Leonardia on new cities issue: Legality not emotion
BACOLOD CITY -- League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) vice chairman Mayor Evelio Leonardia of Bacolod City appeals for the understanding of the public amid the media blitz being undertaken by the 16 new cities which returned to municipal status following the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC).
Leonardia said the officials of the said municipalities have resorted to emotional approach by saying that many salaries will be affected because of the latest Supreme Court decision.
The Supreme Court recently declared as unconstitutional the conversion of the 16 new cities namely, Baybay, Leyte; Bogo, Cebu; Naga, Cebu; Catbalogan, Samar; Lamitan, Basilan; Mati, Davao Oriental; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Batac, Ilocos Norte; Tabuk, Kalinga; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; El Salvador, Misamis Oriental; Carcar, Cebu; Guihulngan, Negros Oriental; Tayabas, Quezon; and Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte.
“All of those who were promoted to positions that have been created conforming to the structure of a city will, in effect, be demoted again,” Leonardia added.
The 16 cities contested the ruling, but the SC affirmed its ruling in November last year, granting the petition and petitions-in-intervention filed by the LCP and several provincial government officials, seeking to nullify the Cityhood Laws enacted by Congress.
“This is not a question of emotions, this is a question of legality and a matter of the existing cities asserting their rights over the IRA, or money which they believe truly belongs to them,” Leonardia stressed.
Department of Budget and Management is now in the process of computing the budget.
Recently, LCP has asked the DBM to immediately stop the release of the Internal Revenue Allotment to the 16 newly-converted cities formed by Cityhood Laws during the 11th Congress.
Leonardia said the Supreme Court had ruled that their conversion was null and void from the start.
Therefore, the contention of the mayors is that whatever amount of money had been given to these new cities should be returned to the existing ones, he said.