A city (lungsod, sometimes siyudad, in Filipino or Tagalog) is a tier of local government in the Philippines. Cities are in the same hierarchical level as municipalities, but under the Local Government Code of 1991, cities are given special treatment in terms of bigger share from the internal revenue allotment (IRA) which forms part of the city's budget. Cities, like municipalities, are composed of barangays and are governed by elective officials such as Mayor as Local Chief Executive, Vice-Mayor, and councilors as well as appointive officials heading the different local offices under them.

A number of cities in the country act independently from any province and are self-governing as decreed by Philippine Law through an Act of Congress. They are classified as chartered cities. They have their own Representatives in the Congress. Examples of these are Valenzuela City and Zamboanga City. A significant proportion of these chartered cities are also classified as HUCs, or Highly Urbanized Cities. Manila, Quezon City, and Davao City are examples of these cities. The second type of cities are component cities, which are part of a province and are thus governed as part of the latter. They do not have autonomy or representation in the Philippine Congress, as Chartered Cities do. They depend on their provincial government for support and representation. Examples are Tarlac City in Tarlac province, and Palayan City, in Nueva Ecija province, and Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province. There are, however, some component cities that are somewhat independent, like Ormoc City in Leyte.

Quezon City, in Metro Manila is the most populous city in the Philippines with over 2,000,000 residents. Davao City, is one of the largest cities in the world in terms of land area, occupying more than 2,500 square kilometers.

There are two metropolitan areas in the Philippines. Metro Manila is the largest conurbation or urban agglomeration in the country. It is composed of the city of Manila plus 16 neighboring cities and municipalities. The second is Metro Cebu in Cebu Province. It is centered on Cebu City, the provincial capital plus 12 surrounding cities and municipalities.

Classification

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City classification

Highly Urbanized Cities - Cities with a minimum population of two hundred thousand (200,000) inhabitants, as certified by the National Statistics Office, and with the latest annual income of at least Fifty Million Pesos (P50,000,000.00) based on 1991 constant prices, as certified by the city treasurer.

Chartered Cities - Cities that have been created by an Act of Congress and are run as an independent government with the Mayor as its Chief Executive, a Vice-Mayor, City Council, one Congressional District and Representative per every 250,000 population count, a Police force, a common seal, and the power to take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and disposes of real and personal property for the general interests of the City, condemn private property for public use (eminent domain), contract and be contracted with, sue and exercise all the powers conferred to it by Congress.

Independent Component Cities - Cities whose charters prohibit their voters from voting for provincial elective officials. Independent component cities shall be independent of the province.

Component Cities - Cities which do not meet the above requirements shall be considered component cities of the province in which they are geographically located. If a component city is located within the boundaries of two (2) or more provinces, such city shall be considered a component of the province of which it used to be a municipality.

Definitions taken from National Statistical Coordination Board.

Income classification

Cities are classified according to average annual income based on the previous 3 calendar years. ^*

• 1st class - P250 million or more
• 2nd class - P155 million or more but less than P250 million
• 3rd class - P100 million or more but less than P155 million
• 4th class - P70 million or more but less than P100 million
• 5th class - P35 million or more but less than P70 million
• 6th class - Below P 35 million

League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP)

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The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) is a non-profit organization and is not a government agency. It has a membership of 117 cities and was founded in 1988. The organization was formed to help coordinate efforts to improve governance and local autonomy and to tackle issues such as preserving the environment and improving public works..

List of Cities

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As of December 2004, there are 117 cities in the Philippines.

Note: For statistical purposes, independent cities are listed under the province to which they are most closely associated with, such as Baguio City in Benguet, Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Sur, and Davao City in Davao del Sur.

Largest cities

The following is a list of the twelve largest cities in the country in terms of population, ordered according to their 2000 census population.

Rank	City	Population (2000 census)	Population (2005 estimate)
1.	Quezon City	2,173,831	2,260,160NSO NCR Population Projections
2.	Manila	1,581,082	1,454,558
3.	Caloocan City	1,177,604	1,352,132
4.	Davao City	1,147,116	1,325,355NSCB Region 11 Statwatch
5.	Cebu City	718,821	815,716World Gazetteer
6.	Zamboanga City	601,794	700,078NSO Region 9 Population Projections
7.	Pasig City	505,058	538,458
8.	Valenzuela City	485,433	517,535
9.	Las Piñas City	472,780	504,045
10.	Antipolo City	470,866	566,712
11.	Taguig City	467,375	498,283
12.	Cagayan de Oro City	461,877	563,114NSCB Region 10 Statwatch

 

