other allied products.

(s)To tax, fix the license fee on and regulate the sale, trading in or disposal of alcoholic or malt beverages, wines, and mixed or fermented liquors, including tuba, basi, tapuy, lambanog, offered for retail sale.

(t)To impose a tax on all products or commodities manufactured or produced in the city and removed therefrom.

(u)To impose a sales tax of not exceeding one per centum of the gross value in money of all articles sold, bartered, exchanged or transferred within the city.

(v)To regulate the method of using steam engines and boilers, and other motive powers other than marine, or belonging to the Government of the Philippines; to provide for the inspection thereof, and fix a reasonable fee for such inspection and to regulate and fix the fees for the licenses of the engineers engaged in operating the same.

(w)To provide for the prohibition and suppression of riots, affrays, disturbances, and disorderly assemblies; houses of ill-fame and other disorderly houses; gaming houses; gambling and all fraudulent devices for the purpose of obtaining money or property; prostitution, vagrancy, intoxication, fighting, quarreling, and all disorderly conduct; and printing, circulation, exhibition, possession or sale of obscene pictures, books or publication, and for the maintenance and preservation of peace and good morals;

(x)To prohibit or regulate and fix the license fees for the keeping of dogs, and to authorize their impounding and destruction when running at large contrary to ordinances, and to tax and regulate the keeping or training of fighting cocks.

(y)To establish and maintain municipal pounds; to regulate, restrain, and prohibit the running at large of domestic animals, and provide for the distraining, impounding and sale of the same for the penalty incurred, and the cost of the proceedings; and to impose penalties upon the owners of said animals for the violation of any ordinance in relation thereto.

(z)To prohibit and provide for the punishment of, cruelty to animals. (aa) To require property owners by ordinance to construct or repair, at their expense, sidewalks along the streets adjacent to their lots in accordance with the specifications of the city engineer as to the quality, width and grade, and subject to his supervision and approval, providing that, in case of failure or inability of the property owners to comply with the requirement within a specified period of time after demand, the city engineer shall cause the work to be done and the cost thereof collected as a special assessment from such owners, who may choose to pay the same in full, or in ten equal yearly installments which shall be due and payable to the City of Dipolog in the same manner as the annual tax on real estate and shall be made subject to the same penalties for delinquency, and enforceable by the same remedies, as such annual tax; and all said sums and amounts shall, from the day in which they are assessed, constitute liens on the property against which the same were assessed, and shall take precedence over any and other liens which may exist upon property excepting only such as may have been attached as a result of the non-payment of said annual tax. (bb) To regulate the inspection, weighing, and measurement of brick, lumber, coal and other articles or merchandise. (cc) To provide for or undertake the laying out, planning, construction, establishment and improvement, and to regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, wharves, piers, parks, cemeteries, reclamation projects, and other public places; to provide for lighting, cleaning, and sprinkling of streets, and public places; to regulate, fix license fees for and prohibit the use of the same for processions, signs, signposts, awning posts, and the carrying or displaying of banners, placards, advertisements, or handbills, or the flying of signs, flags or banners whether along, across, over or from building along the same; to prohibit the placing, throwing, depositing, or leaving of obstacles of any kind, garbage, refuse, or other offensive matter or matters liable to cause damage in the street and other public places and to provide for the collection and disposition thereof, to provide for the inspection of, fix the license fees for and regulate the opening in the same for the laying of waters, sewer and other pipes, the building and repair of tunnels, sewers and drains, and all structures in and the same and the erecting of poles and stringing of wires therein, to provide for and regulate crosswalks, curb and gutters thereon; to name streets without names and provide for and regulate the numbering of houses and lots fronting thereon or in the interior of the blocks; to regulate traffic and sales upon the streets and other public places; to provide for the abatement of nuisances in the same and punish the authors or owners thereof; to provide for the construction and maintenance, and regulate the use of bridges, viaducts, and culverts; to prohibit and regulate ball playing, hoop rolling, and other amusements which may annoy persons using the streets and public places, or frighten horses or other animals; to regulate the speed of horses or other animals and other animal driven vehicles within the limits of the city. (dd) To provide for the construction and maintenance of, and regulate the navigation on canals and water courses within the city and provide for cleaning and purification of the same; unless otherwise provided by law, to provide for the construction and maintenance, and regulate the use of public landing places, wharves, piers, docks, and levees, and those of private ownership; and to provide for or regulate the drainage and filling of private premises when necessary in the enforcement of sanitary rules and regulations issued in accordance with law. (ee) Subject to the provisions of the Public Service Law, to fix the charge to be paid by all watercraft landing at or using public wharves, docks, levees, or handling places owned, operated, managed or controlled by the city. (ff) Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, to provide for the maintenance of waterworks for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the city, and for the purification of the source of water supply and the places through which the same passes, and to regulate the consumption and use of water; to fix, subject to the provisions of the Public Service Law, and provide for the collection of rents therefor and to regulate the construction, repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns and reservoirs. (gg) To provide for the establishment and maintenance and to regulate the use of public drains, sewers, latrines and cesspools; (hh) Subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Director of Health Services in accordance with law, to provide for the establishment, maintenance and to fix the fees for the use of, and regulate public stables, laundries and baths, and public markets by any person, entity, association, or corporation other than the city.

