Local Government Code of 1991

(vii) Subject to existing laws, provide for the establishment, operation, maintenance, and repair of an efficient waterworks system to supply water for the inhabitants; regulate the construction, maintenance, repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns and reservoirs; protect the purity and quantity of the water supply of the municipality and, for this purpose, extend the coverage of appropriate ordinances over all territory within the drainage area of said water supply and within one hundred (100) meters of the reservoir, conduit, canal, aqueduct, pumping station, or watershed used in connection with the water service; and regulate the consumption, use or wastage of water; (viii) Regulate the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of water, gas, sewer, and other pipes and the construction, repair and maintenance of public drains, sewers, cesspools, tunnels and similar structures; regulate the placing of poles and the use of crosswalks, curbs, and gutters; adopt measures to ensure public safety against open canals, manholes, live wires and other similar hazards to life and property; and regulate the construction and use of private water closets, privies and other similar structures in buildings and homes; (ix) Regulate the placing, stringing, attaching, installing, repair and construction of all gas mains, electric, telegraph and telephone wires, conduits, meters and other apparatus; and, provide for the correction, condemnation or removal of the same when found to be dangerous, defective or otherwise hazardous to the welfare of the inhabitants; (x) Subject to the availability of funds and to existing laws, rules and regulations, establish and provide for the operation of vocational and technical schools and similar post-secondary institutions and, with the approval of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, fix and collect reasonable fees and other school charges on said institutions, subject to existing laws on tuition fees; (xi) Establish a scholarship fund for poor but deserving students residing within the municipality in schools located within its jurisdiction; (xii) Approve measures and adopt quarantine regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases; (xiii) Provide for an efficient and effective system of solid waste and garbage collection and disposal and prohibit littering and the placing or throwing of garbage, refuse and other filth and wastes; (xiv) Provide for the care of paupers, the aged, the sick, persons of unsound mind, disabled persons, abandoned minors, juvenile delinquents, drug dependents, abused children and other needy and disadvantaged persons, particularly children and youth below eighteen (18) years of age and, subject to availability of funds, establish and provide for the operation of centers and facilities for said needy and disadvantaged persons; (xv) Establish and provide for the maintenance and improvement of jails and detention centers, institute sound jail management programs, and appropriate funds for the subsistence of detainees and convicted prisoners in the municipality; (xvi) Establish a municipal council whose purpose is the promotion of culture and the arts, coordinate with government agencies and non-governmental organizations and, subject to the availability of funds, appropriate funds for the support and development of the same; and (xvii) Establish a municipal council for the orderly which shall formulate policies and adopt measures mutually beneficial to the elderly and to the community; provide incentives for non-governmental agencies and entities and, subject to the availability of funds, appropriate funds to support programs and projects for the benefit of the elderly; and (6) Exercise such other powers and perform such other duties and functions as may be prescribed by law or ordinance. (b) The members of the sangguniang bayan shall receive a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade twenty-four (24)  as prescribed under R.A. No. 6758 and the implementing guidelines issued pursuant thereto: Provided, That, in municipalities in Metropolitan Manila Area and other metropolitan political subdivisions, members of the sangguniang bayan shall receive a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade twenty-five (25). Title Three THE CITY CHAPTER 1. - Role and Creation of the City SECTION 448. Role of the City. - The city, consisting of more urbanized and developed barangays, serves as a general purpose government for the coordination and delivery of basic, regular, and direct services and effective governance of the inhabitants within its territorial jurisdiction. SECTION 449. Manner of Creation. - A city may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, only by an Act of Congress, and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by the COMELEC in the local government unit or units directly affected. Except as may otherwise be provided in such Act, the plebiscite shall be held within one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of its effectivity. SECTION 450. Requisites for Creation. - (a) A municipality or a cluster of barangays may be converted into a component city if it has a locally generated average annual income, as certified by the Department of Finance, of at least Twenty million pesos (P20,000,000.00) for the last two (2) consecutive years based on 1991 constant prices, and if it has either of the following requisites: (i) a contiguous territory of at least one hundred (100) square kilometers, as certified by the Land Management Bureau; or (ii) a population of not less than one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) inhabitants, as certified by the National Statistics Office. Provided, That, the creation thereof shall not reduce the land area, population and income of the original unit or units at the time of said creation to less than the minimum requirements prescribed herein. (b) The territorial jurisdiction of a newly-created city shall be properly identified by metes and bounds. The requirement on land area shall not apply where the city proposed to be created is composed of one (1) or more islands. The territory need not be contiguous if it comprises two (2) or more islands. (c) The average annual income shall include the income accruing to the general fund, exclusive of special funds, transfers, and non-recurring income. SECTION 451. Cities, Classified. - A city may either be component or highly urbanized: Provided, however, That the criteria established in this Code shall not affect the classification and corporate status of existing cities. Independent component cities are those component cities whose charters prohibit their voters from voting for provincial elective officials. Independent component cities shall be independent of the province. SECTION 452. Highly Urbanized Cities. - (a) Cities with a minimum population of two hundred thousand (200,000) inhabitants, as certified by the National Statistics Office, and within the latest annual income of at least Fifty Million Pesos (P50,000,000.00) based on 1991 constant prices, as certified by the city treasurer, shall be classified as highly urbanized cities.