June 17, 1999

MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 33

ENJOINING ALL MUNICIPAL MAYORS TO OBSERVE A ONE-YEAR MORATORIUM IN THE CONVERSION OF MUNICIPALITIES INTO CITIES

WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of Section 7, 449 and 450 of

WHEREAS, present exigencies require that, beyond the conditions of the

WHEREAS, the conversion of a municipality to a city should likewise seriously consider the locality's inherent opportunities on further socio-economic and commercial development, most especially in the growth of service-sector production and employment, banking, financial and investment centers, private sector investments, and public spending; in the expansion of the corresponding improvements in physical infrastructure as well as higher forms of transportation systems, such as vehicular and pedestrian traffic engineering and management; in the rise of commercial business districts and other built-up areas; in the advancement of the locality's social, entertainment and cultural amenities, and in the local capabilities to adequately address potential environmental impact and other urbanization concerns, among other indicators of urbanization;

WHEREAS, prior to the application of a municipality to acquire cityhood, there is likewise an imperative need for said municipality to ensure that its residents possess a minimum level of political awareness and participation in the decision-making processes that will grant said locality the legal stature of a higher form of local government;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH, EJERCITO ESTRADA, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order that:

SECTION 1. All municipal mayors and other municipal officials are enjoined to observe a moratorium in initiating conversion to cities for a period of one (1) year from the date of effectivity of this Memorandum Circular.

SECTION 2. The Secretaries of the Interior and Local Government, Finance and Budget and Management are instructed to constitute themselves into a Policy Group to study the pertinent provisions of law and public policy relative to the conversion of municipalities into cities. Said Group shall submit their recommendations within one (1) year from the date of issuance of this Memorandum Circular.

SECTION 3. This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 17th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Nine.