Republic Act No. 5827 | Senate of the Philippines Legislative Reference Bureau

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:SECTION 1. Section fifteen of Commonwealth Act Numbered Five hundred twenty, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 15. General powers and duties of the Board.-Except as otherwise provided by law, and subject to the conditions and limitations thereof, the Municipal Board shall have the following legislative powers:

(a)	To provide for the levy and collection of taxes for general and special purposes in accordance with law including specifically the power to levy real property tax not to exceed two per centum ad valorem.
(b)	To make all appropriations for the expenses of the government of the city.
(c)	To fix the number and salaries of officials and employees of the city not otherwise provided for in this Act.
(d)	To authorize the free distribution of medicines to the employees and laborers of the city whose salary or wage does not exceed one hundred eighty pesos per month or six pesos per day; of fresh or evaporated native milk to indigent mothers residing in the city and of bread and light meals to indigent children of ten years or less of age residing in the city, the distribution to be made under the direct supervision and control of the Mayor.
(e)	To fix the tariff of fees and charges of 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 of the necessary buildings for the use of the city.
(g)	To establish and maintain schools as provided by law and with the approval of the Director of Public Schools or Vocational Education, to fix reasonable tuition fees for instruction therein.
(h)	To establish or aid in the establishment and maintenance of vocational schools and institutions of higher learning conducted by the National Government or any of the Director of Public Schools or Vocational Education, to fix reasonable tuition fees for instruction in the vocational schools and in those higher institutions supported entirely by the city.
(i)	To establish and maintain an efficient police force and make all necessary police ordinances, with a view to the confinement and reformation of vagrants, disorderly persons, mendicants, prostitutes, and persons convicted of violating any of the ordinances of the city.
(j)	To establish and maintain an efficient fire force and provide engine houses, fire engines, hose carts, hooks and ladders, and other equipment for the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and to regulate the management and use of the same.
(k)	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 structures.
(I)	To regulate the use of lights in stables, shops, and other buildings and places, and to regulate and restrict the issuance of permits for the building of bonfires and the use of fire crakers, fireworks, skyrockets, and other pyrotechnic displays, and to fix the fees for such permits.
(m)	To make regulations to protect the public from conflagration and to prevent and mitigate the effects of famine, floods, storms, and other public calamities, and to provide relief for persons suffering from the same.
(n)	To regulate and fix the amount of the license fees for the following: Hawkers, peddlers and hucksters, not including hucksters or peddlers who sell only native vegetables, fruits or foods, personally carried by the hucksters or peddlers; auctioneers, plumbers, barbers, collecting agencies, mercantile agencies, shipping and intelligence offices, private detective agencies, advertising agencies, beauty parlors, massagists, tattooers, jugglers, acrobats, hotels, clubs, restaurants, cafes, lodging houses, boarding houses, livery garages, livery stables, dealers in large cattle, public billiard tables, laundries, cleaning and dyeing establishments, public vehicles, race tracks, horse races, bowling alleys, shooting galleries, merry-go-round, pawnshops, dealers in second-hand merchandise, junk dealers, brewers, distillers, rectifiers, money changers and brokers, public ferries, theaters, theatrical performances, cinematographs, public exhibitions, circuses, and all other performances and places of amusements, and the keeping, preparation, and sale of meat, poultry, fish, game, butter, cheese; lard, vegetables, bread, and other provisions.
(o)	To tax and fix the license fees on dealers in new automobiles or accessories or both, and retail dealers in new merchandise, which dealers are not yet subject to the payment of any municipal tax. For the purpose of taxation, those retail dealers shall be classified as (A) retail dealers in general merchandise, and (B) retail dealers exclusively engaged in the sale of (a) textiles including knitted wares, (b) hardwares including glasswares, cooking utensils, electrical goods and construction materials, (c)groceries including toilet articles except perfumery, (d)drugs including medicines and perfumeries, (e) books including stationery, paper, and office supplies, (f) jewelry, (g) slippers, (h) arms, ammunitions, and sporting goods.
(p)	To tax, fix the license fee for, regulate the business and fix the location of, match factories, blacksmith shops, foundries, steam boilers, lumber' yards, ship yards, the storage and sale of gunpowder, tar, pitch, resin, coal, oil, gasoline, benzine, turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitroglicerin, petroleum, or any of the products thereof, and of all highly combustible or explosive materials, and other establishments likely to endanger the public safety or give rise to conflagrations or explosions, and, subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Director of Health in accordance with law, tanneries, renderies, tallow chandleries, embalmers and funeral parlors, bone factories, and soap factories.
(q)	To impose tax on motor and other vehicles, and draft animals not paying any national tax; provided, that all automobiles and trucks belonging to the National Government or to any provincial or municipal government and automobiles and trucks not regularly kept in the city shall be exempt from such tax.
(r)	To regulate, the method of using steam engines and boilers, and all other motive powers other than marine or belonging to the Government of the Philippines; to provide for the inspection thereof, and for a reasonable fee for such inspection, and to regulate and fix the fees for the licenses of the engineers engaged in operating the same.
(s)	To enact ordinances for the maintenance and preservation of peace and good morals.