(ii)To establish or authorize the establishment of slaughterhouses, to provide for their veterinary or sanitary inspection, to regulate the use of the same, and to charge reasonable slaughter fees. No fees shall be charged for veterinary or sanitary inspection of meat from large cattle or other domestic animals slaughtered outside the city, when such inspection was had at place where the animals were slaughtered. (jj) To regulate, inspect and provide measures preventing any discrimination or the exclusion of any race or races in or from any institution, establishment, or service open to the public within the city limits or in sale and supply of gas or electricity, or in the telephone service; to fix and regulate charges therefor where the same has not been fixed by national law, to regulate and provide for the inspection of all gas, electric and telephone conduit mains, meters and other apparatus, and provide for the condemnation, substitution or removal of the same when defective or dangerous. (kk) To declare, prevent and provide for the abatement of nuisances; to regulate the ringing of bells and the making of loud or unusual noises; to provide that owners, agents, or tenants of buildings or premises keep and maintain the same in sanitary condition, and that, in case of failure to do so within sixty days from the date a written notice is served, the city health officer shall cause the same to be kept in a sanitary condition, and the cost thereof to be assessed against the owner, of the extent not to exceed sixty per centum of the assessed value, which cost shall constitute a lien against the property; and to regulate and/or prohibit or fix the license fees for the use of property on or near public ways, grounds, or places, or elsewhere within the city, for display by electric signs or the erection or maintenance of billboards or structures or whatever materials erected, maintained, or used for the display of posters, signs, or other pictorial or reading matters, except signs displayed at the place or places where the profession or business advertised thereby is in whole or in part conducted. (ll) To provide for the enforcement of the rules and regulations issued by the Director of Health Services; and by ordinance to prescribe penalties for violation of such rules and regulations. (mm) To extend its ordinances over all waters within the city, and over any boat or other floating structures thereon and for the purpose of protecting and insuring the purity of the water supply of the city, over all territory within the drainage area of such water supply, and within one hundred meters of any reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, or pumping station used in connection with the city water service. (nn) To regulate any other business or occupation being conducted within the city not specifically mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, and to impose a license fee upon all persons engaged in the same or who enjoy privileges in the city. (oo) To fix and regulate the size, speed and operation of motor and other vehicles within the city; to regulate the lights used on such vehicles; to establish bus stops and terminals; and prohibit and regulate the entrance of provincial public utility vehicles into the city, except those passing through the city. (pp) To grant fishing and fishery privileges subject to the provisions of the Fisheries Act. (qq) To fix the date of the holding of a fiesta in the city and any of its constituent barrios, and limit the holding of the same to once a year only, and to alter, not oftener than once in three years, the date fixed for the celebration thereof. (rr) To enact all ordinances it may deem necessary and proper for the sanitation and safety, the furtherance of the prosperity, and the promotion of the morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, and such others as may be necessary to carry into effect and discharge the powers and duties conferred by this Charter; and to fix penalties for the violation of ordinances, which shall not exceed a two hundred peso fine or six months imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment, for a single offense. (ss) To exercise the power of eminent domain with the approval of the Department Head concerned or the President of the Philippines, for the following purposes: the construction or extension of roads, streets, sidewalks, boulevards, seawalls, bridges, ferries, levees, wharves, or piers, airfields, the construction of public buildings including schoolhouses and the making of necessary improvements in connection therewith; the establishment of parks, playgrounds, plazas, market places, artesian wells, or systems for the supply of water, irrigation, canals and dams, and the establishment of nurseries, breeding centers for animals, health centers, hospitals, cemeteries, crematories, drainage systems, cesspools, or sewage systems and abattoirs. (tt) To dispose by lease or otherwise all lands of the public domain ceded to it by the National Government pursuant to the provisions of this Charter.

