{{Short description|Administrative division in Philippine provinces}} {{redirect2|Munisipyo|Munisipalidad|the general term in Spanish|Municipio|a complete list of Philippine municipalities|List of cities and municipalities in the Philippines}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022|cs1-dates=ss}} {{Use Philippine English|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox subdivision type | name = Municipalities of the Philippines | alt_name = | map = Cities and municipalities of the Philippines.png | caption = Municipalities of the Philippines in white | category = Town (Local government unit) | territory = Philippines | upper_unit = Administrative and autonomous regions<br/>Provinces | status = First–sixth class municipalities | start_date = | current_number = 1,493 | number_date = June 30, 2024 | population_range = 406 (Kalayaan) – 451,383 (Rodriguez) | area_range = {{Convert|1.66|sqkm|abbr=on}} for Pateros – {{Convert|2,188.8|sqkm|abbr=on}} for Sablayan | government = | subdivision = Barangays }} {{Philippine city and municipality tables sidebar|hide_map=yes}} {{Politics of the Philippines}} A '''municipality'''{{efn|{{langx|fil|bayan / munisipalidad / munisipyo}}; {{langx|hil|banwa}}; {{langx|ceb|lungsod}}; {{langx|pag|baley}}; {{langx|pam|balen / balayan}}; {{langx|bcl|banwaan}}; {{langx|war|bungto}}; {{langx|ilo|ili}}}} is a local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines. It is distinct from a ''city'', which is a separate category of LGU. Provinces are subdivided into cities and municipalities, which in turn are divided into barangays (formerly barrios). {{As of|2024|6|30|alt=As of June 30, 2024}}, there are 1,493 municipalities across the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 30, 2024 |title=Regional Summary Number of Provinces, Cities, Municipalities and Barangays by Region |url=https://www.dilg.gov.ph/PDF_File/factsfigures/dilg-facts-figures-202489_c0319070a1.pdf |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG Philippines)}}</ref>
A municipality is the official term for, and the local equivalent of, a ''town'',<ref name=bernardmoses>{{cite journal|author=Bernard Moses |title=Colonial Policy with Reference to the Philippines |journal=Proceedings of the American Political Science Association |year=1904 |volume=1 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3038324.pdf |pages=103 |doi=10.2307/3038324 |jstor=3038324 |access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref> the latter being its archaic designation, including in literal translations into Filipino and other Philippine languages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tagalog Language Packet|url=https://www.tagalog.com/documents/TagalogLanguagePacket.pdf|pages=51|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=English to Filipino Meaning :: town|url=https://filipino.english-dictionary.help/english-to-filipino-meaning-town|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Visayan-English Dictionary by Gutenberg Project|url=https://www.gutenberg.ph/previews/kaufmann/KVED-Body.pdf|pages=286|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cebuano For Beginners|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/62862/9780824879778.pdf|pages=33|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ilocano Dictionary - Town|url=https://ilocano.pinoydictionary.com/word/town/|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref> Both terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
A '''municipal district''' is a defunct local government unit; certain areas were first created as municipal districts before later being converted into municipalities.{{TOC limit|2}}
==History== The era of the formation of municipalities in the Philippines started during the Spanish rule, in which the colonial government founded hundreds of towns and villages across the archipelago modeled after towns and villages in Spain. They were then grouped together along with a centralized town center called ''cabecera'' or ''poblacion'' where the ayuntamiento, or town hall, was located; the poblacion served as the nucleus of each municipality. Only the communities that were permanently settled under the reduccion system,<ref name=ThePhilAPastRev>{{cite book |last1=Constantino |first1=Renato |last2=Constantino |first2=Letizia R. |title=The Philippines: A Past Revisited (Vol. I) |date=1975 |publisher=Renato Constantino |location=Manila, Philippines |isbn=971-895-800-2 |ol=9180911M |pages=60–61 |edition=Sixteenth Printing (January 1998) |chapter=Chapter V - The Colonial Landscape}}</ref> and have fully Christianized, are allowed to form municipalities, while others that have not yet been fully converted are to be subdued until conditions permitted for them to be incorporated as municipalities.<ref>{{cite journal|author = Carl C. Plehn |title=Taxation in the Philippines. I |journal=Political Science Quarterly |year=1901 |volume=16 |issue=4 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2140422.pdf |pages = 690|doi=10.2307/2140422 |jstor=2140422 |accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> As time passed, municipalities were created out of already existing ones, leading to them becoming smaller in area over time.<ref>{{cite web|author = Antonio Figueroa |title=Fast Backward: The dissolution of Roxas town |date=February 18, 2017 |url= https://edgedavao.net/vantage-points/2017/02/19/fast-backward-dissolution-roxas-town/|accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> Each municipality was governed by a ''capitan'', usually a member of native principalia of the town, who have the task of remitting revenues to the central government in Manila.<ref>{{cite journal|author = Carl C. Plehn |title=Taxation in the Philippines. I |journal=Political Science Quarterly |year=1901 |volume=16 |issue=4 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2140422.pdf |pages = 688|doi=10.2307/2140422 |jstor=2140422 |accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> Ever since its inception to the present day, the term "municipality" holds the same definition as "town" when the first towns grew in size under the Spanish ''pueblo'' system (''pueblo'' meaning "town" in Spanish language) to be granted municipal charters, hence the current official term for such type of settlements.<ref name=bernardmoses/><ref>{{cite book|author = Norman G. Owen |title=Compadre Colonialism: Studies In The Philippines Under American Rule|year=1971|isbn = 9780891480037 |pages = 17|publisher=University of Michigan Press }}</ref>
During the American administration, the municipal system put in place by the preceding Spanish authorities was preserved and at the same time reformed with greater inclusiveness among all Filipinos.<ref>{{cite book|author = Norman G. Owen |title=Compadre Colonialism: Studies In The Philippines Under American Rule|year=1971|isbn = 9780891480037 |pages = 18|publisher=University of Michigan Press }}</ref> Municipal districts, which were in essence unincorporated areas presided over by local tribal chiefs set up by American authorities, were created for the first time in 1914.<ref>{{cite web|title=Act No. 2408|url=https://www.chanrobles.com/acts/actsno2408.html|accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> More municipalities were created during this time, especially in Mindanao where there was a massive influx of settlers from the Luzon and the Visayas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mindanao: Land of promise (1999)|url=https://www.c-r.org/accord/philippines%E2%80%93mindanao/mindanao-land-promise-1999|accessdate=October 6, 2021}}</ref> After a while the independent Republic of the Philippines was declared in 1946, all municipal districts were dissolved and were absorbed into or broken into municipalities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Executive Order No. 42, s. 1963: Declaring Certain Municipal Districts in the Philippines as Municipalities|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/06/25/executive-order-no-42-s-1963/|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|date=June 25, 1963 |access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref> The latest guidelines in the creation of new municipalities were introduced in 1991 with the issuance of the Local Government Code.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Local Government Code of the Philippines |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1991/10oct/19911010-RA-7160-CCA.pdf|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref>
