During the 11thCongress, 57 bills seeking the conversion of municipalities into component cities were filed before the House of Representatives. However, Congress acted only on 33 bills. It did not act on bills converting 24 other municipalities into cities. During the 12thCongress,R.A. No. 9009became effective revising Section 450 of the Local Government Code. It increased the income requirement to qualify for conversion into a city fromP20 million annual income toP100 million locally-generated income. In the 13thCongress, 16 of the 24 municipalities filed, through their respective sponsors, individual cityhood bills. Each of the cityhood bills contained a common provisionexemptingthe particular municipality from the 100 million income requirement imposed by R.A. No. 9009. Are the cityhood laws converting 16 municipalities into cities constitutional?SUGGESTED ANSWER:November 18, 2008 RulingNo.The SC (voting 6-5) ruled that the exemptions in the City Laws is unconstitutional because sec. 10, Art. X of the Constitution requires that such exemption must be written into the LGC and not into any other laws. The Cityhood Laws violate sec. 6, Art. X of the Constitution because theyprevent a fair and just distribution of the national taxes to local government units. The criteria, as prescribed in sec. 450 of the LGC, must be strictly followed because such criteria prescribed by law, are material in determining the just share of local government units (LGUs) in national taxes. (League of Cities of the Philippines v. ComelecGR No. 176951, November 18, 2008)March 31, 2009 RulingNo. The SC denied the first Motion for Reconsideration. 7-5 vote.April 28, 2009 RulingNo. The SCEn Banc,by a split vote (6-6), denied a second motion for reconsideration.December 21, 2009 RulingYes. The SC (voting 6-4) reversed its November 18, 2008 decision and declared as constitutional the Cityhood Laws or Republic Acts (RAs) converting 16 municipalities into cities. It said that based on Congress deliberations and clear legislative intent was that the then pending cityhood bills would be outside the pale of the minimum income requirement of PhP100 million that Senate Bill No. 2159 proposes; and RA 9009 would not have any retroactive effect insofar as the cityhood bills are concerned. The conversion of a municipality into a city will only affect its status as a political unit, but not its property as such, it added. The Court held that the favorable treatment accorded the sixteen municipalities by the cityhood laws rests on substantial distinction.The Court stressed that respondent LGUs were qualified cityhood applicants before the enactment of RA 9009. To impose on them the much higher income requirement after what they have gone through would appear to be indeed unfair. Thus, the imperatives of fairness dictate that they should be given a legal remedy by which they should be allowed to prove that they have all the necessary qualifications for city status using the criteria set forth under the LGC of 1991 prior to its amendment by RA 9009.(GR No. 176951, League of Cities of the Philippines v. COMELEC; GR No. 177499, League of Cities of the Philippines v. COMELEC; GR No. 178056, League of Cities of the Philippines v. COMELEC, December 21, 2009) NOTE:TheNovember 18, 2008 ruling already became final and executory and was recorded in the SCs Book of Entries of Judgments on May 21, 2009.)August 24, 2010 RulingNo. The SC (voting 7-6) granted the motions for reconsideration of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP),et al. and reinstated its November 18, 2008 decision declaring unconstitutional the Cityhood Laws or Republic Acts (RAs) converting 16 municipalities into cities.Undeniably, the 6-6 vote did not overrule the prior majorityen bancDecision of 18 November 2008, as well as the prior majorityen bancResolution of 31 March 2009 denying reconsideration. The tie-vote on the second motion for reconsideration is not the same as a tie-vote on the main decision where there is no prior decision, the Court said. In the latest resolution, the Court reiterated its November 18, 2008 ruling that the Cityhood Laws violate sec. 10, Art. X of the Constitution which expressly provides that no cityshall be createdexcept in accordance with the criteria established in the local government code. It stressed that while all the criteria for the creation of cities must be embodied exclusively in the Local Government Code, the assailed Cityhood Laws provided an exemption from the increased income requirement for the creation of cities under sec. 450 of the LGC.The unconstitutionality of the Cityhood Laws lies in the fact that Congress provided an exemption contrary to the express language of the Constitution.Congress exceeded and abused its law-making power, rendering the challenged Cityhood Laws void for being violative of the Constitution, the Court held.The Court further held that limiting the exemption only to the 16 municipalities violates the requirement that the classification must apply to all similarly situated. Municipalities with the same income as the 16 respondent municipalities cannot convert into cities, while the 16 respondent municipalities can. Clearly, as worded the exemption provision found in the Cityhood Laws, even if it were written in Section 450 of the Local Government Code, would still be unconstitutional for violation of the equal protection clause.(GR No. 176951,League of Cities of the Philippines v. Comelec; GR No. 177499,League of Cities of the Philippines v. Comelec; GR No. 178056,League of Cities of the Philippines v. Comelec, August 24, 2010)February 15, 2011 RulingYes, the laws are constitutional. The February 15, 2011 resolution is the fourth ruling since the High Court first resolved the Cityhood case in 2008.April 12, 2011RulingYes! Its final. The 16 Cityhood Laws are constitutional. We should not ever lose sight of the fact that the 16 cities covered by the Cityhood Laws not only had conversion bills pending during the 11th Congress, but have also complied with the requirements of the [Local Government Code] LGC prescribed prior to its amendment by RA No. 9009. Congress undeniably gave these cities all the considerations that justice and fair play demanded. Hence, this Court should do no less by stamping itsimprimaturto the clear and unmistakable legislative intent and by duly recognizing the certain collective wisdom of Congress, the SC said.The Court stressed that Congress clearly intended that the local government units covered by the Cityhood Laws be exempted from the coverage of RA 9009, which imposes a higher income requirement of PhP100 million for the creation of cities.The Court reiterated that while RA 9009 was being deliberated upon, the Congress was well aware of the pendency of conversion bills of several municipalities, including those covered by the Cityhood Laws. It pointed out that RA 9009 took effect on June 30, 2001, when the 12th Congress was incipient. By reason of the clear legislative intent to exempt the municipalities covered by the conversion bills pending during the 11th Congress, the House of Representatives adoptedJoint Resolution No. 29 entitled Joint Resolution to Exempt Certain Municipalities Embodied in Bills Filed in Congress before June 30, 2001 from the coverage of Republic Act No. 9009. However, the Senate failed to act on the said Joint Resolution. Even so, the House readopted Joint Resolution No. 29 as Joint Resolution No. 1 during the 12th Congress, and forwarded the same for approval to the Senate, which again failed to prove it. Eventually, the conversion bills of respondents were individually filed in the Lower House and fellesters.blogspot.com were all unanimously and favorably voted upon. When forwarded to the Senate, the bills were also unanimously approved. The acts of both Chambers of Congress show that the exemption clauses ultimately incorporated in the Cityhood Laws are but the express articulations of the clear legislative intent to exempt the respondents, without exception, from the coverage of RA No. 9009. Thereby, RA 9009, and, by necessity, the LCG, were amended, not by repeal but by way of the express exemptions being embodied in the exemption clauses.(http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/news/courtnews%20flash/2011/04/04141101.php)The Court held that the imposition of the income requirement of P100 million from local sources under RA 9009 was arbitrary. While the Constitution mandates that the creation of local government units must comply with the criteria laid down in the LGC, it cannot be justified to insist that the Constitution must have to yield to every amendment to the LGC despite such amendment imminently producing effects contrary to the original thrusts of the LGC to promote autonomy, decentralization, countryside development, and the concomitant national growth.(GR No. 176951,League of City of the Philippinesv. COMELEC; GR No. 177499,League of City of the Philippinesv. COMELEC: GR No. 178056,League of City of the Philippines v. COMELEC, April 12, 2011)