Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

POLITICAL SECTION

115

ancient and mediaeval times, like Athens, Rome, Venice, Bremen, etc.
The approval by the Philippine Legislature in 1927 of
Act No. 3422 granting more fiscal power to our municipalities
is timely and expedient. There was some opposition to the
approval of that measure while it was under consideration. The.
different chambers of' commerce in the Philippines saw in the
fiscal autonomy of our municipalities the danger of its being
misused, not to say, abused. This attitude of business men
is explained'if we consider the fact that in the very personnel
of the Legislature there were men who, in spite of being animated by a desire to broaden more and more the powers of our
municipalities, entertained serious doubts as to whether the
time has come to bestow upon the municipalities general authority in matters of taxation. This was the reason why it
took two years for the Legislature to enact finally the bill
which was to become Act No. 3422. Acting Governor-General Gilmore himself seriously doubted whether that bill should
have been approved. Apparently he did not question the
liberality of its provisions but he doubted the expediency of
changing and undermining completely the fundamental basis
on which rests the system of local governments introduced here
by the Americans. He said rightly that the system of local
government in America and in the Philippines is based on
enumeration-of-powers theory, municipal entities being political
creatures of the State, existing to help it in the administration
of public affairs, especially in communities far from the paternalistic gaze of the central government, and authorized to enjoy
only such powers as are expressly or impliedly granted. Act
No. 3422 is a departure from this theory, since it grants general
authority to the municipalities to levy taxes with certain specified
limitations:' so that under it the municipalities can exercise a
power which even though not expressly or impliedly conferred,
is not prohibited. It is, however, in consonance with the
policy adhered to from the time of President McKinley to give
the greatest possible authority to our local governments in so
far as local affairs are concerned.
The original plan was to confer even a greater authority to
our municipalities than that contemplated in this new law.