Municipalities of the Philippines: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Administrative division ofin thePhilippine Philippinesprovinces}}

A '''municipality''' ({{lang-tlfil|bayan / munisipalidad / munisipyo / puweblo}}; {{lang-tl|bayan}}; {{lang-hil|banwa}}; {{lang-ceb|lungsod/munisipalidad}}; {{lang-pag|baley}}; {{lang-pam|balen / balayan}}; {{lang-bcl|banwaan}}; {{lang-war|bungto}}; {{lang-ilo|ili}}) is a [[local government unit]] (LGU) in the [[Philippines]]. It is distinct from ''city'', which is a different category of local government unit. [[Provinces of the Philippines]] are divided into [[Cities of the Philippines|cities]] and municipalities, which in turn, are divided into [[barangay]]s (formerly [[barrio]]s) – ''villages''. {{as of|20192024|96|730|alt=As of 7June September30, 20192024}}, there are 1,488493 municipalities across the country.<ref>{{sfnCite web |PSAdate=June 30, 2024 |2016title=Regional Summary Number of Provinces, Cities, Municipalities and Barangays by Region |url=https://www.dilg.gov.ph/PDF_File/factsfigures/dilg-facts-figures-202489_c0319070a1.pdf |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG Philippines)}}</ref>

A municipality is the official term for, and the official local equivalent of, a '''[[town]]''',<ref name=bernardmoses>{{cite webjournal|author = Bernard Moses |title=Colonial Policy with Reference to the Philippines |journal=Proceedings of the American Political Science Association |year=1904 |volume=1 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3038324.pdf |pages = 103|accessdatedoi=610.2307/3038324 |jstor=3038324 |accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> the latter being its [[Archaism|archaic]] term and in all of its literal local translations including [[Filipino language|Filipino]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Tagalog Language Packet|url=https://www.tagalog.com/documents/TagalogLanguagePacket.pdf| pages= 51|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=English to Filipino Meaning :: town|url=https://filipino.english-dictionary.help/english-to-filipino-meaning-town|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Visayan-English Dictionary by Gutenberg Project|url=https://www.gutenberg.ph/previews/kaufmann/KVED-Body.pdf| pages= 286|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cebuano For Beginners|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/62862/9780824879778.pdf| pages= 33|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ilocano Dictionary - Town|url=https://ilocano.pinoydictionary.com/word/town/|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref> Both terms are interchangeable.

A '''municipal district''' is a now-defunct local government unit; previously certain areas were created first as municipal districts before they were converted into municipalities.Their central “barangay” is called “poblacion or bayan”. {{TOC limit|2}}

The era of the formation of municipalities in the Philippines started during the [[History of the Philippines (1521–1898)|Spanish rule]], in which the colonial government founded hundreds of towns and villages across the archipelago modeled after towns and villages in [[Spain]]. They were then grouped together along with a centralized town center called ''cabecera'' or ''[[poblacion]]'' where the [[ayuntamiento]], or town hall, was located; the poblacion served as the nucleus of each municipality. Only the communities that were permanently settled under the [[reduccion]] system,<ref name=ThePhilAPastRev>{{cite book |last1=Constantino |first1=Renato |last2=Constantino |first2=Letizia R. |title=The Philippines: A Past Revisited (Vol. I) |date=1975 |publisher=Renato Constantino |location=Manila, Philippines |isbn=971-895-800-2 |ol=9180911M |pages=60–61 |edition=Sixteenth Printing (January 1998) |chapter=Chapter V - The Colonial Landscape}}</ref> and have fully converted into [[Roman Catholicism|Catholicism]]Christianized, are allowed to form municipalities, while others that have not yet been fully converted are to be subdued until conditions permitted for them to be incorporated as municipalities.<ref>{{cite webjournal|author = Carl C. Plehn |title=Taxation in the Philippines. I |journal=Political Science Quarterly |year=1901 |volume=16 |issue=4 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2140422.pdf |pages = 690|accessdatedoi=610.2307/2140422 |jstor=2140422 |accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> As time passed, municipalities were created out of already existing ones, leading to them becoming smaller in area over time.<ref>{{cite web|author = Antonio Figueroa |title=FAST BACKWARD: The dissolution of Roxas town |date=February 18, 2017 |url= https://edgedavao.net/vantage-points/2017/02/19/fast-backward-dissolution-roxas-town/|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref> Each municipality was governed by a ''capitan'', usually a member of native [[principalia]] of the town, who have the task of remitting revenues to the central government in [[Manila]].<ref>{{cite webjournal|author = Carl C. Plehn |title=Taxation in the Philippines. I |journal=Political Science Quarterly |year=1901 |volume=16 |issue=4 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2140422.pdf |pages = 688|accessdatedoi=610.2307/2140422 |jstor=2140422 |accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> Ever since its inception to the present day, the term "municipality" holds the same definition as "town" when the first towns grew in size under the Spanish ''pueblo'' system (''pueblo'' meaning "town" in Spanish language) to be granted municipal charters, hence the current official term for such type of [[Human settlement|settlements]].<ref name=bernardmoses/><ref>{{cite book|author = Norman G. Owen |title=Compadre Colonialism: Studies In The Philippines Under American Rule|year=1971|isbn = 9780891480037 |pages = 17|publisher=University of Michigan Press }}</ref>

