Local Government Code (Excerpts)

SB POWER TO PROSECUTE

SEC. 149 - 3) Issue licenses for the operation of fishing vessels of three (3) tons or less for which purpose the sangguniang bayan shall promulgate rules and regulations regarding the issuances of such licenses to qualified applicants under existing law: Provided however, That the sanggunian concerned shall, by appropriate ordinance, penalize the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances, electricity, muro-ami and other deleterious methods of fishing and prescribe a criminal penalty thereof in accordance with the provisions of this Code: Provided, finally, That the sanggunian concerned shall have the authority to prosecute any violations of the provisions of applicable fishery laws.

SEC. 445. Powers, Duties and Compensation - (a) The vice mayor shall:

(1) Be the presiding officer of the sangguniang bayan and sign all warrants drawn on the municipal treasury for all expenditures appropriated for the operation of the sangguniang bayan;

(2) Subject to civil service law, rules and regulations, appoint all officials and employees of the sangguniang bayan, except those whose manner of appointment is specifically provided in this Code;

(3) Assume the Office of the Municipal Mayor for the unexpired term of the latter in the event of permanent vacancy as provided for in Section 44, Book I of this Code;

(4) Exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the municipal mayor in cases of temporary vacancy as provided for in Section 46, Book I of this Code; and

(5) Exercise such others powers and perform such other duties and functions as may be prescribed by law or ordinance; (b) The vice mayor shall receive a monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade twenty five (25) as prescribed under R.A. No. 6758 and the implementing guidelines issued pursuant thereto.

Article Three - The Sangguniang Bayan

SEC. 446. Composition - (a) The sangguniang bayan, the legislative body of the municipality, shall be composed of the municipal vice mayor as the presiding officer, the regular sanggunian members, the president of the municipal chapter of the liga ng mga barangay, the president of the pambayang pederasyon ng mga sangguniang kabataan, and the sectoral representative, as members.

(b) In addition thereto, there shall be three (3) sectoral representatives; one (1) from the women; and as shall be determined by the sanggunian concerned within ninety (90) days prior to the holding of local elections, one (1) from the agricultural or industrial workers; and one (1) for the other sectors, including the urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, or disabled persons.

(c) The regular members of the sangguniang bayan and the sectoral representatives shall be elected in the manner as may be provided for by law.

SEC. 447. Powers, Duties, Functions and Compensation - (a) The sangguniang bayan, as the legislative body of the municipality, shall enact ordinances approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants pursuant to Section 16 of this Code and in the proper exercise of the corporate powers of the municipality as provided for under Section 22 of this Code, and shall: (1) Approve ordinances and pass resolution necessary for an efficient and effective municipal government, and in this connection shall: (i) Review all ordinances approved by the sangguniang barangay and executive orders issued by the punong barangay to determine whether these are within the scope of the prescribed powers of the sanggunian and of the punong barangay; (ii) Maintain peace and order by enacting measures to prevent and suppress lawlessness, disorder, riot, violence, rebellion or sedition and impose penalties for the violations of said ordinances; (iii) Approve ordinances imposing a fine not exceeding Two thousand five hundred pesos (P2,500.00) or an imprisonment for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or both in the discretion of the court, for the violation of the municipal ordinance; (iv) Adopt measures to protect the inhabitants of the municipality from the harmful effects of man-made or natural disasters and calamities and to provide relief services and assistance for victims during and in the aftermath of said disasters or calamities and in their return to productive livelihood following said events; (v) Enact ordinances intended to prevent suppress and impose appropriate penalties for habitual drunkenness in public places, vagrancy, mendicancy, prostitution, establishment and maintenance of houses of ill repute, gambling and other prohibited games of chance, fraudulent devices and ways to obtain money or property, drug addiction, maintenance of drug dens, drug pushing, juvenile delinquency, the printing, distribution of exhibition of obscene or pornographic materials or publications and such other activities inimical to the welfare and morals of the inhabitants of the municipality; (vi) Protect the environment and impose appropriate for acts which endanger the environment, such as dynamite fishing and other forms of destructive fishing, illegal logging and smuggling of logs, smuggling of natural resources products and of endangered species of flora and fauna, slash and burn farming, and such other activities which result in pollution, acceleration of eutrophication of rivers and lakes or of ecological imbalance; (vii) Subject to the provisions of this Code and pertinent laws, determine the powers and duties of officials and employees of the municipality; (viii) Determine the positions and salaries, wages, allowances and other emoluments and benefits of officials and employees paid wholly or mainly from municipal funds and provide for expenditures necessary for the proper conduct of programs, projects, services, and activities of the municipal government; (ix) Authorize the payment of compensation to a qualified person not in the government service who fills up a temporary vacancy or grant honorarium to any qualified officials or employee designed to fill a temporary vacancy in a concurrent capacity at the rate authorized by law; (x) Provide a mechanism and the appropriate funds thereof, to ensure the safety and protection of all municipal government property, public documents, or records such as those relating to property inventory, land ownership, records of births, marriages, deaths, assessments, taxation, accounts, business permits, and such other record and documents of public interest in the offices and departments of the municipal government; (xi) When the finances of the municipal government allow, provide for additional allowances and other benefits to judges, prosecutors, public elementary and high school teachers and other national government officials stationed in or assigned to the municipality; (xii) Provide for legal assistance to barangay officials who in the performance of their official duties or on the occasion thereof, have to initiate judicial proceedings or defend themselves against legal action; and (xiii) Provide for group insurance or additional insurance coverage for barangay officials, including members of barangay tanod brigades and other service units, with public or private insurance companies, when the finances of the municipal government allow said coverage; (2) Generate and maximize the use of resources and revenues for the development plans, program objectives and priorities of the municipality as provided for under Section 18 of this Code with particular attention to agro-industrial development and countryside growth and progress, and relative thereto, shall: (i) Approve the annual and supplemental budgets of the municipal government and appropriate funds for specific programs, projects, services and activities of the municipality, or for other purposes not contrary to law, in order to promote the general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants; (ii) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code and applicable laws and upon the majority vote of all members of the sangguniang bayan, enact ordinances levying taxes, fees, and charges, prescribing the rates thereof for general and specific purposes, and granting tax exemptions, incentives or reliefs; (iii) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code and upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, authorize the municipal mayor to negotiate and contract loans and other forms of indebtedness; (iv) Subject to the provisions of Book Ii of this Code and applicable laws and upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, enact ordinances authorizing the floating of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness, for the purpose of raising funds to finance development projects; (v) Appropriate funds for the construction and maintenance or the rental of buildings for the use of the municipality and, upon the majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, authorize the municipal mayor to lease to private parties such public buildings held in a proprietary capacity, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations; (vi) Prescribe reasonable limits and restraints on the use of property within the jurisdiction of the municipality; (vii) Adopt a comprehensive land use plan for the municipality: Provided, That the formulation, adoption or modification of said plan shall be in coordination with the approved provincial comprehensive land use plan; (viii) Reclassify land within the jurisdiction of the municipality, subject to the pertinent provisions of this Code; (ix) Enact integrated zoning ordinances in consonance with the approved comprehensive land use plan, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations; establish fire limits or zones, particularly in populous centers; and regulate the construction, repair or modification of building within said fire limits or zones in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Code; (x) Subject to national law, process and approve subdivision plans for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes and other development purposes, and collect processing fees and other charges, the proceeds of which shall accrue entirely to the municipality: Provided however, That, where approval by a national agency or office is required, said approval shall not be withheld for more than thirty (30) days from receipt of the applications. Failure to act on the application within the period stated above shall be deemed as approval thereof; (xi) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code, grant the exclusive privilege of constructing fish corrals or fish pens, or taking or catching of bangus fry, prawn fry or kawag-kawag or fry of any species or fish within the municipal waters; (xii) With the concurrence of at least two-thirds (2/3) of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, grant tax exemptions, incentives or reliefs to entities engaged in community growth-inducing industries, subject to the provisions of Chapter 5, Title One, Book II of this Code; (xiii) Grant loans or provide grants to other local government units or to national, provincial and municipal charitable, benevolent or educational institutions: Provided, That said institutions are operated and maintained within the municipality; (xiv) Regulate the numbering of residential, commercial and other buildings; and (xv) Regulate the inspection, weighing and measuring of articles of commerce; (3) Subject to the provisions of Book II of this Code, grant franchises, enact ordinances authorizing the issuance of permits or licenses, or enact ordinances levying taxes, fees and charges upon such conditions and for such purposes intended to promote the general welfare of the inhabitants of the municipality, and pursuant to this legislative authority shall: (i) Fix and impose reasonable fees and charges for all services rendered by the municipal government to private persons or entities; (ii) Regulate any business, occupation, or practice of profession or calling which does not require government examination within the municipality and the conditions under which the license for said business or practice of profession may be issued or revoked; (iii) Prescribe the terms and conditions under which public utilities owned by the municipality shall be operated by the municipal government or leased to private persons or entities, preferably cooperatives; (iv) Regulate the display of and fix the license fees for signs, signboards, or billboards at the place or places where the profession or business advertised thereby is, in whole or in part, conducted; (v) Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, authorize and license the establishment, operation and maintenance of cockpits and regulate cockfighting and commercial breeding of gamecocks: Provided, That existing rights should not be prejudiced; (vi) Subject to the guidelines prescribed by the Department of Transportation and Communications, regulate the operation tricycles and grant franchises for the operation thereof within the territorial jurisdiction of the municipality; (vii) Upon approval by a majority vote of all the members of the sangguniang bayan, grant a franchise to any person, partnership, corporation, or cooperative to establish, constructs, operate and maintain ferries, wharves, markets or slaughterhouses, or such other similar activities within the municipality as may be allowed by applicable laws: Provided, That, cooperatives shall be given preference in the grant of such a franchise; (4) Regulate activities relative to the use of land, buildings and structures within the municipality in order to promote the general welfare and for said purpose sha|l: (i) Declare, prevent or abate any nuisance; (ii) Require that buildings and the premises thereof and any land within the municipality be kept and maintained in a sanitary condition; impose penalties for any violation thereof, or upon failure to comply with said requirements, have the work done and require the owner, administrator or tenant concerned to pay the expenses of the same; or require the filling up of any land or premises to a grade necessary for proper sanitation; (iii) Regulate the disposal of clinical and other wastes from hospitals, clinics and other similar establishments; (iv) Regulate the establishment, operation and maintenance of cafes, restaurants, beerhouses, hotels, motels, inns, pension houses, lodging houses, and other similar establishments, including tourist guides and transports; (v) Regulate the sale, giving away or dispensing of any intoxicating malt, vino, mixed or fermented liquors at any retail outlet; (vi) Regulate the establishment and provide for the inspection of steam boilers or any heating device in buildings and the storage of inflammable and highly combustive materials within the municipality; (vii) Regulate the establishment, operation, and maintenance of entertainment or amusement facilities, including theatrical performances, circuses, billiard pools, public dancing schools, public dance halls, sauna baths, massage parlors, and other places of entertainment or amusement; regulate such other events or activities for amusement or entertainment, particularly those which tend to disturb the community or annoy the inhabitants, or require the suspension or suppression of the same; or prohibit certain forms of amusement or entertainment in order to protect the social and moral welfare of the community; (viii) Provide for the impounding of stray animals; regulate the keeping of animals in homes or as part of a business, and the slaughter, sale or disposition of the same; and adopt measures to prevent and penalize cruelty to animals; and (xi) Regulate the establishment, operation and maintenance of funeral parlors and the burial or cremation of the dead, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations; (5) Approve ordinances which shall ensure the efficient and effective delivery of the basic services and facilities as provided for under Section 17 of this Code, and in addition to said services and facilities, shall: (i) Provide for the establishment, maintenance, protection, and conservation of communal forests and watersheds, tree parks, greenbelts, mangroves, and other similar forest development projects; (ii) Establish markets, slaughterhouses or animal corrals and authorize the operation thereof, and regulate the construction and operation of private markets, talipapas or other similar buildings and structures; (iii) Authorize the establishment, maintenance and operation of ferries, wharves and other structures, and marine and seashore or offshore activities intended to accelerate productivity; (iv) Regulate the preparation and sale of meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, fresh dairy products, and other foodstuffs for public consumption; (v) Regulate the use of streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, bridges, parks and other public places and approve the construction, improvement, repair and maintenance of the same; establish bus and vehicle stops and terminals or regulate the use of the same by private-owned vehicles which serve the public; regulate garages and the operation of conveyances for hire; designate stands to be occupied by public vehicles when not in use; regulate the putting up of signs, signposts, awnings and awning posts on the streets; and provide for the lighting, cleaning and sprinkling of streets and public places; (vi) Regulate traffic on all streets and bridges, prohibit the putting up of encroachments or obstacles thereon, and, when necessary in the interest of public welfare, authorize the removal of encroachments and illegal constructions in public places; (vii) Subject to existing laws, provide for the establishment, operation, maintenance, and repair of an efficient waterworks system to supply water for the inhabitant; regulate the construction, maintenance, repair and use of hydrants, pumps, cisterns and reservoirs; protect the purity and quantity of the water supply of the municipality and for this purpose, extend the coverage of appropriate ordinances over all territory within one hundred (100) meters of the reservoirs, conduit, canal, aqueduct, pumping station, or watershed used in connection with the water service; and regulate the consumption, use or wastage of water; (viii) Regulate the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of water, gas, sewer, and other pipes and the construction, repair and maintenance of public drains sewers, cesspools, tunnels and similar structures; regulate the placing of poles and the use of crosswalks, curbs, and gutters; adopt measures to ensure public safety against open canals, manholes, live wires and other similar hazards to life and property; and regulate the construction and use of private water closets, privies and other similar structure in buildings and homes; (ix) Regulate the placing, stringing, attaching, installing, repair and construction of all gas mains, electric, telegraph and telephone wires, conduits, meters and other apparatus; and provide for the correction, condemnation or removal of the same when found to be dangerous, defective or otherwise hazardous to the welfare of the inhabitants; (x) Subject to the availability of funds and to existing laws, rules and regulations, establish and provide for the operation of vocational and technical schools and similar post-secondary institutions and, with the approval of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, fix and collect reasonable fees and other school charges on said institutions, subject to existing laws on tuition fees; (xi) Establish a scholarship fund for poor but deserving students residing within the municipality in schools located within its jurisdictions; (xii) Approve measures and adopt quarantine regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases; (xiii) Provide for an efficient and effective system of solid waste and garbage collection and disposal and prohibit littering and the placing or throwing of garbage refuse and other filth and wastes; (xiv) Provide for the care of paupers, the aged, the sick persons of unsound mind, disabled persons, abandoned minors, juvenile delinquents, drugs dependents, abused children and other needy and disadvantaged persons, particularly children and youth below eighteen (18) years of age and subject to availability of funds, establish and provide for the operation of centers and facilities for said needy and disadvantaged persons; (xv) Establish and provide for the maintenance and improvement of jails and detention centers, institute sound jail management programs, and appropriate funds for the subsistence of detainees and convicted prisoners in the municipality; (xvi) Establish a municipal council whose purpose is the promotion of culture and the arts, coordinate with government agencies and non-governmental organizations and, subject to the availability of funds, appropriate funds to support and development of the same; and (xvii) Establish a municipal council for the elder which shall formulate policies and adopt measures mutually beneficial to the elderly and to the community; provide incentives for non-governmental agencies and entities and, subject to the availability of funds, appropriate funds to support programs and project for the benefit of the elderly; and (6) Exercise such other powers and perform such other duties and functions as may be prescribed by law or ordinance. (b) The members of the sangguniang bayan shall receive a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary Grade twenty- four (24) as prescribed under R.A. 6758 and the implementing guidelines issued pursuant thereto: Provided That, in municipalities in the Metropolitan Manila Area and other metropolitan political subdivisions, members of the sangguniang bayan shall receive a minimum monthly compensation corresponding to Salary grade twenty-five (25).

COMMUNITY FOREST GROUP

CHAPTER 4. Relations with People's and Non- governmental Organizations

SEC. 34. Role of People's and Non-government Organizations - Local government units shall promote the establishment and operation of people's and non-governmental organizations to become active partners in the pursuit of the local autonomy.

SEC. 35. Linkages with People's and Non-governmental Organizations - Local government units may enter into joint ventures and such other cooperative arrangements with people's and non-governmental organizations to engage in the delivery of certain basic services, capability-building and livelihood projects and to develop local enterprises designed to improve productivity and income, diversify agriculture, spur rural industrialization, promote ecological balance, and enhance the economic and social well-being of the people.

SEC. 36. Assistance to People's and Non-governmental Organizations - A local government unit may through its local chief executive and with the concurrence of the sanggunian concerned, provide assistance, financial or otherwise to such people's and non-governmental organizations for economic, socially-oriented, environmental, or cultural projects to be implemented within its territorial jurisdiction.

DECLARE GREENBELTS

BOOK I - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Title One. BASIC PRINCIPLE

SEC. 17. (2) For Municipality (ii) Pursuant to national policies and subject to supervision, control and review of the DENR, implementation of community-based forestry projects which include integrated social forestry programs and similar projects; management and control of communal forest with an area not exceeding fifty (50) square kilometers; establishment of tree parks, greenbelts, and similar forest development project;

15KM. JURISDICTION OF MUNICIPAL WATERS

BOOK II

SEC. 131. (r) "Municipal Waters" include not only streams, lakes and tidal waters within the municipality, not being the subject of private ownership and not compromised within the national parks, public forest, timber lands, forest reserves or fishery reserves, but also marine waters included between two lines drawn perpendicular to the general coastline from points where boundary lines of the municipality or city touch the sea at low tide and a third line parallel with the general coastline and fifteen (15) kilometers from it. Where two (2) municipalities are so situated on the opposite shores that there is less than fifteen (15) kilometers of marine waters between them, the third line shall be equally distant from opposite shores of the respective municipalities; (s) "Operator" includes the owner, manager, administrator, or any other person who operates or is responsible for the operation of a business establishment or undertaking; (t) "Peddler" means any person who either for himself or on commission, travels from place to place and sells his goods or offers to sell and deliver the same. Whether a peddler is a wholesale peddler or a retail peddler of a particular commodity shall be determined from the definition of wholesale dealer or retail dealer as provided in this Title; (u) "Persons" means every natural or judicial being susceptible of rights and obligations or of being the subject of legal relations; (v) "Residents" refer to natural persons who have their habitual residence in the province, city, or municipality where they exercise their civil rights and fulfill their civil obligations, and to juridical persons for which the law or any other provision creating or recognizing them fixes their residence in a particular province city, or municipality. In the absence of such law, juridical persons are residents of the province, city or municipality where they have their legal residence or principal place of business or where they conduct their principal business or occupation: (w) "Retail" means a sale where the purchaser buys the commodity for his own consumption, irrespective of the quantity of the commodity sold; (x) "Vessel" includes every type of boat, craft or other artificial contrivance used, used or capable of being used, as means of transportation on water; (y) "Wharfage" means a fee assessed against the cargo of a vessel engaged in foreign or domestic trade based on quantity, weight, or measure received and/or discharged by vessel; and (z) "Wholesale" means a sale where the purchaser buys or imports the commodities for resale to persons other than the end user regardless of the quantity of the transaction;

SEC. 132. Local Taxing Authority - The power to impose a tax, fee, or charge or to generate revenue under this code shall be exercised by the sanggunian of the local government unit concerned through an appropriate ordinance.

SEC. 133. Common Limitations on the Taxing Powers of Local Government Units - Unless otherwise provided herein the exercise of the taxing powers of provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays shall not extend to the levy of the following: (a) Income Tax, except when levied on banks and other financial institutions; (b) Documentary stamp tax; (c) Taxes on estates, inheritance, gifts, legacies and other acquisitions mortis causa, except as otherwise provided herein; (d) Custom duties, registration fees of vessel and wharfage on wharves, tonnages dues and all other kinds of customs fees, charges and dues except wharfage on wharves constructed and maintained by the local government unit concerned; (e) Taxes, Fees and charges and other impositions upon goods carried into or out of, or passing through the territorial jurisdictions of local government units in the guise of charges for wharfage, tolls for bridges or other wise, or other taxes, fees or charges in any form whatsoever upon such goods or merchandise; (f) Taxes, fees or charges on agricultural and aquatic products when sold by marginal farmers or fishermen; (g) Taxes on business enterprises certified to by the Board of Investment as pioneer or no-pioneer for a period of six (6) and four (4) years respectively from the date of registration; (h) Exercise taxes on articles enumerated under the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended and taxes, fees or charges on petroleum products; (i) Percentage or value-added tax (VAT) on sales, barters or exchanges or similar transactions on goods or services except as otherwise provided herein; (j) Taxes on the gross receipts of transportation contractors and persons engaged in the transportation of passengers or freight by hire and common carriers by air, land or water, except as provided in this Code; (k) Taxes on premium paid by way of reinsurance or retrocession; (l) Taxes, fees or charges for the registration of motor vehicle and for the issuance of all kinds of licenses or permits for the driving thereof, except tricycles; (m) Taxes, fees or other charges on Philippine products actually exported, except as otherwise provided herein; (n) Taxes, fees or charges on Countryside and Barangay Business Enterprises and cooperatives duly registered under R.A. No. 6810 and Republic Act Numbered Sixty-Nine Hundred thirty-eight (R.A. 6938) otherwise known as the "Cooperatives Code of the Philippines" respectively; and (o) Taxes, fees or charges of any kind on the National Government its agencies and instrumentalities, and local government units.

RIGHTS OF TAXATION, FEES AND LEVIES

BOOK II. LOCAL TAXATION AND FISCAL MATTERS

Title One

CHAPTER I - General Provisions

SEC. 128. Scope - The provisions herein shall govern the exercise by provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays of their taxing and other revenue-raising powers.

SEC. 129. Power to Create Sources of Revenue - Each local government unit shall exercise its power to create its own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees, and charges subject to the provisions herein, consistent with the basic policy of local autonomy. Such taxes, fees, and charges shall accrue exclusively to the local government units.

SEC. 130. Fundamental Principles - The following fundamental principles shall govern the exercise of the taxing and other revenue-raising powers of local government units: (a) Taxation shall be uniform in each local government unit; (b) Taxes, fees, charges and other impositions shall: (1) be equitable and based as far as practicable on the taxpayer's ability to pay; (2) be levied and collected only for public purposes; (3) not be unjust, excessive, oppressive, or confiscatory; (4) not be contrary to law, public policy, national economic policy, or in restraint of trade; (c) The collection of local taxes, fees charges and other impositions shall in no case be let to any private person; (d) The revenue collected pursuant to the provisions of this Code shall inure solely to the benefit of and be subject to disposition by, the local government unit levying the tax, fee charge or other imposition unless otherwise specifically provided herein; and (e) Each local government unit shall, as far as practicable, evolve a progressive system of taxation.

SEC. 131. Definition of Terms - When used in this Title, the term: (a) "Agricultural Product" includes the yield of the soil, such as corn, rice, said products for the market such as freezing, drying, salting, smoking, or stripping for purposes of preserving or otherwise preparing said products for the market; (b) "Amusement" is a pleasurable diversion and entertainment. It is synonymous to relaxation, avocation, pastime, or fun; (c) "Amusement Places" include theaters, cinemas, concert hall, circuses and other places of amusement where one seeks admission to entertain oneself be seeing or viewing the show or performances; (d) "Business" means trade or commercial activity regularly engaged in as a means of livelihood or with a view to profit; (e) "Banks and other financial institutions" include non-bank financial intermediaries, lending investors, finance and investment companies, pawnshop, money shops, insurance companies, stock markets, stock brokers, and dealers in securities and foreign exchange as defined under applicable law, or rules and regulations thereunder; (f) "Capital Investment" is the capital which a person employs in any undertaking, or which he contributes to the capital of a partnership, corporation or any other juridical entity or association in a particular taxing jurisdiction; (g) "Charges" refers to pecuniary liability, as rents or fees against persons or property; (h) "Contractor" includes persons, natural or juridical not subject to professional tax under Section 139 of this Code whose activity consists essentially of the sale of all kinds of services for a fee, regardless of whether or not the performance of the service calls for the exercise or use of the physical or mental faculties of such contractor or his employees. (i) "Corporation" includes partnership, no matter how created or organized, joint-stock companies, joint accounts (cuentas en participation), association or insurance companies but does not include general professional partnership and a joint venture or consortium formed for the purpose of undertaking construction projects or engaging in petroleum, coal, geothermal and other energy operations pursuant to an operating or consortium agreement under a service contract with the government. General professional partnership are partnerships formed by persons for the sole purpose of exercising their common profession no part of the income of which is derived from engaging in any trade or business. The term "resident foreign" when applied to a corporation means a foreign corporation not otherwise organized under the laws of the Philippines but engaged in trade or business within the Philippines; (j) "Countryside and Barangay Business Enterprise" refers to any business entity, associations, or cooperative registered under the provisions of Republic Act Numbered Sixty-eight hundred ten (R.A. No. 6810) otherwise known as "Magna Carta For Countryside And Barangay Business Enterprises (Kalakalan 20)"; (k) "Dealer" means one whose business is to buy and sell merchandise goods, and chattels as a merchant. He stands immediately between the producer or manufacturer and the consumer and depends for his profit not upon the labor he bestows upon his commodities but upon the skill and foresight with which he watches the market; (l) "Fee" means a charge fixed by law or ordinance for the regulation or inspection of a business or activity; (m) "Franchise" is a right or privilege affected with public interest which is conferred upon private persons or corporations under such terms and conditions as the government and its political subdivisions may impose in the interest of public welfare, security and safety; (n) "Gross Sales or Receipts" include the total amount of money or its equivalent representing the contract price, compensation or service fee, including the amount charged or materials supplied with the services and deposits or advance payments actually or constructively received during the taxable quarter for the services performed or to be performed for another person excluding discounts if determinable at the time of sales, sales return, excise tax, and value-added-tax (VAT); (o) "Manufacturer" includes every person who by physical or chemical process, alters the exteriors texture or form or inner substance of any raw material or manufactured or partially manufactured product in such manner as to prepare it for special use or uses to which it could not have been put in its original condition, or who by any such process, alters the quality of any such raw material or manufactured or partially manufactured products so as to reduce it to marketable shape or prepare it for any of the use of industry, or who by any such process, combines any such raw materials or manufactured or partially manufactured products with other materials or products of the same or of different kinds and in such manner that the finished products of such process or manufacture can be put to a special use or uses to which such raw material or manufactured or partially manufactured products in their original condition could not have been put, and who in addition, alters such raw material or manufactured or partially manufactured products, or combines the same to produce such finished products for the purpose of their sale or distribution to others and not for his own use or consumption; (p) "Marginal Farmer of Fisherman" refers to an individual engaged in subsistence farming or fishing which shall be limited to the sale, barter or exchange of agricultural or marine products produced by himself and his immediate family; (q) "Motor Vehicle" means any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular power using the public roads, but excluding road rollers, trolley cars, street-sweepers, sprinklers, lawn mowers, bulldozers, graders, forklifts, amphibian trucks, and cranes if not used on public roads, vehicles which run only on rails or tracks and tractor, trailers, and traction engines of all kinds used exclusively for agricultural purposes;