| Guihulngan City Dakbayan sa Guihulngan |
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| — Component City — | |||
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| Country | Philippines | ||
| Region | Central Visayas (Region VII) | ||
| Province | Negros Oriental (Capital) | ||
| District | 1st District of Negros Oriental | ||
| Barangays | 33 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Ernesto Reyes (Current) | ||
| • Vice Mayor | Guido Reyes (Current) | ||
| • City Council |
Members
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| Area | |||
| • Total | 388.56 km2 (150 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| • Total | 91,358 | ||
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | ||
| Postal Code | 6214 | ||
| Area code(s) | 55 | ||
Guihulngan is a city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines.
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Guihulngan is politically subdivided into 33 barangays.
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Guihulngan was already the largest municipality in Negros Oriental when, in July 2007, a popular referendum was passed declaring it a city.[1]
15 months later, however, Guihulngan lost its cityhood, along with 15 other cities. The Supreme Court of the Philippines had granted a petition filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines, declaring the cityhood law (RA 9409), which had allowed the town to acquire its city status, unconstitutional. The said cities, the court ruled, had not meet the requirements for cityhood.[2]
More than a year later, on December 22, 2009, acting on the appeal of the so-called "League of 16 Cities" (of which Guihulngan is a part of), the Supreme Court reversed its earlier ruling as it ruled that "at the end of the day, the passage of the amendatory law (regarding the criteria for cityhood as set by Congress) is no different from the enactment of a law, i.e., the cityhood laws specifically exempting a particular political subdivision from the criteria earlier mentioned. Congress, in enacting the exempting law/s, effectively decreased the already codified indicators."[3] As such, the cityhood status of Guihulngan is effectively restored.
But on August 24, 2010, in a 16-page resolution, the Supreme Court reinstated its November 18, 2008 decision striking down the Cityhood laws[4] making Guihulngan a municipality again.
Voting 7-6, with two justices not taking part, the SC reinstated its Nov. 18, 2008 decision declaring as unconstitutional the Republic Acts (RAs) converting 16 municipalities into cities.
In February 15, 2011 the Supreme Court upheld its decision for the 3rd time making Guihulngan a city again.[5]
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