<!--===Townships and municipal districts=== During the American era, in provinces where there were non-Christians, such areas being insufficiently fit to become municipalities<ref name="cy03" /><ref name="phAC" /><ref name="ra1515" /> were designated either municipal districts or townships.<ref name="cy18">{{cite book |last=Villamor |first=Ignacio |author-link=Ignacio Villamor |date=1920 |title=Census of the Philippine Islands (1918) — Volume I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZ8wAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA503&dq=philippines+township+to+municipal+district&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPyoyYkO2SAxX0UPUHHf85AWsQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=philippines%20township%20to%20municipal%20district&f=false |location=Manila |publisher=Census Office of the Philippine Islands |page= |isbn= |access-date=February 21, 2026}}</ref>
Townships were adapted also to tribal people. By 1903, only the provinces of Benguet and Lepanto-Bontoc were divided by such.<ref name="cy03">{{cite book |author=Gen. J.P. Sanger |date=1905 |title=Census of the Philippine Islands (1903) — Volume I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3dZIamWResC&printsec=frontcover&dq=census+of+the+philippine+islands+1903&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=census%20of%20the%20philippine%20islands%201903&f=false |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Bureau of the Census |page= |isbn= |access-date=February 20, 2026}}</ref> Townships were later established in Mountain Province (where Lepanto-Bontoc was then included), Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes, Mindoro and Palawan.<ref name="cy18" /> By 1919, townships, alongside rancherías, were abolished and reorganized or annexed into municipal units.<ref>{{cite PH act |title=An act extending to the provinces of Mindoro, Palawan, and Batanes, with certain exceptions, the provisions of chapters 63 & 64 of the Administrative Code of 1917 |chamber=Act |number=2824 |folio= |language= |date=March 5, 1919 |url=https://lawphil.net/statutes/acts/act1919/act_2824_1919.html |access-date=February 22, 2026}} *{{cite PH act |title=An act to amend Section 1 of Act numbered 2824 |chamber=Act |number=2887 |folio= |language= |date=February 23, 1920 |url=https://ldr.senate.gov.ph/legislative-issuance/act-no-2887 |access-date=February 22, 2026}}</ref>
Municipal districts were "[too] small or remote" settlements where their establishment as barrios of municipalities seemed impossible.<ref name="phAC">{{cite PH act |title=Administrative Code of the Philippine Islands |chamber=Act |number=2657 |folio= |language= |date=February 24, 1916 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJxBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98&dq=municipal+district+in+philippines&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpy6yWoeySAxXqVPUHHQ0RMgA4FBDoAXoECAoQAw#v=onepage&q=municipal%20district%20in%20philippines&f=false |access-date=February 21, 2026}} * {{cite PH act |title=Administrative Code of the Philippine Islands |chamber=Act |number=2711 |folio= |language= |date=March 10, 1917 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Administrative_Code_of_the_Philippine_Is.html?id=751BAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y |access-date=February 21, 2026}}</ref><ref name="ra1515">{{cite PH act |title=An act providing for a more autonomous government for municipal districts, amending for the purpose Article VI, Chapter 64 of the Administrative Code |chamber=RA |number=1515 |folio= |date=June 16, 1956 |url=https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1956/ra_1515_1956.html |access-date=February 21, 2026}}</ref> First established in Department of Mindanao and Sulu,<ref name="cy18" /> these local units were later formed elsewhere in the country; and however gradually decreased, either being abolished and annexed to another entity, or being converted into a municipality.<ref>''Examples of:'' *'''''abolished''' municipal districts:'' {{cite PH act |title=Abolishing the municipal districts of Ampusungan and Tauit and annexing them as barrios to the municipal districts of Bakun and Luna, respectively, Mountain Province |chamber=EO |number=13 |folio= |date=January 21, 1936 |url=https://lawphil.net/executive/execord/eo1936/eo_13_1936.html |access-date=February 22, 2026}} *''municipal districts '''converted''' into municipalities:'' {{cite PH act |title=An act converting the municipal districts of Concord and Hinabangan, province of Samar, into a regular municipality |chamber=RA |number=263 |folio= |date=June 15, 1948 |url=https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/2/10799 |access-date=February 22, 2026}}</ref> The officials were appointed until mid-1950s when they were eventually elected.<ref name="ra1515" /> The ''Local Government Code of 1983'' (now repealed) required all remaining municipal districts be converted into municipalities, effectively abolishing such units.<ref>{{cite PH act |title=An Act Enacting a Local Government Code |chamber=BP |number=337 |folio= |date=February 10, 1983 |url=https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/2/17584 |access-date=February 21, 2026}}</ref> The last documented case of such conversion was that of Adams, Carasi and Dumalneg, all in Ilocos Norte, in May 1983.<ref>{{cite PH act |title=Proclaiming the conversion of the municipal districts of Adams, Carasi and Dumalneg, in Ilocos Norte into regular municipalities |chamber=PP |number=2289, s. 1983 |folio= |date=May 16, 1983 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1983/05/16/proclamation-no-2289-s-1983/ |access-date=February 21, 2026}}</ref>-->
==Responsibilities and powers== Municipalities have some autonomy from the National Government of the Republic of the Philippines under the ''Local Government Code of 1991''. They have been granted corporate personality enabling them to enact local policies and laws, enforce them, and govern their jurisdictions. They can enter into contracts and other transactions through their elected and appointed officials and can tax. They are tasked with enforcing all laws, whether local or national. The National Government assists and supervises the local government to make sure that they do not violate national law. Local Governments have their own executive and legislative branches and the checks and balances between these two major branches, along with their separation, are more pronounced than that of the national government.{{sfn|RA7160|1991}} The Judicial Branch of the Republic of the Philippines also caters to the needs of local government units. Local governments, such as a municipalities, do not have their own judicial branch: their judiciary is the same as that of the national government.
==Organization== According to Chapter II, Title II, Book III of ''Republic Act 7160'' or the ''Local Government Code of 1991'',{{sfn|RA7160|1991}} a municipality shall mainly have a mayor (''alkalde''), a vice mayor (''ikalawang alkalde''{{tsp}}/{{tsp}}''bise alkalde'') and members (''kagawad'') of the legislative branch Sangguniang Bayan alongside a secretary to the said legislature.
The following positions are also required for all municipalities across the Philippines: {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} * Treasurer * Assessor * Accountant * Budget Officer * Planning and Development Coordinator * Engineer{{tsp}}/{{tsp}}Building Official * Health Officer * Civil Registrar * Municipal Disaster Risks Reduction and Management Officer {{div col end}}
Depending on the need to do so, the municipal mayor may also appoint the following municipal positions: {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} * Administrator * Legal Officer * Agriculturist * Architect * Information Officer * Tourism Officer * Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer * Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer {{div col end}}
===Duties and functions=== As mentioned in Title II, Book III of Republic Act 7160, the municipal mayor is the chief executive officer of the municipal government and shall determine guidelines on local policies and direct formulation of development plans. These responsibilities shall be under approval of the Sangguniang Bayan.
The vice mayor (''bise-alkalde'') shall sign all warrants drawn on the municipal treasury. Being presiding officer of the Sangguniang Bayan (English: Municipal Council), he can as well appoint members of the municipal legislature except its twelve regular members or ''kagawad'' who are also elected every local election alongside the municipal mayor and vice mayor. In circumstances where the mayor permanently or temporarily vacates the position, he shall assume executive duties and functions.
While the vice mayor presides over the legislature, she or he cannot vote unless the necessity of tie-breaking arises. Laws or ordinances proposed by the Sangguniang Bayan, however, may be approved or vetoed by the mayor. If approved, they become local ordinances. If the mayor neither vetoes nor approves the proposal of the Sangguniang Bayan for ten days from the time of receipt, the proposal becomes law as if it had been signed. If vetoed, the draft is sent back to the Sangguniang Bayan. The latter may override the mayor by a vote of at least two-thirds (2{{tsp}}/{{tsp}}3) of all its members, in which case, the proposal becomes law.
