A LOCAL government is “a political subdivision of a nation or State which is constituted by law and has substantial control of local affairs.”
It is a vital organ of the State in the delivery of public service and basic services/facilities.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the territorial and political subdivisions of the Republic of the Philippines are the provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. (Art. X, Sec. 1)
The Constitution also mandates the creation of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras within the framework of the Constitution and the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines. And Congress may, by law, create special metropolitan political subdivisions, subject to a plebiscite [requiring approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite in the political units directly affected].
Local governments are agents of the State for the government of the territory and the inhabitants within the municipal limits. They function as extensions of the national government–and therefore, they are instrumentalities of the latter.
Local Autonomy
Local governments enjoy local autonomy.
Under our fundamental charter, local autonomy simply means decentralization. Such decentralization does not make local governments sovereign within the state or an “imperium in imperio.” (Basco vs. PAGCOR, G.R. No. 91649, May 14, 1991) In a unitary system of government such as ours, local government can only mean a measure of decentralization of the function of government.
Autonomy is either decentralization of administration or decentralization of power. There is decentralization of administration when the central government delegates administrative powers to political subdivisions. This relieves the central government of the burden of managing local affairs and enables it to concentrate on national concerns. (Limbona vs. Mangelin, G.R. No. 80391, February 28, 1989) As regards decentralization of power, the autonomous local government is free to chart its own destiny and shape its future with minimum intervention from central authorities. (Ibid.)
The President’s Power of Supervision
It must be emphasized that the exercise of local autonomy remains subject to the power of control by Congress, and the power of general supervision by the President.
By constitutional fiat, the President exercises general supervision over local governments. “Supervisory power, when contrasted with control, is the power of mere oversight over an inferior body; it does not include any restraining authority over such a body.”
The President can only interfere in the affairs and activities of a local government unit if he or she finds that the latter has acted contrary to law. (Hon. Dadole vs. COA, G.R. No. 125350, December 3, 2002) As long as the local government acts within the parameters of the law and the Constitution, the President, or any of his or her alter egos, cannot interfere in local affairs.