(t)	To regulate and fix the license fees for the keeping of dogs, 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.
(u)	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.
(v)	To prohibit and provide for the punishment of cruelty to animals.
(w)	To regulate the inspection, weighing, and measuring of brick, lumber, coal, and other article of merchandise.
(x)	To prohibit the establishment or operation of dance halls, cabarets, and cockpits.
(y)	Subject to the provisions of existing law, to provide for the laying out, construction, and improvement, and to regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, parks, cemeteries, 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, awning posts, the carrying or displaying of banners, placards, advertisements, or handbills, or the flying of signs, flags, or banners, whether along, across, over or from buildings along the same; to prohibit the placing, throwing, depositing, or leaving of obstacles of any kind, offal, garbage, refuse, or other offensive matter or matters liable to cause damage, in the streets and other public places, and to provide for the inspection of, fix the license fees for, and regulate the openings in the same for the laying of gas, water, sewer, and other pipes, the building and repair of tunnels, sewers, and drains, and all structures in and under the same, and the erecting of poles and the stringing of wires therein; to provide for and regulate crosswalks, curbs, and gutters therein; to name streets without a name 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 or regulate ball playing, kite flying, 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 and other animals; motor and other vehicles, cars, and locomotives within the limits of the city; to regulate the lights used on such vehicles, cars, and locomotives; to regulate the locating, constructing, and laying of the track of horse, electric, and other forms of railroad in the streets or other public places of the city authorized by law unless otherwise provided by law, to provide for and change the location, grade, and crossings of railroads, and to compel any such railroad to raise or lower its tracks to conform to such provisions or changes; and to require railroad companies to fence their property, or any part thereof to provide suitable protection against injury to persons or property, and to construct and repair ditches, drains, sewers, and culverts along and under their tracks, so that the natural drainage of the streets and adjacent property shall not be obstructed.
(z)	To provide for the construction and maintenance of, and regulate the navigation on, canals, ,and watercourses, within the city and provide for the clearing 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, and to 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.
(aa)	Subject to the provisions of existing law, to exercise the power of eminent domain for the following purposes; the construction or extension of roads, streets, sidewalks, boulevards, or 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, drainage systems, cesspools, or sewage systems and abattoirs.
(bb)	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 the water, to fix, subject to the provisions of the Public Service Law, and provide for the collection of, rents therefore; and to regulate the construction, repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns and reservoirs.
(cc)	To provide for the establishment and maintenance and regulate the use, of public drains, sewers, latrines, and cesspools.
(dd)	Subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Director of Health Services in accordance with law, to provide for the establishment, maintenance and regulation and fix the fees for the use of public stables, laundries and baths, and public markets and prohibit the establishment or operation within the city limits of public markets by any person, entity, association, or corporation other than the city.
(ee)	To establish or authorize the establishment of slaughterhouses, to provide for their veterinary or sanitary inspection, to regulate the use of 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 the place where the animals were slaughtered.
(ff)	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; to regulate and provide for the inspection of all gas, electric, telephone, and street-railway, conduits, mains, meters, and other apparatus, and provide for the condemnation, substitution, or removal of the same when defective or dangerous.
(gg)	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 after sixty days from the date of serving a written notice, the city health officer shall cause the same to be kept in a sanitary condition, and the cost thereof to be assessed to the owner to the extent of not to exceed sixty per centum of the assessed value, which cost shall constitute a lien against the property; and to regulate 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 a display of electric signs or the erection or maintenance of billboards or structures of whatever material, erected, maintained, or used for the display of posters, signs, or other pictorial or reading matter, except signs displayed at the place or places where the profession or business advertised thereby is in whole or part conducted.
(hh)	To provide for the enforcement of the rules and regulations of the Director of Health Services, and by ordinance to prescribe penalties for violations of such rules and regulations.
(ii)	To extend its ordinances over all waters within the city, 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.
(jj)	To tax, fix the license fee for, and regulate the sale, trading in or disposal of, alcoholic or malt beverages, wines, and mixed or fermented liquors including tuba, basi, tapuy, offered for retail sale.
(kk)	To regulate any other business or occupation 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.
(ll)	To grant fishing and fishery privileges subject to the provisions of the Fisheries Act.
(mm)	To fix the date of the holding of a fiesta in the city not oftener than once a year and to alter, not oftener than once in three years, the date so fixed for the celebration thereof.
(m-l)	To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a telephone, gas, electric, heat and power systems, and, subject to the provisions of the Public Service Law, to fix the charges for the use of said service.
(nn)	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 Act, and to fix the 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."

