Sangguniang Panlungsod

The Sangguniang Panlungsod are the legislatures of city governments in the Philippines. As defined by the Local Government Code of 1991, the legislatures have legislative and quasi-judicial powers and functions. The members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, often referred to as councilors are either elected or ex-officio and includes a city's vice mayor who serves as the presiding officer.

The term was coined from the Tagalog words "sanggunian" and "lungsod" which means "city council".

The Sangguniang Panlungsod, as the legislative body of the city, is mandated by the Local Government Code of 1991 to:

The city vice mayor serves as the presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. In the absence of the vice mayor, a temporary presiding officer is assigned by the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod from among themselves.

The number of elected councilors a city's Sangguniang Panlungsod is composed of is prescribed in its charter. In absence of such a provision, it is then composed of ten elected councilors; on the other hand, if the city also corresponds to a legislative district, it then elects twelve. Some cities also elect their councilors by districts which may also be provided in its charter. In general, cities which are composed of at least two legislative districts, equally divide its elected council seats among its districts.

Of all the cities, Manila and Quezon City have the most number of elected councilors with 36 each, followed by Davao with 24.

Similar to the Sangguniang Bayan of municipalities in the Philippines, the Sangguniang Panlungsod also allocates a council seat to the city chairmen of the Liga ng mga Barangay, Pederasyon ng mga Sangguniang Kabataan and the IP Representative.

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