Section 16. Restrictive provisions

No commercial sign, signboard, or billboard shall be erected or displayed on public lands, premises or buildings. If, after due investigation, and having given the owners an opportunity to he heard, the City Mayor shall decide that any sign, signboard or billboard displayed or exposed to public view is offensive to the sight or is otherwise a nuisance; he may order the removal of such sign, signboard, or billboard, and if same is not removed within ten days after he has issued such order, he may himself cause its removal, and the sign, signboard, or billboard shall thereupon be forfeited to the city and the expenses incident to the removal of the same shall become a lawful charge against any person or property liable for the erection or display thereof.

ARTICLE V Departments and Offices of the City

Section 17. City Departments

There shall be the following city departments over which the City Mayor shall have direct control and supervision, any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding:

(a)Finance and Assessment Department;

(b)Engineering and Public Works Department;

(c)Law Department;

(d)Health Department;

(e)Police and Fire Department.

The City Council may from time to time make such readjustments of the duties of the different departments as the public interest may demand, and with the approval of the President, may consolidate any department, division or office with any other department, division or office of the city.

Section 18. Powers and duties of head of departments

Each head of department of the city government shall be in control of such department under the direction of the City Mayor and shall possess such powers as may be prescribed herein or by ordinance. He shall certify to the correctness of all payrolls and vouchers of his department covering the payment of money before payment, except as herein otherwise expressly provided. At least four months before the beginning of each fiscal year, he shall prepare and present to the City Mayor an estimate of the receipt and appropriation necessary for the operation of his department for the ensuing fiscal year, and shall submit therewith such information for purposes of comparison as the City Mayor may desire. He shall submit to the City Mayor as often as required reports covering the operation of his department.

In case of absence or sickness, or inability to act for any other reason, of the head of any of the city departments, the officer next in rank of that department shall act in his place with authority to sign all necessary papers, vouchers, requisitions and similar documents.

Section 19. Appointment and removal of officials and employees

The President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, shall appoint the city judge, the city treasurer, the city engineer, the city fiscal, the chief of police, the city health officer, the city assessor, the chief of fire department, the city superintendent of schools. Said officers shall not be suspended or removed except in the manner and for causes provided by law.

Subject to all existing laws, the City Mayor shall appoint the city assessor, city agriculturist, city chief of police, city chief of fire department and all other heads of department, officers and employees as may be created by law and entirely paid out of the city funds. Said officials and/or employees shall not be suspended or removed except for cause and in the manner provided for by law.

Section 20. Officers not to engage in certain transactions

It shall be unlawful for any city officer, individually or as a member of a firm, to engage in any business transaction with the city, or with any of its authorized officials, boards, agents or attorneys, whereby money is to be paid, out of the resources of the city to such person or firm; or to purchase any real estate or other property belonging to the city, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments, or by virtue of legal process at the suit of the city; or to be surety for any person having a contract or doing business with the city, for the performance of which security may be required; or to be surety on the official bond of any officer of the city; and shall not be financially interested in any transaction or contract in which the National Government or any subdivision or instrumentality is an interested party.

ARTICLE VI Relations to Bureau and other Offices

Section 21. The General Auditing Office

The Auditor General shall receive and audit all accounts of the city in accordance with the provisions of law relating to government accounts and accounting. The provincial auditor of the Province of Zamboanga del North shall at the same time be the ex-officio city auditor.

Section 22. The Bureau of Public Schools

The Director of Public Schools shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines, and the division superintendent of schools of the Province of Zamboanga del Norte shall at the same time be the ex-officio city superintendent of schools, and shall have all the powers and duties in respect to the schools of the city as heretofore: Provided, That the salaries of the supervisors, principals, teachers and other operational expenses of the primary and intermediate schools in the city shall be borne by the National Government.

Section 23. The Land Registration Commission

The Commissioner of the Land Registration Commission shall exercise the same jurisdiction and powers in the city as elsewhere in the Philippines, and the register of deeds of the Province of Zamboanga del Norte shall be the ex-officio register of deeds of the city.