SEC. 2. The first paragraph of Section twenty-two, excluding its subsections, of the same Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 22. The City Engineer-His powers, duties and compensation.-There shall be a city engineer, who shall be in charge of the Department of Engineering and Public Works. He shall receive a salary of not exceeding twelve thousand six hundred pesos per annum, chargeable against the Highway Special Fund. He shall have the following powers and duties."

SEC. 3. Subsection (g) of Section twenty-two of the same Act, as amended, is hereby repealed.SEC. 4. Subsection (i) of Section twenty-two of the same Act, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

" (i) He shall have general supervision and inspection of all landing places, and other property on the river, esteros, and waterways of the city, and shall issue permits for the construction, repair and removal of the same, and enforce all ordinances relating to the same."

SEC. 5. Section twenty-three of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 23. Execution of authorized public works and improvement.-The city is hereby authorized to undertake ,and carry out any publics works projects or improvements, financed by the city or any other funds borrowed from or advanced by private parties under the supervision of the city engineer, without the intervention of the Department of Public Works and Communications. The approval of the plans and specifications thereof by the city mayor and the city engineer and/or architect with the favorable recommendation of the city council, shall constitute sufficient warrant for the undertaking and execution of said projects or improvements. The city may, however, if it so desires consult the Department of Public Works and Communications in connection with the preparation of the plans and specifications for the city public works projects either by administration or by contracts under the usual bidding procedure of the government."

SEC. 6. The same Act is hereby amended by adding at the end of Section twenty-three, the following new section:

"SEC. 23-A. Engineering Fund.-The engineering fund of the city shall be considered as city funds as well as all sums of money accruing to the city by virtue of any Public Works Act approved by Congress.

SEC. 7. Section twenty-five of the same Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

SEC. 25. The Chief of Police-His powers, duties and compensation.-There shall be a chief of police who shall have charge of the Police Department and everything pertaining thereto, including the organization of the city police and detective bureau. He shall receive a salary of not exceeding thirteen thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall have the following general powers and duties:

He may issue supplementary regulations not incompatible with law or general regulations promulgated by the proper department head of the National Government, in accordance with law, for the governance of the city police and detective force.
He shall quell riots, disorders, disturbances of the peace, and shall arrest and prosecute violators of any law or ordinance; shall exercise exclusive police supervision over all land within the police jurisdiction of the city to the exclusion of any national police agency unless its assistance is called upon or requested, shall be charged with the protection of the rights of person and property wherever found within the jurisdiction of the city, and shall arrest when necessary to prevent the escape of the offender, violators of any law or ordinance, and all who obstruct or interfere with him in the discharge of his duty; shall have charge of the city prison; and shall be responsible for the safe-keeping of all prisoners until they shall be released from custody, in accordance with law, or delivered to the warden of the proper prison or penitentiary upon order from a court of competent jurisdiction.
He may take good and sufficient bail for the appearance before the judge of city court of any person arrested for violation of any city ordinances: Provided, however, That he shall not exercise this power in cases of violation of any penal law, except when the fiscal of the city shall so recommend and fix the bail to be required of the person arrested.
He shall have authority within the police limits of the city to serve and execute criminal processes of any court.
He shall be the deputy sheriff of the city, and as such shall, personally or by representative, attend the session of the city court, and shall execute promptly and faithfully all writs and processes of said court.
He shall have such other powers and perform such other duties and may be prescribed by law or ordinance."

