MODULE 2 4.

intervention of the government and by

the National Assembly, in appropriate
BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE LOCAL GOVERNANCE cases, to prevent provinces and
LESSON 1 municipalities from performing acts in
excess of their powers to the prejudice
Local Government During the Period of Conquest and and detriment of the general welfare
Before and individual interests; and

Pre-Conquest Period 5. the determination of their taxing

powers, in order that provincial and
Before the conquest of the Philippine islands in the
municipal taxation may never be
middle of the sixteenth century and prior to the coming
antagonistic to the system of taxation
of Arab and Chinese traders and missionaries in the
of the state (cited by de Guzman, et. al.,
early 14th Century, there was already a system of
infra, quoting Art. 82, Title XI, Malolos
governance in the country known as the barangay. The
Constitution of 1899).
term barangay was derived from “balangay” meaning
the sailboats used by the Malays who fled the tyrannical Each town had a set of officers composed of the chief
rule of the Shri-Visjayan empire and settled in the of the town and the headman for each barrio and
southern part of the country (Arcellana 1969:39). three officials, one each for the office of police and
internal order, justice and civil registry, and taxes and
The barangay was the political, economic and social
property, elected by a majority vote of the inhabitants
organization of the Philippines. The barangays, which
who have distinguished themselves by their high
were the equivalent of the city-states of ancient Greece,
character, social position, and honorable conduct.
had from 30 to 100 members composed mostly of kins
whose relations were thing as popular suffrage as the 1. The chief of the town,
inhabitants were not granted the right to choose their
local officials, who were appointed by the central 2. the headman of each barrio, and
government. It was only toward the close of the Spanish 3. the three aforementioned officials
regime that some political reforms were instituted. The
Maura Law (1893), so called because it was authored by constituted the popular assembly. The chief of the
Antonio Maura y Montaner, Minister of Colonies, town served as president of the assembly; the
enfranchised local citizens within a limited degree, to headman, the vice president; and the justice and civil
select their officers, subject to strict supervision by registry official, secretary of the assembly.
insular authorities with very limited authority (Romani
and Thomas 1954:120). The town chiefs, constituted into an assembly, elected
the chief of the province and three councilors by a
Under the Maura Law, each town that contributed one majority vote, the duties of whom correspond to those
thousand cedulas annually to the central government of the officials in the municipal level. The provincial
was allowed to have a municipal council of five council was composed :
members consisting of a municipal captain, chief
lieutenant (teniente mayor), and three lieutenants. The 1. of the chief of the province, as its president,
law also provided for the election of members of the and
council by a plurality vote. The municipal council 2. the chief of the capital town and
prepared the municipal budget generated from real
property taxes and from fees and tolls. 3. the three officials, as members.