A municipality, upon reaching certain requirements (such as minimum population size, and minimum annual revenue) may opt to become a city. First, a bill must be passed in Congress, then signed into law by the President and then the residents would vote in the resulting plebiscite to accept or reject cityhood. One benefit in being a city is that the city government gets more budget <small>(e.g. "National Tax Allotment" (NTA) formerly<ref name="IRA_now_NTA">{{Cite web | title=League of Cities backs scrutiny of tax shares | date=January 11, 2025 | url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2023586/league-of-cities-backs-scrutiny-of-tax-shares | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250111142653/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2023586/league-of-cities-backs-scrutiny-of-tax-shares | access-date=2025-10-05 | archive-date=2025-01-11}}</ref> "Internal Revenue Allotment" (IRA) )</small>, but taxes are much higher than in municipalities.
==Income classification== Republic Act (RA) No. 11964, otherwise known as the "Automatic Income Classification of Local Government Units Act", was signed by president Bongbong Marcos on October 26, 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bajo |first=Anna Felicia |date=2023-10-27 |title=Marcos signs law institutionalizing automatic LGU income classification |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/886483/marcos-signs-law-institutionalizing-automatic-lgu-income-classification/story/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=GMA News Online |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gutierrez |first=Margarita |date=2023-11-03 |title=Automatic income classification for LGUs |url=https://tribune.net.ph/2023/11/03/automatic-oncome-classification-for-lgus |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Daily Tribune |language=en}}</ref> The law classifies municipalities into five classes, according to their income ranges, based on the average annual regular income for three fiscal years preceding a general income reclassification.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lo |first=Katrina |date=2023-10-28 |title=New law updating the income classification of LGUs to help DOF boost LGU revenues, fiscal sustainability |url=https://www.dof.gov.ph/new-law-updating-the-income-classification-of-lgus-to-help-dof-boost-lgu-revenues-fiscal-sustainability/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Department of Finance |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite PH act|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2023/10/26/republic-act-no-11964/|number=11964|date=October 26, 2023|title=An Act Institutionalizing the Automatic Income Classification of Provinces, Cities, and Municipalities, and for Other Purposes}}</ref> The classifications are as follows:
{| class=wikitable |- ! Cl ! {{nowrap|Average annual income ₱}} |- | ''First'' | > 200,000,000.00 |- | ''Second'' | 160,000,000.00 – 200,000,000.00 |- | ''Third'' | 130,000,000.00 – 160,000,000.00 |- | ''Fourth'' | 90,000,000.00 – 130,000,000.00 |- | ''Fifth'' | < 90,000,000.00 |}
==See also== * Sangguniang Bayan * List of cities and municipalities in the Philippines * List of renamed cities and municipalities in the Philippines * {{Commons-inline}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources==
{{refbegin}} *{{cite PH act | title = Local Government Code of 1991 | chamber = RA | number = 7160 | folio = 8th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines | date = October 10, 1991 | work = lawphil.net | url = http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1991/ra_7160_1991.html | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160503071511/http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1991/ra_7160_1991.html | archivedate = May 3, 2016 | url-status = live | ref = {{harvid|RA7160|1991}} }} *{{cite news | url = http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/articles/con_income.asp | title = Income Classification for Provinces, Cities and Municipalities | date = November 20, 2001 | publisher = NSCB | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030830082906/http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/articles/con_income.asp | archive-date = August 30, 2003 | url-status = dead | ref = {{harvid|NSCB|2001}} }} *{{cite news | url = http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/articles/DepOrderReclass.pdf | title = DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE ORDER No.23–08 | publisher = NSCB | date = July 29, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101113184319/http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/articles/DepOrderReclass.pdf | archive-date = November 13, 2010 | url-status = dead | ref = {{harvid|NSCB|2008}} }} *{{cite web | url = http://nap.psa.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/listmun.asp | title = Philippine Standard Geographic Code – List of Municipalities | work = PSA | date = March 31, 2016 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160706053316/http://nap.psa.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/listmun.asp | archive-date = July 6, 2016 | ref = {{harvid|PSA|2016}} }} {{refend}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipalities Of The Philippines}} Category:Municipalities of the Philippines Category:Subdivisions of the Philippines Philippines 2 Municipalities, Philippines