Local Government Code of 1991

(1) Approve ordinances and pass resolutions necessary for an efficient and effective municipal government, and in this connection shall: (i) Review all ordinances approved by the sangguniang barangay and executive orders issued by the punong barangay to determine whether these are within the scope of the prescribed powers of the sanggunian and of the punong barangay; (ii) Maintain peace and order by enacting measures to prevent and suppress lawlessness, disorder, riot, violence, rebellion or sedition and impose penalties for the violation of said ordinances; (iii) Approve ordinances imposing a fine not exceeding Two thousand five hundred pesos (P2,500.00) or an imprisonment for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or both in the discretion of the court, for the violation of a municipal ordinance; (iv) Adopt measures to protect the inhabitants of the municipality from the harmful effects of man-made or natural disasters and calamities and to provide relief services and assistance for victims during and in the aftermath of said disasters or calamities and their return to productive livelihood following said events; (v) Enact ordinances intended to prevent, suppress and impose appropriate penalties for habitual drunkenness in public places, vagrancy, mendicancy, prostitution, establishment and maintenance of houses of ill repute, gambling and other prohibited games of chance, fraudulent devices and ways to obtain money or property, drug addiction, maintenance of drug dens, drug pushing, juvenile delinquency, the printing, distribution or exhibition of obscene or pornographic materials or publications, and such other activities inimical to the welfare and morals of the inhabitants of the municipality; (vi) Protect the environment and impose appropriate penalties for acts which endanger the environment, such as dynamite fishing and other forms of destructive fishing, illegal logging and smuggling of logs, smuggling of natural resources products and of endangered species of flora and fauna, slash and burn farming, and such other activities which result in pollution, acceleration of eutrophication of rivers and lakes, or of ecological imbalance; (vii) Subject to the provisions of this Code and pertinent laws, determine the powers and duties of officials and employees of the municipality; (viii) Determine the positions and salaries, wages, allowances and other emoluments and benefits of officials and employees paid wholly or mainly from municipal funds and provide for expenditures necessary for the proper conduct of programs, projects, services, and activities of the municipal government; (ix) Authorize the payment of compensation to a qualified person not in the government service who fills up a temporary vacancy or grant honorarium to any qualified official or employee designated to fill a temporary vacancy in a concurrent capacity at the rate authorized by law; (x) Provide a mechanism and the appropriate funds therefor, to ensure the safety and protection of all municipal government property, public documents, or records such as those relating to property inventory, land ownership, records of births, marriages, deaths, assessments, taxation, accounts, business permits, and such other records and documents of public interest in the offices and departments of the municipal government; (xi) When the finances of the municipal government allow, provide for additional allowances and other benefits to judges, prosecutors, public elementary and high school teachers, and other national government officials stationed in or assigned to the municipality; (xii) Provide for legal assistance to barangay officials who, in the performance of their official duties or on the occasion thereof, have to initiate judicial proceedings or defend themselves against legal action; and (xiii) Provide for group insurance or additional insurance coverage for barangay officials, including members of barangay tanod brigades and other service units, with public or private insurance companies, when the finances of the municipal government allow said coverage. (2) Generate and maximize the use of resources and revenues for the development plans, program objectives and priorities of the municipality as provided for under Section 18 of this Code with particular attention to agro-industrial development and countryside growth and progress, and relative thereto, shall: (i) Approve the annual and supplemental budgets of the municipal government and appropriate funds for specific programs, projects, services and activities of the municipality, or for other purposes not contrary to law, in order to promote the general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants; (ii) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code and applicable laws and upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, enact ordinances levying taxes, fees and charges, prescribing the rates thereof for general and specific purposes, and granting tax exemptions, incentives or reliefs; (iii) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code and upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, authorize the municipal mayor to negotiate and contract loans and other forms of indebtedness; (iv) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code and applicable laws and upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, enact ordinances authorizing the floating of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness, for the purpose of raising funds to finance development projects; (v) Appropriate funds for the construction and maintenance or the rental of buildings for the use of the municipality and, upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, authorize the municipal mayor to lease to private parties such public buildings held in a proprietary capacity, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations; (vi) Prescribe reasonable limits and restraints on the use of property within the jurisdiction of the municipality; (vii) Adopt a comprehensive land use plan for the municipality: Provided, That the formulation, adoption, or modification of said plan shall be in coordination with the approved provincial comprehensive land use plan; (viii) Reclassify land within the jurisdiction of the municipality, subject to the pertinent provisions of this Code; (ix) Enact integrated zoning ordinances in consonance with the approved comprehensive land use plan, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations; establish fire limits or zones, particularly in populous centers; and regulate the construction, repair or modification of buildings within said fire limits or zones in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Code; (x) Subject to national law, process and approve subdivision plans for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes and other development purposes, and collect processing fees and other charges, the proceeds of which shall accrue entirely to the municipality: Provided, however, That, where approval by a national agency or office is required, said approval shall not be withheld for more than thirty (30) days from receipt of the application. Failure to act on the application within the period stated above shall be deemed as approval thereof;