During the [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|American administration]], the municipal system put in place by the preceding Spanish authorities was preserved and at the same time reformed with greater inclusiveness among all Filipinos.<ref>{{cite book|author = Norman G. Owen |title=Compadre Colonialism: Studies In The Philippines Under American Rule|year=1971|isbn = 9780891480037 |pages = 18|publisher=University of Michigan Press }}</ref> Municipal districts, which were in essence unincorporated areas presided over by local tribal chiefs set up by American authorities, were created for the first time in 1914.<ref>{{cite web|title=Act No. 2408|url=https://www.chanrobles.com/acts/actsno2408.html|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref> More municipalities were created during this time, especially in Mindanao where there was a massive influx of settlers from the Luzon and the Visayas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mindanao: Land of promise (1999)|url=https://www.c-r.org/accord/philippines%E2%80%93mindanao/mindanao-land-promise-1999|accessdate=6 October 6, 2021}}</ref> After a while the independent Republic of the Philippines was declared in 1946, all municipal districts were dissolved and were absorbed into or broken into municipalities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Executive Order No. 42, s. 1963: Declaring Certain Municipal Districts in the Philippines as Municipalities|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/06/25/executive-order-no-42-s-1963/|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|date=June 25, 1963 |access-date=7 October 7, 2021}}</ref> The latest guidelines in the creation of new municipalities were introduced in 1991 with the issuance of the Local Government Code.<ref>{{cite web|title=THEThe LOCALLocal GOVERNMENTGovernment CODECode OFof THEthe PHILIPPINESPhilippines |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1991/10oct/19911010-RA-7160-CCA.pdf|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=7 October 7, 2021}}</ref>

A municipality, upon reaching a certain requirements –(such as minimum population size, and minimum annual revenue –) may opt to become a city. First, a bill must be passed in [[Congress of the Philippines|Congress]], then signed into law by the [[President of the Philippines|President]] and then the residents would vote in the succeedingresulting [[plebiscite]] to accept or reject cityhood. One benefit in being a city is that the city government gets more budget, but [[taxes]] are much higher than in municipalities.

! ClassCl

| At> least 55200,000,000.00

| 45160,000,000.00 – 54200,999000,000.00

| 35130,000,000.00 – 44160,999000,000.00

| 2590,000,000.00 – 34130,999000,000.00

| 15< 90,000,000 – 24,999,000.00

| date = 10 October 10, 1991

| archivedate = 3 May 3, 2016

| date = 20 November 20, 2001

| archive-date = 30 August 30, 2003

| date = 29 July 29, 2008

| archive-date = 13 November 13, 2010

| date = 31 March 31, 2016

| archive-date = 6 July 6, 2016