Cities of the Philippines

A city (Filipino: lungsod/siyudad) is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All

Philippine cities are chartered cities (Filipino: nakakartang lungsod), whose existence as
corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own specific municipal charters in
addition to the Local Government Code of 1991, which specifies their administrative structure
and powers. As of September 7, 2019, there are 146 cities.
A city is entitled to at least one representative in the House of Representatives if its population
reaches 250,000. Cities are allowed to use a common seal. As corporate entities, cities have the
power to take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property
for its general interests, condemn private property for public use (eminent domain), contract
and be contracted with, sue and exercise all the powers conferred to it by Congress. Only an Act
of Congress can create or amend a city charter, and with this city charter Congress confers on a
city certain powers that regular municipalities or even other cities may not have.
Despite the differences in the powers accorded to each city, all cities regardless of status are
given a bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) compared to regular
municipalities, as well as being generally more autonomous than regular municipalities.