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Policy Development Cycle

UNDERSTANDING THE POLICY DEVELOPMENT CYCLE: LOCAL LEGISLATIVE PROCESSESS1

Powers and Function of the Sanggunian Panglungsod

  1. Appropriation of Funds – This needs legislative authority.
  2. Revenue Generation – In the case of other sources of revenues such as donations and grants, the City Mayor sends a letter to the Sanggunian requesting to accept the grant or donation to appropriate funds.
  3. Regulation – Aspects that needs regulation such as traffic, water, power and others.
  4. Oversight – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) does not have any specific function regarding oversight. As the head of the Committee on Publication, Councilor Acosta shared that there is an on-going review and updating of the city ordinances. A policy should be updated and relevant according to the times and the needs of the situation.
  5. Legislation
    • Legislation comes from: LEGIS, which means a law or rule proposing and LATIO, which means an act of. It is defined as an act of proposing a law, rule or regulation.
    • During legislative hearings, policies do not have personal property. The policy becomes an ordinance or policy of the people. Through series of hearings and plenary, some times policies are not the original proposals anymore, thus it becomes a common property of the people.

Hierarchy of Laws

At a national government unit scale, below shows the hierarchy of laws enacted:

  1. Constitution – Fundamental law of the land
  2. Republic Acts – Enacted by Congress
  3. Ordinances – Passed by the local government units

What are the requisites of a valid ordinance?

  1. Must not contravene the Constitution and any statute;
  2. Must not be unfair or oppressive;
  3. Must not be partial or discriminatory;
  4. Must not prohibit, but may regulate trade;
  5. Must be consistent with public policy;
  6. Must not be unreasonable and;
  7. Must be general in application and consistent with public policy.

Order of the Session

  1. Invocation
  2. Singing of the National Anthem
  3. Singing of Tayo ay Dabawenyo – A city ordinance was passed that requires all public functions to include the singing of Tayo ay Dabwenyo in the program.
  4. Roll Call
  5. Approval of the Minutes of the Previously Held Regular Session
  6. Privilege Hour
  7. First Reading – Proposals to be discussed are given items.
  8. Unfinished Business (Second Reading)
  9. Business for the Day (Second Reading)
  10. Other Matters
  11. Third Reading – No discussions included. Councilors vote for or against particular proposals.
  12. Suspended Rules – Urgent matters are being decided in this part of the session (e.g. concerns from the City Mayor that were previously included in the program, resolutions to be passed, etc.)
  13. Adjournment

Passing an Ordinance/ Resolution

  • Source of Ordinance – Researches, Personal Letter from Agencies, Petitions to prove that the general public is need and supports a particular ordinance, Specific problem experience by the public (for regulation)
  • Prepare to Endorse
  • Docketing of Item
  • Session (First Reading)
  • Referral to Committee – SP has 30 committees
  • Session (Second Reading – Resolution)
  • Session (Second Reading – Ordinance)
  • SP Secretary (Resolution)
  • Session (Third Reading – Ordinance) – No discussion, councilors will only vote.
  • Approval or Veto (City Mayor) – The mayor can immediately sign the ordinance or he/she may not do anything about it until such that time for a decision will lapse. When this happens, the ordinance will be automatically approved. In some cases, the mayor will go against the ordinance (veto). The mayor will use his/her prerogative to stop the ordinance along with the legal recommendation and opinion from the City Legal Office, which will be cited by the mayor in his/her veto letter.
  • Override – For ordinance that has been vetoed by the mayor, the SP can override the ordinance through a 75 percent vote from the SP members.
  • Publication

When is measures deemed approved?

  • Simple ordinance – Majority of members present, there being a quorum (50 % +1)
  • Ordinance authorizing payment of money or creation of liability – Majority of ALL members (50% +1), except those outside the country or Davao City on official business
  • Land Zoning – Three-fourths of the votes or majority is needed (75%). Special voting percentage for land zoning is strict and difficult because of the mixed classification of land zones at the present times.

Modes of Approving Measures

  • Local Chief Executive (LCE) signs all pages of enacted measure.
  • LCE does not act on the measure within 10 days, be operation of law, it is deemed approved.
  • LCE vetoes measure, but Sanggunian overrides it by 2/3 vote of all members.

Effectivity of Ordinance

  • Ordinance can provide for its own date of effectivity.
  • If silent, then it shall take effect after the lapse of 10 days from date of its publication.
  • Approved measures shall be posted/ disseminated in Filipino or English.
  • Gist of penal ordinances must be published in newspaper of general circulation.
  • In case of highly urbanized cities (HUCs), measures must be posted and published in newspaper of general circulation.

1 Presented by Coun. Mabel Acosta during the Policy Advocacy Training to CSOs (April 26, 2018, Ateneo de Davao University)