2.3 Enactment, Public Hearings, and Effectivity of Local Tax Ordinances

Enactment, Public Hearings, and Effectivity of Local Tax Ordinances

Authority and preparation

A sanggunian must identify statutory authority before enacting a tax, fee, or charge. Section 186 gives LGUs residual power over a base or subject not otherwise specifically enumerated in the Code and not taxed under the NIRC or other law, subject to the limits that the exaction not be unjust, excessive, oppressive, confiscatory, or contrary to national policy. Other local taxes rest on their specific Code provisions.

Fiscal modeling and committee work may precede legislation, but neither replaces the formal acts required by the Code. The draft should state the subject, taxpayer, base, rate, situs, due date, administrative process, penalties, and effectivity consistently with Sections 130 and 133 and other applicable law.

Mandatory public hearing

Sections 186 and 187 require a public hearing before enactment. The hearing must give meaningful notice and opportunity to address the proposed measure. Preserve the notice, proposed text, attendance, minutes, submissions, committee report, and legislative journal. In Reyes v. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court treated the hearing requirement as mandatory; informal consultation should not be substituted for the statutory hearing.

After the hearing and committee action, the sanggunian follows the Code and its valid internal rules for readings, voting, and passage. The approved ordinance is transmitted to the governor or mayor for the executive action and veto periods applicable to the LGU. A veto may be overridden by the vote required by Section 55.

Publication or posting under Section 188

Within ten days after approval, certified true copies of provincial, city, and municipal tax ordinances or revenue measures must be:

• published in full for three consecutive days in a newspaper of local circulation; or
• where there is no newspaper of local circulation, posted in at least two conspicuous and publicly accessible places.

The statute says two posting places, not four. Keep the full text, proof of publication or posting, dates, and locations because effectivity and enforceability can turn on compliance.

Section 189 separately requires copies of provincial, city, municipal, and barangay tax ordinances and revenue measures to be furnished to the respective local treasurers for public dissemination. It does not say that every measure must be sent within thirty days to the Secretary of Finance through BLGF. Do not invent that step or attribute it to Section 189. Other review rules—such as review of municipal ordinances under Book I—apply according to the LGU and measure involved.

Section 187 appeal

A person questioning constitutionality or legality may appeal to the Secretary of Justice within thirty days from effectivity. The Secretary has sixty days from receipt to decide. The appeal does not suspend effectivity or the accrual and payment of the tax, fee, or charge.

Within thirty days after receiving the Secretary's decision, or after the sixty-day decision period lapses without action, the aggrieved party may file appropriate proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction. Keep this ordinance-level remedy distinct from a Section 195 protest of an individual local tax assessment and a Section 252 RPT payment-under-protest claim.

Checklist

Before collection, verify authority, public hearing, readings and vote, executive action, publication or two-place posting, effectivity, dissemination to the treasurer, and any applicable review. A valid tax base and rate cannot cure a missing mandatory enactment step.

After enactment: publication, effectivity, and review

Enactment is not the end of the validity analysis. Section 188 requires the ordinance, within ten days after approval, to be published in full for three consecutive days in a newspaper of local circulation. Where there is no such newspaper, it must be posted in at least two conspicuous and publicly accessible places. If the ordinance contains penal provisions, the additional publication rule in the Code also matters. Preserve the approved text, voting and hearing records, proof of publication or posting, and the stated effectivity date; the collection system should implement the enacted version, not a draft rate table.

Section 187 supplies a special administrative review route. A taxpayer may question the constitutionality or legality of a tax ordinance or revenue measure by appeal to the Secretary of Justice within thirty days from its effectivity. The Secretary has sixty days from receipt to decide. The aggrieved party may then go to a court of competent jurisdiction within thirty days after receipt of the decision or after the sixty-day decision period expires without action. The appeal does not suspend the ordinance's effectivity or the accrual and payment of the tax, fee, or charge.

Separate that facial challenge to the measure from remedies concerning an individual assessment or collection. On an exam, identify what is being attacked, the controlling procedure, and the relevant clock before choosing a remedy.