Flip-Flopping in the City

Sunday, 27 February 2011 00:00

Written by Ma. Gladys Sta. Rita

It must be summer already. Flip-flops are in. But not the kind you wear for your refreshing walkabout. The League of Cities of the Philippines is steaming hot these days, precisely because of flip-flops --Supreme Court decision flip-flops.

In a vote of 7-6 with two abstentions, the Supreme Court held that the 16 enabling laws passed by the House of Representatives to convert 16 towns into the country’s newest cities, did not violate any provision of the Constitution and Republic Act No. 9009 of the Local Government Code. The high court decision was a controversial reversal, the fourth actually of a series of flip-flops, that earned the ire of the city mayors’ league. Let’s look at a calendar of a debacle.

•    November 18, 2008. Supreme Court nullifies 16 cityhood laws, citing unconstitutionality. First motion for reconsideration denied, making the decision final. Second appeal denied with a vote of 6-6.
•    May 21, 2009.   SC said case was closed for good. But 16 town mayors beleaguered SC into hearing the second motion for reconsideration.
•    December 2009. SC reverses decision and declares the 16 cityhood laws constitutional.
•    League of Cities files motion for reconsideration asking SC to reverse its declaration.
•    August 2010. SC grants League of Cities plea and again declares 16 cityhood laws unconstitutional.
•    Again, town mayors contested the August 2010 ruling. And in a move that even the high court’s spokesperson and administrator Midas Marquez called “unusual”, the SC again reversed itself by declaring the 16 conversions constitutional.

The League of Cities could welcome to their fold these newbie cities, though their skirmishes with the high court may not end soon. For now, it’s good news for Baybay, Leyte; Naga, Bogo and Carcar in Cebu; Catbalogan and Borongan in Samar; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Lamitan, Basilan; Tayabas, Quezon; Tabuk, Kalinga; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; Batac, Ilocos Norte; Mati, Davao Oriental; Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte; Guihulngan, Negros Oriental;and El Salvador, Misamis Oriental.

The League of Cities argues that a town or municipality applying to become a city should have minimum annual earnings of P100 million. But both chambers of Congress amended this, lowering the minimum requirement to P20 million.

The League of Cities protests the “wholesale conversion” of municipalities into cities, saying this would thin out the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of existing cities, as there would be more of them sharing the fund. And the SC’s flip-flopping, they say, sends out a negative image of the highest and final arbiter of the land.

The bottom line however is disturbingly clear. As alarming as the Supreme Court being allegedly swayed by big local political families and interests, is the fact that LGUs today seem to prefer the easiest, and most convenient way to more competitive revenues—cityhood.

There are those who argue that budding cities should be judged using a merit system of financial capability ang maturity, infrastructural development, and service efficiency. Some quarters say it’s the other way around. Make us cities and we’ll show you what city funds can do. The arguments could be endless, depending on which side of the fence you are sitting.

The Local Government Code (LGC) has been around for a decade and a year; long enough to see many towns and provinces weaning away from Internal Revenue Allottment (IRA) dependency and harnessing local revenues and means to become self-sufficient. Still, it now seems that there are many others who believe that the easiest way up is a cityhood law.

Are we sensing “local autonomy fatigue” among our LGUs? Who’s to tell the difference between the deserving convert and the desperate wannabe city?
In the end, we can flip-flop all we want. Still, wouldn’t it be nice if towns earn the right to be called cities first, showing a better quality of life it provides its people, before actually vying for cityhood?

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