Alphabetical Alaminos City Angeles City Antipolo City Bacolod City Bago City Baguio City Bais City Balanga City Batangas City Bayawan City Bislig City Butuan City Cabanatuan City Cadiz City Cagayan de Oro City Calamba City Calapan City Calbayog City Candon City Canlaon City Cauayan City Cavite City Cebu City Cotabato City Dagupan City Danao City Dapitan City Davao City Digos City Dipolog City Dumaguete City Escalante City Gapan City General Santos City Gingoog City Himamaylan City Iligan City Iloilo City Iriga City Isabela City Kabankalan City Kalookan City Kidapawan City Koronadal City La Carlota City Laoag City Lapu-Lapu City Las Piñas City Legazpi City Ligao City Lipa City Lucena City Maasin City Makati City Malabon City Malaybalay City Malolos City Mandaluyong City Mandaue City Manila Marawi City Marikina City Masbate City Muñoz, Science City of Muntinlupa City Naga City Olongapo City Ormoc City Oroquieta City Ozamis City Palayan City Panabo City Parañaque City Pasay City Pasig City Passi City Puerto Princesa City Quezon City Roxas City Sagay City Samal, Island Garden City of San Carlos City San Carlos City San Fernando San Fernando San Jose City San Jose del Monte City San Pablo City Santa Rosa City Santiago City Silay City Sipalay City Sorsogon City Surigao City Tabaco City Tacloban City Tacurong City Tagaytay City Tagbilaran City Taguig City Tagum City Talisay City Talisay City Tanauan City Tangub City Tanjay City Tarlac City Toledo City Trece Martires City Tuguegarao City Urdaneta City Valencia City Valenzuela City Victorias City Vigan City Zamboanga City

By province Metro Manila Caloocan City Las Piñas City Makati City Malabon City Mandaluyong City Manila Marikina City Muntinlupa City Parañaque City Pasig City Pasay City Quezon City Taguig City Valenzuela City Agusan del Norte Butuan City Albay Ligao City Tabaco City Legazpi City Basilan Isabela City Bataan Balanga City Batangas Batangas City Tanauan City Lipa City Benguet Baguio City Bohol Tagbilaran City Bukidnon Malaybalay City Valencia City Bulacan Malolos City San Jose del Monte City Cagayan Tuguegarao City Camarines Sur Iriga City Naga City Capiz Roxas City Cavite Cavite City Tagaytay City Trece Martires City Cebu Cebu City Danao City Lapu-Lapu City Mandaue City Talisay City Toledo City Cotabato Kidapawan City Davao del Norte Island Garden City of Samal Panabo City Tagum City Davao del Sur Davao City Digos City Ilocos Norte Laoag City Ilocos Sur Candon City Vigan City Iloilo Iloilo City Passi City Isabela Cauayan City Santiago City La Union San Fernando Laguna Calamba City San Pablo City Santa Rosa City Lanao del Norte Iligan City Lanao del Sur Islamic City of Marawi Leyte Ormoc City Tacloban City Maguindanao Cotabato City Masbate Masbate City Misamis Occidental Oroquieta City Ozamis City Tangub City Misamis Oriental Cagayan de Oro City Gingoog City Negros Occidental Bacolod City Bago City Cadiz City Escalante City Himamaylan City Kabankalan City La Carlota City Sagay City San Carlos City Silay City Sipalay City Talisay City Victorias City Negros Oriental Bais City Bayawan City Canlaon City Dumaguete City Tanjay City Nueva Ecija Cabanatuan City Gapan City Palayan City San Jose City Science City of Muñoz Oriental Mindoro Calapan City Palawan Puerto Princesa City Pampanga Angeles City City of San Fernando Pangasinan Alaminos City Dagupan City San Carlos City Urdaneta City Quezon Lucena City Rizal Antipolo City Samar Calbayog City Sorsogon Sorsogon City South Cotabato General Santos City Koronadal City Southern Leyte Maasin City Sultan Kudarat Tacurong City Surigao del Norte Surigao City Surigao del Sur Bislig City Tarlac Tarlac City Zambales Olongapo City Zamboanga del Norte Dapitan City Dipolog City Zamboanga del Sur Pagadian City Zamboanga City

Footnotes

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Highly urbanized city (independent of province)
Chartered city (has its own representative in Congress)
Independent component city

References

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See also

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• List of cities and municipalities in the Philippines

External links

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• League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP)
• Philippine Clean Cities Project
• CityMayors.com article
• Location map of the largest cities (World Gazeteer) (somewhat inaccurate)

Lists of cities | Cities in the Philippines

Liste der Städte auf den Philippinen | Filipijnse stad | Lista de cidades nas Filipinas | Luettelo Filippiinien kaupungeista | Mga lungsod ng Pilipinas | Mga Syudad han Pilipinas