Batac’s cityhood nullified
August 31st, 2010 | Author: Tarabitab
Ilocos, Philippines – Batac recently lost its cityhood together with other 15 local government units (LGUs). With a 7-6-2 vote from justices, the Supreme Court of the Philippines reinstated its 2008 decision with finality declaring the cityhood laws converting 16 municipalities into cities as unconstitutional. The list includes Batac, Ilocos Norte.
This final court ruling reversed the decision penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. on Dec. 21, 2009, which affirmed the validity of the conversion of the cities.
Republic Act 9009 which amended Section 450 of of the the Local Government Code raised the income requirement for cityhood from 20 million pesos to 100 million pesos. Batac and the rest of the 15 local governments failed to meet this new income requirement. Their cityhood application however was based on the old income standard. Batac was qualified in 1998 and was converted into a component city of the province of Ilocos Norte in 2007 by virtue of Republic Act 9407. This law contains exemption provisions from the new income requirement.
With this Supreme court ruling, Batac would only qualify to field a total of 8 councilors. Batac constituents elected 10 councilors last May election based on a ruling of the Commission on Elections.
The change in the status of Batac also means a corresponding change in its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) level. The IRA is a local government’s share of revenues from the national government. The allocation across the various local government units (provinces, cities, municipalities) is largely based on land area and population. With a town status, Batac is expected to receive a lower IRA level compared to the level of a city status.
The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) has been against the conversion of these cities because of their failure to meet the new minimum income requirement.
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