Bogo, Carcar & Naga not cities anymore

[peewee_toot]

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ka wala juy klaro sa pinas oi. immature kaayu. hatag-bawi og style...

[yacky2006]

SC UPHOLDS 16 CITIES

Source: Cebu Daily News | Cebu's Only Independent Newspaper

Naga, Carcar, Bogo in Cebu hope cityhood status is the ‘last change’

By Ador Vincent Mayol, Reporter


The Supreme Court, in the latest of a series of back-and-forth rulings, upheld the cityhood status of 16 Philippine municipalities.

The decision benefits three localities in Cebu—Carcar, Bogo and Naga.

“I hope this will be the last,” said Naga Mayor Valdemar Chiong in south Cebu.

“We keep on praying that our cityhood will be sustained.”

With a vote of 7-6-2, the SC en banc granted the motion for reconsideration filed by local officials of the 16 local government units that lost their newly acquired cityhood status in a Supreme Court ruling last August 2010.

Covered by the ruling are Carcar, Bogo and Naga in Cebu; Baybay in Leyte; Catbalogan in Samar; Tandag in Surigao del Sur; Borongan in Eastern Samar; Tayabas in Quezon province; Lamitan in Basilan; Tabuk in Kalinga; Bayugan in Agusan del Sur; Batac in Ilocos Norte; Mati in Davao Oriental; Guihulngan in Negros Oriental; Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte; and El Salvador in Misamis Oriental.

SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez Maruez described the cityhood case as a “very unusual case considering that the court issued four decisions.”

“A change in the composition (of the high court) can influence the outcome of the case,” Marquez said.

In Bogo City, north Cebu, motorcycles with tin cans tied behind them drove around celebrating a noisy victory.

“We are very happy. I hope the SC ruling stays,” Mayor Celestino “Junie” Martinez told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

Carcar Mayor Nicepuro Apura said he hopes this SC ruling is final so everyone can move on.

He said an additional amount for Carcar in its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) would mean affording more departments and better public service.

“I hope this is it now,” he said.

With the new court decision, Carcar will receive up to P250 million as IRA or more than double its current share of P105 million, he said.

Apura said real property values will also increase with cityhood status but added that he had pledged to constituents not to raise tax rates.

“With a doubled IRA, I don't think there's an immediate need to increase taxes. We will have enough funds for projects.”

In Naga, southern Cebu, Mayor Chiong said the SC decision would mean Naga's council will have 10 members instead of eight.

“Naga has been declared a city once again. This would rebound to more services and development in our place,” Chiong said.

Last Tuesday, SC justices convened to deliberate on the LGUs' pleas.

In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, the High Court reinstated its December 2009 decision that declared as constitutional the cityhood laws that converted the 16 cities into municipalities.

Six SC justices agreed with Bersamin's position, six dissented, while two others abstained.

The latest ruling sorely disappointed the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), which opposed the declaration.

The group said the cityhood status of the 16 LGUs will result in the reduction of their Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share from the national government.

In a phone interview, LCP lawyer Joseph Marigomen said the High Court violated its own principles when it received the appeal of 16 municipalities despite the May 2009 ruling that rejected their pleas they earlier deemed as “final and executory.”

“The pleadings submitted by the 16 municipalities after the decision became final and executory should not have been entertained. The SC, however, is the final arbiter so now we are still playing ping-pong,” Marigomen told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

Under the rules, Marigomen said “no further pleadings shall be entertained” after two affirmations of an SC decision. Marigomen, who still has to secure a copy of the recent SC ruling, wants to appeal the latest decision.

“I have been talking with the city mayors. Most likely, we will file a motion for reconsideration,” the lawyer said.

On Nov. 18, 2008, the High Court nullified the cityhood laws of the 16 LGUs, citing a violation in the Constitution.

The decision became final after the SC denied its first motion for reconsideration. It also denied the second appeal with a vote of 6-6. On May 21, 2009, the High Court said it would no longer allow any pleadings that concerns the case.

The town mayors, however, urged the High Tribunal to resolve the second motion for reconsideration that led to a reversal of its November 2008 decision and declared the 16 laws constitutional in a decision dated December 2009.

The LCP filed a motion for reconsideration asking the High Court to declare the cityhood bid of the 16 towns unconstitutional. The league's plea was granted last August 2010.
But the 16 town mayors then contested the August 2010 ruling, which was then reversed by the High Court last Wednesday.

[endlessknight]

Ano ba talaga, kuya?

[samamar21]

claro na ni??

[peewee_toot]

isig angkunay na lng ta ani rn. hahaha.