Ordinances
The local laws your province, city, municipality and barangay pass. We are gathering them into one place you can search. Until then, here is how they work.
What an ordinance is
An ordinance is a local law. Each level of local government has a council that makes them: the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for a province, the Sangguniang Panlungsod for a city, the Sangguniang Bayan for a municipality and the Sangguniang Barangay for a barangay (s. 56). The vice-governor, the vice-mayor or the punong barangay presides, and votes only to break a tie (s. 57).
Ordinances set the unit’s budget for the year, the local taxes, fees and charges it collects, and the rules people and businesses in the area must follow, from market and traffic rules to the uses land may be put to. Breaking one can carry a fine and even jail: for a tax ordinance, a fine of up to ₱1,200,000 and up to 6 months’ imprisonment set by a province, city or municipality, and up to ₱10,000 set by a barangay (s. 576).
A council’s power has limits. A governor or mayor may veto an ordinance only if it goes beyond the council’s powers or harms the public welfare (s. 63), and the province can strike down a town’s ordinance for exceeding its powers (s. 64). A tax ordinance can be appealed to the Secretary of Justice within 30 days of taking effect, and then to the courts (s. 212). Every ordinance must also be made available in the language most people in the area understand (s. 67).
How one becomes law
01
Passed
The council votes it through: the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Panlungsod, Bayan or Barangay.
Code s. 56
02
Signed or vetoed
The governor or mayor signs every page or vetoes it in writing, within 15 days in a province and 10 in a city or municipality. Two-thirds of the council can override a veto.
Code ss. 62, 63
03
Reviewed
The province reviews a town’s ordinances, and the town a barangay’s, within 30 days. Silence means it stands.
Code ss. 64, 65
04
In force
It takes effect 10 days after it is posted at the hall and in at least 2 other public places, unless it says otherwise.
Code s. 67
Have an ordinance?
If you have a copy of an ordinance from your town or province, a council secretary’s file, a posted notice or a link, send it to us and it will be among the first we publish.