ARTICLE VII Finance and Assessment Department

Section 24. The City Treasurer

There shall be a city treasurer who shall have charge of the finance and assessment department and shall act as chief fiscal officer and financial adviser of the city and custodian of its funds. He shall receive a salary of four thousand two hundred pesos per annum, in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act Numbered Eight hundred forty. He shall at the same time be the ex-officio city assessor, and shall have the following general powers and duties:

(a)He shall collect all taxes due to the city, all licenses authorized by law or ordinance, all rents due for lands, markets and other properties owned by the city, and all further charges of whatever nature fixed by law or ordinance; shall administer markets and slaughterhouses, and shall receive and issue receipts for all costs, fees, fines and forfeitures imposed by the city court.

(b)He shall collect all miscellaneous charges made by the engineering and public works department and by the other departments of the city government, and all charges made by the city engineer, for inspections, permits, licenses, and the installations, maintenance, and services rendered in the operation of the private privy system.

(c)Unless otherwise specifically provided by law or resolution, he shall perform in and for the city the duties imposed by law or resolution upon provincial treasurers in general as well as other duties imposed upon him by law.

(d)He shall purchase and issue all supplies, equipment or other property required by the city, through the purchasing agent, or otherwise, as may be authorized, subject to the general provisions of law relating thereto.

(e)He shall be accountable for all funds and property of the city and shall render such accounts in connection therewith as may be prescribed by the Auditor General.

(f)He shall deposit all city funds and collections in any bank duly designated as government depository in accordance with the existing rules and regulations.

(g)He shall disburse the funds of the city in accordance with duly authorized appropriations, upon properly executed vouchers bearing the approval of the chief of the department concerned, and on or before the twentieth day of each month, he shall furnish the City Mayor and the City Council, for their information, a statement of the appropriation, expenditures and balances of all funds and accounts as of the last day of the month preceding.

(h)He shall be the custodian of all moneys released for public works for the city from the National Government, and shall disburse the same. The city treasurer, as ex-officio city assessor, shall have the following powers and duties:

(a)The city assessor and his authorized deputies are empowered to administer any oath authorized to be administered in connection with the valuation of the real estate for the assessment and collection of taxes.

(b)He shall make a list of the taxable real estate in the city, arranging in the order of the lot and block numbers the names of the owners thereof, with a brief description of the property opposite each such name and the cash value thereof. In making this list, the city assessor shall take into consideration any sworn statement made by the owners of the property, but shall not be prevented thereby from considering any other evidence on the subject and exercising his own judgment in respect thereto. For the purpose of completing this list, he and his representatives may enter upon the real estate for the purpose of examining and measuring it, and may summon witnesses, administer oaths to them, and subject them to examination concerning the ownership and the amount of real estate and its cost value.

(c)He may, if necessary, examine the records of the register of deeds of the province and the city showing the ownership of real estate in the city.

Section 25. Real estate exempt from taxation

The following shall be exempted from taxation:

(a)Lands of buildings owned by the National Government or the City of Dipolog, and burying grounds, churches, and adjacent parsonages and convents, and lands or buildings used exclusively for religious, charitable scientific, or educational purposes, and not for profit.

(b)Lands and buildings which are the only property of the owner, and the value of which does not exceed four hundred pesos.

(c)Machinery, which term shall embrace machines, mechanical contrivances, instruments, appliances, and apparatus attached to the real estate, used for industrial, agricultural or manufacturing purposes, during the first two years of the operation of the machinery.

Section 26. Declaration to be made by persons acquiring or improving real estate

It shall be the duty of each person who, at any time, acquires real estate in the city and of each person who constructs or adds to any improvements on real estate owned by him in the city, to prepare and present to the city assessor within a period of sixty days next following such acquisition, construction or addition, a sworn declaration setting forth the value of the real estate acquired or the improvement constructed or addition made by him and description of such property sufficient to enable the city assessor readily to identify the same. Any person having acquired real estate who fails to make and present the declaration herein required within the said period of sixty days shall be deemed to have waived his right to notice of the assessment of such property, and the assessment of the same in the name of its former owner shall, in all such cases, be valid and binding on all persons interested, and for all purposes, as though the same has been assessed in the name of its present owner.

Section 27

Action when owner makes no returns or is unknown, or ownership is in dispute or in doubt, or when land and improvements are separately owned. If the owner of any parcel of real estate shall fail to make a return thereof, or if the city assessor is unable to discover the owner of any real estate, he shall nevertheless list the same for taxation, and charge the tax against the true owner, if known, and if unknown then as against an unknown owner. In case of doubt or dispute as to ownership of real estate, the taxes shall be levied against the possessor or possessors thereof. When it shall appear that there are separate owners of the land and the improvements thereon, a separate assessment of the property of each shall be made.

Section 28. Action in case estate has escaped taxation

If it shall come to the knowledge of the city assessor that any taxable real estate in the city has escaped listing, it shall be his duty to list and value the same at the time and in the manner provided in the next succeeding section and to charge against the owner thereof the taxes due for the current year and the last preceding one year, and the taxes thus assessed shall be legal and collectible by all the remedies herein provided, and if the failure of the city assessor to assess such taxes at the time when they should have been assessed was due to any fault or negligence on the part of the owner of such property, the penalties shall be added to such back taxes as though they had been assessed at the time when they should have been assessed.

Section 29. When assessment may be increased or reduced

The city assessor shall during the first fifteen days of January of each year add to his list of taxable real estate in the city the value of the improvements placed upon such property during the preceding year, and any property which is taxable and which has theretofore escaped taxation. He may during the same period revise and correct the assessed value of any or all parcels of real estate in the city which are not assessed at their true money value, by reducing or increasing the existing assessment as the case may be.

Section 30. Publication of complete list and proceedings thereon

The city assessor shall, after the list have been completed, inform the public by notice published for seven days in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, if any, and by notice posted for seven days at the main entrance of the City Hall, that the list is on file in his office and may be examined by any person interested therein, and that upon the date fixed in the notice, which shall not be later than the tenth day of February, the city assessor will be in his office for the purpose of hearing complaints as to the accuracy of the listing of the property and the assessed value thereof. He shall further notify in writing each person the amount of whose tax will be changed by such proposed revision, by delivering or mailing at least thirty days in advance of the date fixed in the notice such notification to such person or his authorized agent at the last known address of said owner or agent in the Philippines, sometime in the month of January. It shall be his duty carefully to preserve and record in his office copies of said notice. On the day fixed in the notice, and for five days thereafter, he shall be present in his office to hear all complaints filed within the period by persons against whom taxes have been assessed as owners of real estate, and he shall make his decision forthwith and enter the same in a well-bound book, to be kept by him for that purpose, and if he shall determine that injustice had been done or errors have been committed he is authorized to amend the list in accordance with his findings.

Section 31. City assessor to authenticate list of real estate assessed

The city assessor shall authenticate each list of real estate valued and assessed by him as soon as the same is completed, by signing the following certificate at the foot thereof:

| "I hereby certify that the foregoing list contains a true statement of the piece or pieces of taxable real estate belonging to each person named in the list, and its true assessed value, and that no real estate taxable by law in the City of Dipolog has been omitted from the list, according to the best of my knowledge and belief. | | | --- | --- | | | (Signature)" |

Section 32. Time and manner of appealing to Board of Tax Appeals

In case any owner of real estate, or his authorized agent, shall feel aggrieved by any decision of the city assessor under the preceding sections of this Article, such owner or agent may, within thirty days after the entry of such decision, appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals. The appeal shall be perfected by filing a written notice of the same with the city assessor and it shall be the duty of that officer forthwith to transmit the appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals with all the written evidence in his possession relating to such assessment and valuation.

Section 33. Constitution and compensation of Board of Tax Appeals

There shall be a Board of Tax Appeals which shall be composed of five members to be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. Three members of the Board shall be selected from among government officials in the city other than those in charge of assessment and they shall serve without additional compensation. The two other members shall be selected from among property owners in the city and they shall each receive a compensation of ten pesos each day of session actually attended. The chairman of the Board shall be designated in the appointment and shall have the power to designate any city official or employee to serve as the secretary of the board without additional compensation.

The members of the City Board of Tax Appeals shall hold office for a term of two years unless sooner removed by the President of the Philippines.

Section 34. Oath to be taken by members of the Board of Tax Appeals

Before organizing as such, the members of the Board of Tax Appeals shall take the following oath before the city judge or some other officer authorized to administer oaths:

| "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will hear and determine well and truly all matters and issue between taxpayers and the city assessor submitted for my decision. So help me God. (In case of affirmation the last four words are to be stricken out.) |

(Signature)"

"Member of the Board of Tax Appeals"

Subscribed and sworn (or affirmed) to before me this ____ day of ______________, 19___.

(Signature and title of officer Administering Oath)"

For information and research only, and not legal advice. This text may not reflect later amendments. For certified copies, refer to the Official Gazette or the issuing agency.

In plain language