The Revolutionary Period The representatives of the province to the

Revolutionary Congress were elected by the town chiefs
The Malolos Constitution of 1899 provided for a by a majority vote.
democratic system of local government specifically and
essentially designed to encourage active participation The American Epoch
by the people in the local affairs as a means of
The system of government established in the
promoting national unity which was necessary at the
Philippines by the American colonial masters was
time. The system of local government established by
characterized by centralism. Local governments had
the Malolos Constitution was characterized by the
very little control over local affairs.
following features, namely:
The American colonial masters established the
1. popular and direct election;
municipality. The first municipalities established had a
2. public sessions; municipal council composed of a President, who was its
head, and the headmen of the barrios constituting the
3. publication of budgets, accounts, and municipality. The Schurman Commission introduced
important ordinances; the election, by word of mouth, of the President by the
town residents. The election results, however, are to be which was the direct effect of the long domination of
approved by the American Commanding Officer of the the local government units by the central government.
town. Like the head of the municipal council under Central control of local units was rationalized as it was
General Order No. 43 of 1899, the President was necessary to control the numerous military struggles
assisted by the heads of the composite villages. The acts against the United States.
of the municipal officials were subject to the absolute
control of the American military officials, who were The Commonwealth
responsible only to the central government. The approval and adoption of the 1935
The shift to civilian government sort of modified the Constitution paved the way for the institution of the
highly centralized military government in the islands. Philippine Commonwealth. Under Sec. 10, Art. VII
That President McKinley intended to shed off some of thereof, the President exercised general supervision
the powers of the central government and give over all local government units subject to the provisions
autonomy to local governments is evident in his of law, which power the President exercised through
Instruction of April 7, 1890. He specifically directed the the Executive Bureau of the Department of Interior.
Philippine Commission to establish: Financial supervision over local governments was,
however, later transferred to the Department of
“… municipal government in which the natives of the Finance. The Department of Interior was abolished in
islands… shall be afforded the opportunity to manage 1950 and was replaced by the Division of Local
their own local affairs to the fullest extent of which they Government in the Office of the President of the
are capable, and subject to the least degree of Philippines.
supervision and control. In the distribution of power
among the governments, the presumption is always to During this period, there was a shift towards
be in favor of the smaller subdivision, so that all the centralization primarily due to the strong leadership of
powers which can properly be exercised by the President Manuel L. Quezon who advocated for a
municipal government shall be vested in that strong central government with its chief executive
government… (T)he central government… shall have no exercising control over local units.
direct administration except in matters of a purely 1. City mayors were appointed by the
general concern and shall only have such supervision President from 1936 to 1940.
and control over the local government as may be
necessary to serve and enforce faithful and efficient 2. The police service was nationalized.
administration by local officials.”
3. The President had the power to define
In accordance with and pursuant to the aforequoted the boundaries of local government
instruction of President McKinley, the Philippine units as well as to merge and divide
Commission enacted into law Act No. 82 and Act No. 83 existing ones.
which provided for the organization and government
LESSON 2
of municipalities and for the establishment of
provinces, respectively. Under the first law, each Local Government During the Period of Independence
municipality was headed by a President who was its and After
chief executive. The other officials of the town are a
Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Chief of Police. Each town The Third Republic
had a council, which was the legislative body. The
The declaration of Philippine independence in
council had the President as its presiding officer with a
1946 instituted the Third Republic of the Philippines
representative each of the barrios comprising the town
with a unitary system of government. During this
as members.
period there was a remarkable shift to decentralization.
Under Act No. 83, The momentum of decentralization was punctuated by
the incorporation of one whole article on local
1. each provincial government had a government in the 1973 Constitution.
Governor, who was the chief executive
of the province and presiding officer of There was a good number of pieces of legislation
the provincial council, granting autonomy to local government units through
the decentralization of more powers and a reduction of
2. a Treasurer, and a Supervisor, who was central control over local government. The most
later replaced by a Division significant of these legislative enactments was Republic
Superintendent of Schools. Act Numbered 2259, which made members of city
councils such as mayors, vice mayors, and councilors
The Governor was elected, at first, by the councilors of
elective.
the municipalities constituting the provinces and, later,
by popular vote. No matter how well intentioned, the R.A. No. 2370, otherwise known as the Barrio Charter,
McKinley instructions were never realized due to the later revised by R.A. No. 3590, which recognized the
lack of capable local government officials, a situation
barrio as a legal entity and empowered its inhabitants 3. A barangay justice system, more
to elect the barrio officials. R.A. No. 2264, popularly popularly called Katarungang Barangay,
known as the Local Autonomy Act granted extensive also dotted the political picture.
taxing powers to local governments and the power to
appropriate funds for the promotion of the general During this period, citizen assemblies were created by
welfare, and R.A. No. 5185, otherwise known as the virtue of P.D. No. 86, on December 31, 1972. A few days
after, on January 5, 1973, the citizen assemblies
Decentralization Act of 1967 introduced some metamorphosed to barangays through P.D. No. 86-A.
modifications in the spectrum of local governance. On the third anniversary of the declaration of martial
These innovations were, namely: law, the barrios were declared as barangays.

1. the grant of authority to provincial and P.D. No. 826 renamed the provincial board and city
city governments to supplement and municipal boards of councils as sangguniang
national extension services; bayan.

2. the surrender of control by the national P.D. No. 877 of January 21, 1976 created the Katipunan
government of certain local matters; ng mga Sanggunian, an umbrella organization of all the
Sangguniang Bayan in the provinces and cities, including
3. increase in the share of provinces in Metropolitan Manila.
internal revenue collections on the
basis of population and land area; and The Pampook na Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian was
organized at the regional level in accordance with P.D.
4. transfer from the President to the No. 925 of April 24, 1976. The PKS was composed of all
provincial governor of the power to the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and
appoint officials including, but not Sangguniang Panglungsod and their presiding officers.
limited to, the provincial agriculturist
and provincial assessor. Another political experiment of the martial law regime
is the Kabataang Barangay, a youth organization.
Martial Law and After Formed through P.D. No. 684, dated April 15, 1975, the
By virtue of Proclamation No. 1081 of KB was composed of all barangay residents who are
September 21, 1972, the entire country was placed below 18 years of age but not lower than 15. The KB
under Martial Law. At the time, the Constitutional was administered by a chairman with the assistance of 6
Convention of 1971 was in the process of handcrafting a KB leaders chosen by the barangay youth assembly
fundamental law for the land to replace the 1935 members from among themselves. The KB chairman
organic law. This basic law is now known in the annals was an ex-officio member of the barangay council. In
of Philippine political history as the 1973 Constitution. view of the KB chairman’s membership in the barangay
council, the barangay captain exercised the power of
Under the 1973 Constitution, the President was general administrative supervision over the affairs of
allowed to continue exercising legislative power, the youth organization.
which covered the power to create, divide, merge,
abolish, and alter the boundaries of local government The President of the Philippines assumed and actually
units. With local elections suspended, the President exercised the power of appointing local elective officials
also exercised the power to remove and appoint local whose term of office expired on December 31, 1975.
officials, thereby drastically changing the entire picture The exercise of the power to appoint local government
of local governance. officials was authorized by the people in a referendum
held much earlier on February 27, 1975. With the
During the martial law regime, the election of provincial governors and city and municipal
mayors on January 31, 1980, the election through
1. barrio was renamed barangay and
popular suffrage of local officials with a fixed term of
2. the council, sanggunian. office was finally restored.

Thus, the various local legislative councils The 1973 Constitution, so-called because it was
metamorphosed to sanggunian. considered ratified on January 17, 1973, recognized the
significant role of local government in national
1. The provincial council, the city council, development. It mandated the State to “guarantee and
and the municipal council were promote the autonomy of local government units,
renamed sangguniang panlalawigan, especially the barangays, to ensure their fullest
sangguniang panlungsod, and development as self-reliant communities” (Sec. 10, Art.
sangguniang bayan, respectively. II). To encourage local governments to attain fiscal
independence and sufficiency in consonance with the
2. The barangay council was renamed
spirit of the abovementioned constitutional mandate,
sangguniang barangay.
the 1973 Constitution empowered each local
government to create its own sources of revenue and to
define taxes that may be levied and to actually levy such 1. the election of barangay officials on
taxes subject to such limitations as may be provided by May 17, 1982 as prescribed by Batas
law. Cognizant of the role of local governments in the Pambansa Blg. 222, of March 22, 1982,
solution of problems common to them, the 1973 which completed the restoration of the
Constitution encouraged local government units to election of local officials by direct
group together, or consolidate or coordinate their popular suffrage, and
efforts, services and resources for purposes commonly
beneficial to them (Sec. 2, Art. IV). 2. conversion of the Ministry of Local
Government and Community
Under the 1973 Constitution, a local government unit Development into a Ministry of Local
may only be created, divided, merged, abolished or its Government.
boundary substantially altered with the approval of the
majority of the votes cast in the unit or units affected The former’s community development function was
(Sec. 3, Art. XI). Also under the 1973 Constitution, the transferred to the Ministry of Human Settlements. The
State is mandated to enact into law a local government MLG had the mandate of developing the capability of
code with an effective system of recall (Sec. 2, Art. XI). local government officials and strengthening the
administrative capability of local units (Sec. 4, E.O. 777).
The guarantee of local autonomy in the 1973
Constitution notwithstanding, the trends and The Provisional Government of 1986 and the Fifth
developments that unfurled during the martial law Republic
regime pointed to the surrender of local autonomy and Corazon C. Aquino was inducted into office on
the concentration of authority to the central February 25, 1986 as President of the Philippines,
government which substantially diminished powers, replacing Ferdinand E. Marcos. On March 25 of the
functions, and responsibilities of the local government same year, President Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3
units. De Guzman and Reforma (1990), infra, ushering in a provisional government which was
enumerated six manifestations of increased central revolutionary in nature. Proclamation No. 3 provided
control over local matters, namely: for a provisional Constitution, also known as the
1. the exercise by the executive of Freedom Constitution, which was in substance the 1973
legislative power which included the Constitution.
merger, creation, or abolition of local The ratification of the new Constitution on February 2,
government entities; 1987 marked the coming into being of the Fifth
2. expanded presidential power over local Republic. The 1987 Constitution incorporates one
officials; whole article on local government which makes the
provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays as the
3. nationalization of police; territorial and political subdivisions of the Philippines
and ordains the establishment of autonomous regions
4. exercise by the central government of in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras (Sec. 1, Art. X).
the power to regulate infrastructures The most significant provision of Article X is Section 2
and establishments devoted to tourism which proclaims that the political subdivisions of the
promotion; country shall enjoy autonomy. Furthermore, Sec. 3
5. implementation of top-down approach thereof mandates the enactment by Congress of a Local
in planning; and Government Code.

6. the creation of too many and Pursuant to and in compliance with aforesaid
sometimes overlapping government constitutional mandate, Congress enacted R.A. No.
offices that supervised different facets 7160 on October 10, 1991 providing for a Local
of local government affairs. Government Code. The LGC or Code, for brevity, has
been undergoing implementation, thereafter.
The Fourth Republic

The Fourth Republic was inaugurated on June

30, 1981, in accordance with the amendments
introduced in 1981 to the 1973 Constitution following
the lifting of martial law on January 17, 1981. The
enactment of the Local Government Code (Batas
Pambansa Blg. 337, February 10, 1983), constituted the
most significant accomplishment of the New Republic
pertaining to local government.

Two other events marked the existence of the Fourth

Republic, namely: