PUBLIC

CORPORATIONINTRODUCTIONP o l i t i c a l L a w b r a n c h o f p u b l i c l a w w h i c h d
e a l s w i t h t h e organization and operations of the governmental organs of the State
and defines the relations of the State with the inhabitants of its territory.DIVISIONS OF
POLITICAL LAW: ( a ) C o n s t i t u t i o n a l L a w b r a n c h
o f p u b l i c l a w w h i c h deals with the maintenance of the proper balance between
authority as represented by three inherentpowers of the State and liberty as guaranteed
bythe Bill of Rights.(b)Administrative law branch of public law which
fixest h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f g o v e r n m e n t , d e t e r m i n e s c o m p e t e n c e o f a d m
i n i s t r a t i v e a u t h o r i t i e s w h o execute the law and indicates
t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l remedies for violation of his rights.( c ) L a w o n M u n i c i p a l
Corporations(d)Law of Public Officers( e ) E l e c t i o n L a w s ( f ) P u b l i c
I n t e r n a t i o n a l L a w GENERAL PRINCIPLESCORPORATION Defined: An artificial being
created by operation of law having the right of succession and powers, attributes
andp r o p e r t i e s e x p r e s s l y a u t h o r i z e d b y l a w o r i n c i d e n t t o i t s existence.
CLASSIFICATION OF CORPORATIONS:( i ) P u b l i c o r g a n i z e d f o r t h e
g o v e r n m e n t o f a portion of the State;( i i ) P r i v a t e f o r m e d
f o r s o m e p r i v a t e p u r p o s e , benefit, aim or end;( i i i ) Q u a s i p u b l i c p r i v a t e c o r p o r a t i o n t h a t renders public service or
suppliespublic wants.NOTE: Criterion to determine whether a corporation is public
The relationship of the corporation to the Sate, that is, if createdby the State as its own
agency to help the State in carrying out itsgovernmental functions then it is public, otherwise, it
is private.CLASSES OF PUBLIC CORPORATIONS:( i ) Q u a s i - c o r p o r a t i o n
c r e a t e d b y t h e S t a t e f o r a narrow/limited purpose (PCSO, etc.);
( i i ) M u n i c i p a l C o r p o r a t i o n s b o d y p o l i t i c
a n d corporate constituted by the incorporationof the inhabitants for the purpose of
localgovernment.ELEMENTS OF MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS:1 . L e g a l c r e a t i o n o r
i n c o r p o r a t i o n t h e r e m u s t b e a l a w creating/authorizing the creation or incorporation
of a municipal corporation];2 . C o r p o r a t e n a m e n a m e b y w h i c h t h e
c o r p o r a t i o n i s known;3 . I n h a b i t a n t s p e o p l e r e s i d i n g i n t h e t e r r i t o r y o f
t h e corporation;4 . Ter r i t o r y l a n d m a s s w h e r e t h e i n h a b i t a n t s r e s i d e together
with internal and external waters and air space above the land and waters.DUAL NATURE
& FUNCTIONS OF MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS:Every local government unit
created/organized under the Local Government Code is a BODY POLITIC and
CORPORATE endowedwith powers to be exercised by it in conformity with law. As suchit shall
exercise powers as a political subdivision of the
NationalG o v e r n m e n t a n d a s a c o r p o r a t e e n t i t y r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e inhabit
ants of the territory (Section 15, RA7160). Accordingly, ithas dual functions
( i ) p u b l i c o r g o v e r n m e n t a l a c t s a s a n a g e n t o f the State
for the government of the territoryand the inhabitants; and( i i ) p r i v a t e o r
p r o p r i e t a r y a c t s a s a n a g e n t o f t h e community in the administration of
local affairs,as such, acts as a separate entity for its ownpurposes and not as a subdivision of
the State.BASIC PRINCIPLES
Sec. 1 Act shall be known as the Local Government Code of 1991
.Under the 1987 Constitution, declared policy: The Stateshall ensure the autonomy of
local governments (Art. II, Sec. 25) To highlight this policy, note, an entire Article (X)
withfourteen sections is devoted to Local Governments. Section (3)thereof mandates:
Congress SHALL enact a local
governmentc o d e ( a ) t o p r o v i d e a m o r e r e s p o n s i v e a n d
accountable localg o v e r n m e n t s t r u c t u r e i n i t i a t e d t h r o u g h a s

y s t e m o f DECENTRALIZATION with effective mechanisms of recall, initiativeand

referendum, (a) allocate among different local government units their powers,
responsibilities and resources, (c) provide forqualifications, elections appointment and removal,
term, salaries,powers and function and duties of local officials and (d) other matters
relating to the organization and operation of local
units.A u t o n o m y i s e i t h e r d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n o f a d m i n i s t r a t i o n (deconcen
tration) or decentralization of power (devolution).Decentralization
of administration delegation by the
centralg o v e r n m e n t o f a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p o w e r s t o l o c a l s u b d i v i s i o n s i n order to
broaden the base of governmental power making
suchl o c a l g o v e r n m e n t s m o r e r e s p o n s i v e a n d a c c o u n t a b l e a n d insuring their
fullest development as self-reliant communities andeffective partners in the pursuit
of national development andprogress (declared policy of LGC); relieves central government
of the burden of managing local affairs, enabling it to
concentrateo n n a t i o n a l c o n c e r n s ; t h e P r e s i d e n t e x e r c i s e s g e n e r a l su
pervision over them but only to ensure that local affairs areadministered according
to law (Presidents mandate to ensurefaithful execution of the laws) but he has no
control over theiracts (he cannot substitute their judgment with his own).Decentralization of
power abdication of political power in
favor of l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t u n i t s d e c l a r e d t o b e a u t o n o m o u s ; t h e a u t o n o
mous government is free to chart its own destiny ands h a p e i t s f u t u r e w i
t h m i n i m u m i n t e r v e n t i o n f r o m c e n t r a l authorities; amount to selfimmolation since the autonomousgovernment becomes accountable not to the
central authority butto its
constituency.N O T E : C o n s t i t u t i o n a l g u a r a n t e e o f L o c a l A u t o n o m y r e f e r s t o A D M I
N I S T R AT I V E A U T O N O M Y o f l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t u n i t s ( o r decentralization of
government authority).