SEC. 8. Sections seventy-five, seventy-six, seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one and eighty-two: of the same Act are amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 75. Regular, auxiliary, and acting judges of city court.-There shall be a city court for the City of San Pablo, for which there shall be appointed a city judge and an auxiliary city judge."The city judge may upon proper application, be allowed a vacation of not more than thirty days every year with salary. The auxiliary city judge shall discharge the duties in case of absence, incapacity or inability of the city judge until he resumes his posts, or until a new judge shall have been appointed. During his incumbency, the auxiliary city judge shall enjoy the powers, emoluments and privileges of the city judge who shall not receive any remuneration therefore except the salary to which he is entitled by reason of his vacation provided for in this Act."In case of absence, incapacity or inability of both the city judge and the auxiliary city judge, the Secretary of Justice, shall designate the municipal judge of any adjoining municipality to preside over the city court, the same shall hold office temporarily until the regular incumbent or the auxiliary judge shall have been appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Act. The municipal judge so designated shall receive his salary as municipal judge plus seventy per cent of the salary of the city judge whose office he has temporarily assumed."The city judge shall receive a salary of seventeen thousand pesos per annum, thirteen thousand four hundred pesos of which will come from the City Government of San Pablo and three thousand six hundred pesos which is now paid to the city judge by the National Government as provided for under Republic Act Numbered Three thousand eight hundred twenty, shall be paid out of the funds of the National Treasury: Provided, however, That when a certain law provides or will provide for a higher compensation or additional benefits for the city judge than that provided herein, the city judge will receive the compensation whichever is higher and he deems best at his option, and enjoy the benefit which is favorable to him, also at his option."SEC. 76. Clerk and, employees of the city court-There shall be a clerk of the city court who shall be appointed by the city judge in accordance with Civil Service Law, rules and regulations and who shall receive a compensation of seven thousand eight hundred pesos per annum. He shall keep the seal of the court and affix it to all orders, judgments, certificates, records, and other documents issued by the court. He shall keep a docket of the trials in the court in which he shall record in a summary manner the names of the parties and the various proceedings in civil cases and in criminal cases, the name of the defendant, the charges against him, the names of the witnesses, the date of the arrest, the appearance of the defendant, together with the fines and costs adjudged or collected in accordance with the judgment. He shall have the power to administer oath."There shall be one deputy clerk of court, one researcher, one stenographer, one interpreter, two clerks, one stitcher, and one janitor, who shall be appointed by the city judge in accordance with the Civil Service Law, rules and regulations."The deputy clerk of court shall receive a compensation of six thousand pesos per annum. He shall perform the duties of the clerk of court in the absence, incapacity, or inability of the clerk of court. Likewise, he shall have the power to administer oath."The researcher shall receive a compensation of five thousand seven hundred pesos per annum."The stenographer shall receive a compensation of four thousand eight hundred pesos per annum."The interpreter shall receive a compensation of four thousand five hundred pesos per annum."The clerks shall receive a compensation of three thousand six hundred pesos per annum and three thousand pesos per annum, respectively."The stitcher shall receive a compensation of two thousand eight hundred eighty pesos per annum."These salaries shall be paid from the funds of the City Government of San Pablo: Provided, however, That whenever a certain law provides or shall provide for a higher compensation or additional benefits for the employees of the city court, the said employees shall receive the compensation whichever is higher at his option: Provided, further, That the present employees of the city court shall remain in their respective positions and the tenure of their office shall be respected.The clerk of the city court shall at the same time be sheriff in the city and shall as such have the same powers and duties as assigned by existing law to provincial sheriffs. The deputy clerk of court shall likewise be the deputy city sheriff. The Municipal Board may provide for such number of clerks in the office of the clerk of the city court as the needs of the service may demand, who shall be appointed by the city judge."SEC. 77. Jurisdiction of the City court.-The city court shall have the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases and the same powers as at present conferred by law upon city court and municipal judges and such additional jurisdiction and powers as may hereinafter be conferred upon them by law."SEC. 78. Incidental powers of city court.-The city court shall have power to administer oaths and to give certificates thereof; to issue summonses, writs, warrants and executions and all other processes necessary to enforce its orders and judgments; to compel the attendance of witnesses; to punish contempts of court by fine or imprisonment, or both, within the limitations imposed by law; and to require of any person arrested a bond for good behavior or to keep the peace, or for the further appearance of such person before a court of competent jurisdiction. But no such bond shall be accepted unless it be executed by the person in whose behalf it is made, with sufficient surety or sureties to be approved by said court.SEC. 79. Procedure in city courts in prosecutions for violations of laws and ordinances.-In a prosecution for the violation of any ordinance where the penalty provided for such violation is imprisonment of not more than thirty days or a fine of not more than two hundred pesos, or both, the first process shall be a summon; except that a warrant for the arrest of the offender may be issued in the first instance when the defendant is a recidivist, or a fugitive from justice, or is charged with physical injuries, or does not reside in the City of San Pablo or has no known residence. But the city judge may order that a defendant charged with such offense be arrested and not released except upon furnishing bail. All proceedings and prosecutions for offense against the law of the Philippines shall conform to the rules relating to process, pleading, practice and procedure for the judiciary of the Philippines, and such rules shall govern the city court and its officers in all cases insofar as the same may be applicable."SEC. 80. Costs, fees, fines and forfeitures in city court.- There shall be taxed against and collected from the defendant, in case of his conviction in the city court, such costs and fees as may be prescribed by law in criminal cases in municipal courts. All costs, fees, fines, and forfeitures shall be collected by the clerk of court, who shall keep a docket of those imposed .and of those collected, and shall pay collections of the same to the city treasurer for the benefit of the city on the next succeeding business day after the same are collected and take receipts therefore."SEC. 81. No person sentenced by city court to be confined without commitment.-No person shall be confined in the city prison by sentence of the city court until the warden or officer in charge of the prison shall receive a written commitment showing the offense for which the prisoner was tried, the date of the trial, the exact terms of the judgment or sentence, and the date of the order of the commitment. The clerk shall, under seal of the court, issue such commitment in each case of sentence to imprisonment."SEC. 82. Procedure on appeal from city court to Court of First Instance.-An appeal shall lie to the Court of First Instance in all cases where fine or imprisonment or both, is imposed by the city court. The party desiring to appeal shall, before six o'clock post meridian of the day after the rendition and entry of judgment by the city court, file with the clerk of the court a written statement that he appeals to the Court of First Instance. The filing of such statement shall perfect the appeal. The judge of the court from whose decision appeal is taken, shall, within five days after the appeal is taken, transmit to the clerk of the Court of First Instance a certified copy of the record of proceedings and all the original papers and process in the ease. A perfected appeal shall operate to vacate the judgment of the city court, and the action, when duly entered in the Court of First Instance, shall stand for the trial de novo upon its merits as though the same had never been tried. Pending an appeal, the defendant shall remain in custody unless released in the discretion of the judge of the city court or of the judge of the Court of First Instance, upon sufficient bail, in accordance with the procedure in force, to await the judgment of the appellate court."Appeals in civil cases shall be governed by the ordinary procedure established by law."

SEC. 9. Whenever the phrases "Municipal Court" or "Municipal Judge" appear in Commonwealth Act Numbered Five hundred twenty, as amended, the name shall be read and referred to as "city court" and "city judge" respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.SEC. 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.Enacted without Executive approval, June 21, 1969.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library