Sangguniang Panlalawigan - History

History

During the early period of Spanish colonization, newly conquered areas were designated as encomiendas which were headed by an encomendero chosen by the Spanish from among the ranks of the powerful local nobles. Encomiendas were organized only for the purposes of collecting tribute that went in part to the Church, the Spanish army, and to the Royal Treasury. Later on areas which were organized and given the designation of "province" (provincia) were led by an appointed alcalde who performed judicial, fiscal and executive functions. This system of government lasted for almost three hundred years until 1886 when a governor (gobernador) was first appointed in each of the eighteen existing provinces, relegating the alcalde to carry out only judicial functions.

American rule brought radical changes to the system of local government in the country. In 1901 the Philippine Commission enacted Act No. 83, known as the Provincial Government Act, which outlined the powers, responsibilities and composition of the provincial government. Each regularly organized province was provided a Provincial Board composed of three provincial officials: the governor, the treasurer, and a "third member" who in most cases was known as the supervisor. The governor in regularly organized provinces under civilian control were initially elected by municipal vice-presidents and councilors within the province through a convention held in the provincial capital every even-numbered year. As civil government took hold, the governorship was made elective. The composition of provincial boards were also later modified, with the treasurer and "third member" taken out and replaced by two members elected by popular vote. Not all provinces had the same type of government. Officials in specially organized provinces (those termed "Non-Christian provinces") were appointed by the Governor-General with the approval of the Philippine Commission until legislation gradually brought each of them in line with regularly organized provinces, that by the time of independence in 1946 all provinces had largely similar governments.

The passage of Republic Act No. 2264 (the "Local Autonomy Act") on June 19, 1959 not only granted greater autonomy to local governments, but also expanded the composition of the Provincial Board by creating a new elective office, the vice-governorship, as well as providing for provinces of the first, second and third income class to have one additional elected board member. However, the Board still had limited real legislative powers, as the provincial government was merely serving as an extension of national government. Republic Act No. 5185 was enacted in 1967 with the intention of decentralizing authority and further empowering local governments to address the needs of their constituents more effectively.

By virtue of Presidential Decree No. 826 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos on November 14, 1975 all existing governing boards and councils in each province, city and municipality were renamed Sangguniang Bayan. The province-level Sangguniang Bayan (later given the name Sangguniang Panlalawigan, commonly abbreviated to SP) consisted of all the incumbent provincial board members (including the governor and vice-governor), plus a representative from each municipality within the province, and the provincial president of the Katipunan ng Mga Kabataang Barangay or Association of Barangay Youth.

Batas Pambansa Blg. 51, enacted in 1979, standardized the composition of all provincial legislatures by reducing the membership of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. All provinces were entitled to 6 elective SP members, unless they had more than one million residents (8 members) or less than 100,000 residents (4 members). Direct municipal representation was eliminated, and in its place was indirect "grassroots" representation through the president of the provincial association of barangay chairmen who was appointed by the President, who also happened to be the Prime Minister. Other members of the new Sanggunian were the governor and the vice governor, both elected by popular vote, and the president of the provincial federation of the Kabataang Barangay, appointed by the President/Prime Minister. The provincial government's jurisdiction over chartered cities, which became a point of contention in the Supreme Court case Teves v. COMELEC, was resolved in BP 51 by placing only cities not classified as "highly urbanized" under the scope of provincial government.

The powers and duties of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan was codified under Batas Pambansa Blg. 337, also known as the Local Government Code of 1983. The governor served as an ex-officio member, who did not vote except only to break a tie, but had the power to veto items within, or entire, Sanggunian ordinances and resolutions. However the veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of all voting SP members.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan was retained as the legislative branch of all provincial governments under the 1987 Constitution and the Local Government Code of 1991. However, unlike the old Provincial Boards or the pre-1992 Sanggunian, which included in their memberships provincial executives, under current laws the governor is not considered as a Sanggunian member (although he or she retains the power to veto SP legislation, which can still be overridden by a two-thirds vote of all voting members), and the vice-governor, who has now become the presiding officer, only participates in breaking ties in voting. Since 1992 SP members are elected from districts to ensure geographical representation, and the size of the province's Sanggunian was dependent on its income classification rather than population.