Local Government Code of 1991

(b) Said temporary incapacity shall terminate upon submission to the appropriate sanggunian of a written declaration by the local chief executive concerned that he has reported back to office. In cases where the temporary incapacity is due to legal causes, the local chief executive concerned shall also submit necessary documents showing that said legal causes no longer exist. (c) When the incumbent local chief executive is traveling within the country but outside his territorial jurisdiction for a period not exceeding three (3) consecutive days, he may designate in writing the officer-in-charge of the said office. Such authorization shall specify the powers and functions that the local official concerned shall exercise in the absence of the local chief executive except the power to appoint, suspend, or dismiss employees. (d) In the event, however, that the local chief executive concerned fails or refuses to issue such authorization, the vice-governor, the city or municipal vice-mayor, or the highest ranking sangguniang barangay member, as the case may be, shall have the right to assume the powers, duties, and functions of the said office on the fourth (4th) day of absence of the said local chief executive, subject to the limitations provided in subsection (c) hereof. (e) Except as provided above, the local chief executive shall in no case authorize any local official to assume the powers, duties, and functions of the office, other than the vice-governor, the city or municipal vice-mayor, or the highest ranking sangguniang barangay member, as the case may be. SECTION 47. Approval of Leaves of Absence. - (a) Leaves of absence of local elective officials shall be approved as follows: (1) Leaves of absence of the governor and the mayor of a highly urbanized city or an independent component city shall be approved by the President or his duly authorized representative; (2) Leaves of absence of vice-governor or a city or municipal vice-mayor shall be approved by the local chief executive concerned: Provided, That the leaves of absence of the members of the sanggunian and its employees shall be approved by the vice-governor or city or municipal vice-mayor concerned; (3) Leaves of absence of the component city or municipal mayor shall be approved by the governor; and (4) Leaves of absence of a punong barangay shall be approved by the city or municipal mayor: Provided, That leaves of absence of sangguniang barangay members shall be approved by the punong barangay. (b) Whenever the application for leave of absence hereinabove specified is not acted upon within five (5) working days after receipt thereof, the application for leave of absence shall be deemed approved. CHAPTER 3. - Local Legislation SECTION 48. Local Legislative Power. - Local legislative power shall be exercised by the sangguniang panlalawigan for the province; the sangguniang panlungsod for the city; the sangguniang bayan for the municipality; and the sangguniang barangay for the barangay. SECTION 49. Presiding Officer. - (a) The vice-governor shall be the presiding officer of the sangguniang panlalawigan; the city vice-mayor, of the sangguniang panlungsod; the municipal vice-mayor of the sangguniang bayan; and the punong barangay, of the sangguniang barangay. The presiding officer shall vote only to break a tie. (b) In the event of the inability of the regular presiding officer to preside at a sanggunian session, the members present and constituting a quorum shall elect from among themselves a temporary presiding officer. He shall certify within ten (10) days from the passage of ordinances enacted and resolutions adopted by the sanggunian in the session over which he temporarily presided. SECTION 50. Internal Rules of Procedure. - (a) On the first regular session following the election of its members and within ninety (90) days thereafter, the sanggunian concerned shall adopt or update its existing rules of procedure. (b) The rules of procedure shall provided for the following: (1) The organization of the sanggunian and the election of its officers as well as the creation of standing committees which shall include, but shall not be limited to, the committees on appropriations, women and family, human rights, youth and sports development, environmental protection, and cooperatives; the general jurisdiction of each committee; and the election of the chairman and members of each committee; (2) The order and calendar of business for each session; (3) The legislative process; (4) The parliamentary procedures which include the conduct of members during sessions; (5) The discipline of members for disorderly behavior and absences without justifiable cause for four (4) consecutive sessions, for which they may be censured, reprimanded, or excluded from the session, suspended for not more than sixty (60) days, or expelled: Provided, That the penalty of suspension or expulsion shall require the concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) vote of all the sanggunian members: Provided, further, That a member convicted by final judgment to imprisonment of at least one (1) year for any crime involving moral turpitude shall be automatically expelled from the sanggunian; and (6) Such other rules as the sanggunian may adopt. SECTION 51. Full Disclosure of Financial and Business Interests of Sanggunian Members. - (a) Every sanggunian member shall, upon assumption to office, make a full disclosure of his business and financial interests.  He shall also disclose any business, financial, or professional relationship or any relation by affinity or consanguinity within the fourth civil degree, which he may have with any person, firm, or entity affected by any ordinance or resolution under consideration by the sanggunian of which he is a member, which relationship may result in conflict of interest. Such relationship shall include: (1) Ownership of stock or capital, or investment, in the entity or firm to which the ordinance or resolution may apply; and (2) Contracts or agreements with any person or entity which the ordinance or resolution under consideration may affect. In the absence of a specific constitutional or statutory provision applicable to this situation, "conflict of interest" refers in general to one where it may be reasonably deduced that a member of a sanggunian may not act in the public interest due to some private, pecuniary, or other personal considerations that may tend to affect his judgment to the prejudice of the service or the public. (b) The disclosure required under this Act shall be made in writing and submitted to the secretary of the sanggunian or the secretary of the committee of which he is a member. The disclosure shall, in all cases, form part of the record of the proceedings and shall be made in the following manner: (1) Disclosure shall be made before the member participates in the deliberations on the ordinance or resolution under consideration: Provided, That, if the member did not participate during the deliberations, the disclosure shall be made before voting on the ordinance or resolution on second and third readings; and