Political and Public International Law
XIII. Local Governments (RA 7160, as amended by RA 9009 and 11683)
Territorial and Political Subdivisions Enjoying Local Autonomy
| Province | It is a cluster of municipalities or municipalities and component cities, and as a political and corporate unit of government, serves as a dynamic mechanism for development processes and effective governance of LGUs within its territorial jurisdiction. |
| City | It is composed of more urbanized and developed barangays, serves as a general purpose government for coordination, and delivery of basic, regular and direct services and effective governance of inhabitants within its territorial jurisdiction. |
| Municipality | Consists of a group of barangays and serves primarily as a general purpose government for coordination and delivery of basic, regular and direct services and effective governance of inhabitants within its territorial jurisdiction. |
| Barangay | The basic political unit which serves as primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects and activities in a community. |
| Autonomous Region | It consists of provinces, cities, municipalities and geographical areas sharing common and distinctive historical and cultural heritage, economic and social structures, and other relevant characteristics within the framework of the Constitution and the national sovereignty as well as the territorial integrity of the Philippines. |
| Special Metropolitan Political Subdivision | Congress may, by law, create special metropolitan political subdivisions subject to a plebiscite. The component cities and municipalities shall retain their basic autonomy and shall be entitled to their own local executives and legislative assemblies. The jurisdiction of the metropolitan authority that will thereby be created shall be limited to basic services requiring coordination. |
Automatic Release
The share of each LGU shall be released, without need of any further action, directly to the respective treasurer on a quarterly basis within 5 days after the end of each quarter, and which shall not be subject to any lien or holdback that may be imposed by the national government for whatever purpose.