The executive branch of the Philippine government extends beyond the national government. According to Article X, