Sangguniang Panlalawigan


Sangguniang Panlalawigan, commonly known as the Provincial Board, are the legislatures in Philippine provinces. They are the legislative branch of the province and their powers and responsibilities are defined by the Local Government Code of 1991. Along with the provincial governor, the executive branch of the province, they form the province's government.

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 Roman Catholic Church, the Spanish army, and to the Royal Treasury. Later on areas which were organized and given the designation of "province" 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 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 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 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 consisted of all the incumbent provincial board members, 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 or less than 100,000 residents. 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 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, 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.

Powers, duties, and functions

The powers, duties, and functions of the Sanggunian are outlined in Section 468 of the Local Government Code of 1991. The legislative body is tasked in general to "enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the general welfare of the province and its inhabitants... in the proper exercise of the corporate powers of the province." Its powers, duties and functions are outlined into five broad mandates:
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan is composed of regularly elected members and ex officio members. The provincial vice-governor serves as its presiding officer, who does not vote except in cases to break a tie.
Regularly elected members are elected from Sangguniang Panlalawigan districts. The total number of SP members to be elected within the province, and the number within each SP district, varies depending on several factors, including the province's income class and the population count within districts.
Ex officio members in the Sanggunian include:
The Local Government Code of 1991 also provides for the election of 3 "sectoral representatives," which are supposed to come from:
Although several attempts have been made in the past to provide for the election of these sectoral representatives, the lack of a more concrete enabling law upon which the manner of election of these sectoral representatives can be legally based continues to prevent this feature of local governments from being fully realized.

Allocation and apportionment of regularly elected members

The number of regular Sanggunian members is based on the income of the province as classified by the Department of Finance. The Commission on Elections issues resolutions allocating the number of regular members of the Sanggunian a province may elect should a province's income classification change. First-class and second-class provinces are entitled to 10 regularly elected members, 8 for third- and fourth-class provinces and 6 for fifth- and sixth-class provinces. Exceptions to the rule are provinces which are divided into more than five congressional districts. Each Sangguniang Panlalawigan district in the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Cebu, Negros Occidental and Pangasinan elect two members to the Sanggunian, resulting in a total number of 16 regularly elected SP members in Cavite, 14 in Cebu, and 12 in the three other provinces.
The Commission on Elections apportions the number of Sanggunian members among the SP districts into which the province is divided. As much as possible, the members are equally divided among the legislative districts. If such equal division is impossible the remaining numbers are assigned to the districts with a bigger population count than the others. The COMELEC likewise factors out the population of independent cities which do not elect provincial officials in determining the apportionment of the Sanggunian members among the districts. Provinces comprising a single congressional district are divided into two sanggunian districts by the COMELEC for purposes of electing SP members.
A majority of Sangguniang Panlalawigan districts are contiguous to existing congressional districts. The exceptions are the following:
The following is a table with the number of members elected from each SP district, showing the apportionment in place for the 2019 elections.

Historical provinces

The following provinces had elected Sangguniang Panlalawigan officials who served until the provinces became defunct, or until a new set of officials for the successor provinces had been elected in the next provincial elections: