LIMITED POWERS | DPWH: City Council can only ‘invite’ Pacanan, not compel, to flood probe

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor 

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) clarified that Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO) officer-in-charge Roy Pacanan is not legally obliged to attend the City Council’s ongoing quad committee hearings on waterway projects.

Atty. Anne Sharlyne Lapuz, DPWH undersecretary for legal service, said the City Council may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation under the Local Government Code, but its authority is limited compared to the investigatory powers of Congress.

The Code grants local legislative bodies oversight powers, but these are mainly confined to reviewing the executive budget and appropriations.

While committees may conduct investigations, these are not equivalent to those of national legislative bodies, and local councils can only invite resource persons, not compel their attendance.

Lapuz cited a Supreme Court ruling which held that while a City Council may conduct inquiries, it “cannot compel attendance through subpoena powers or penalize for contempt, unless authorized by law.”

The same ruling emphasized that the power to punish for contempt and issue subpoenas is an inherent legislative power not automatically extended to delegated local bodies.

The DPWH also referenced a 2020 opinion from the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which stated that a City Council, when exercising legislative functions, “has no compulsory process to require persons to appear before it.”

The agency reminded the City Council that “contempt power” and “subpoena power” are not implied in the delegation of legislative authority to local governments.

“[The City Council] may only invite resource persons who are willing to supply information which may be relevant to the proposed ordinance,” Lapuz said.

“The ICDEO is not compelled and may respectfully decline the (City Council’s) invitation,” she added.

Pacanan has already skipped two quad committee hearings of the City Council on the flood control projects.

In explaining his absence, he said the DPWH central office has yet to mandate his attendance and cited the persona non grata declaration issued against him by the City Council in 2024.

Councilor Rex Marcus Sarabia on Friday said the City Council is aware of its limitations when conducting inquiries in aid of legislation.

He stressed, however, that the point of the ongoing investigation is to give the city government knowledge of ICDEO’s flood control projects.

Though Pacanan’s attendance cannot be compelled, Sarabia pointed out that Section 25(b) of the Local Government Code requires national government agencies implementing projects to coordinate with concerned local government units.

This, Sarabia argued, is what the ICDEO has failed to do.