DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 8. Francisco Gold Condominium II Bldg, EDSA corner Mapagmahal St., Diliman, Quezon City Republic of the Philippines { OFFICE OF THE UNDERSECRETARY a HL Ge August 07, 2006 MR. ROSENDO A. MORALES Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlungsod Calbayog City Dear Mr. Morales This has reference to your earlier letter in connection with the publication of yo! city ordinances with penal sanctions in a newspaper of general circulation as requil under Section 511 of the Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160) and Article 11 Rule XVII of its Implementing Rules and Regulations In your letter, you manifested that the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Calbayog ha| decided to publish all approved city ordinances in Leyte Samar Daily Express, newspaper of general circulation in Region VIII based on the Resolution issued by th] Office of the Executive Judge, Regional Trial Court, 8" Judicial Region, Branch 32, H of Justice, Calbayog City. Said Resolution of the Executive Judge classified the Leyt Samar Daily Express as a newspaper of general circulation on the premise th accredited to be the first and only daily newspaper circulating in Region VIII and hat been in existence for almost eighteen (18) years. Several newspapers were recently established but are existing only for about year or less with two (2) to four (4) issues a month. The publishers of these news established newspapers approa instead published in their respe ive newspapers. You thou of accommodating the but you wanted first to seek our legal opinion on the following queries which we quoted herein in toto { tit Is ned and requested you that the city ordinances bp“(1) Is accreditation of a newspaper necessary? { (2) Is there a need for a track record? (3) What does ‘newspaper of general circulation” mean? In the event that you have decided to transfer the publication of city ordinance from a daily newspaper issue to that of a weekly or a monthly issue, you again asked al additional query on whether or not in doing so, you will violate any provisions of law. At the outset, please be informed that Article 114 (Rule XVII) of the Rules an Regulations Implementing the Local Government Code of 1991 pertains to posting an publication of ordinance with penal sanctions and not Article 122 (Rule XVIII), as cited i your letter Article 114 (Rule XVI) of the IRR provides that: ‘ART. 114. Posting and Publication of Ordinance with Penal Sanctions.—{a) Ordinances with penal sanctions shall be posted at prominent places in the provincial capitol, city, municipal or barangay hall, as the case may be, for a minimum period of three (3) consecutive weoks. Such ordinances shall_also be published in_a newspaper of general { circulation, wher ible, within the territorial jurisdiction of the local government unit concemed, except in the case of barangay ordinances. Unless otherwise provided therein, said ordinances shall take effect on the day following its publication, or at the end of the period of posting, whichever occurs later.” xxx Xxx Xxx (Emphasis Supplied) Based on the foregoing, in order that publication of ordinances with pen sanctions is complied with, it is required that “such ordinances must be published in newspaper of general circulation, where available, within the territorial jurisdiction of thp local government unit concemed, except in the case of barangay ordinances” ‘Anent your queries, we shall answer first your third query As to what constitute a newspaper of general circulation, the Supreme Court hati an opportunity to enumerate the requirements thereof in se of Fortune Motors (Phils.), Inc. vs. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company and CA [265 some 72(1996)] citing Bonnevie vs. Court of Appeals [125 SCRA 122 (1983)], to wit: To_be a newspaper of general circulation, it is enough that. published for the dissemination of local news and general information; that it _has_a bona fide subscription list_of paying subscribers; that_it_is published at regular intervals (Basa v. Mercado, 61 Phil. 632) Thenewspaper need not have the largest circulation so long as it is of g circulation. (Banta v. Pacheco, 74 Phil. 67)."_ (Emphasis Supplied) neral Hence, for as long as the newspaper meets the minimum requirements set | under the abovecited Bonnevie and Fortune Motors cases as to what constitutes newspaper of generai circulation, itis our view that accreditation and track record aske in your first and second queries, respectively, are no longer necessary in order for newspaper to be considered as a newspaper of general circulation. It is enough that the newspaper is (1) published for the dissemination of local news and generd| information; (2) it has a bona fide subscription list of paying subscribers; and (3) it i published at regular intervals Finally, if you choose to transfer the publication of city ordinances from a dail newspaper issue to that of a weekly or a monthly issue, it is our view that, with respect to the requirement of publication under Section 511 of the Local Government Code, nb law will be violated. The Bonnevie and Fortune Motors cases only require that th publication be made at regular intervals. The term “regular intervals” is too general al to encompass even a weekly or monthly issue. Furthermore, Article 114 of the IRR di not expressly provide that the newspaper must be of daily issue. Hence, newspaper that issue publications in a monthly or weekly basis may still qualify as a newspaper general circulation as it is published at regular intervals. We hope that we have addressed your concern accordingly. { Very truly yours, WENCELITO T. ANDANAR Undersecretary for Administration. Legal & Legislative Liaisoy Legal 17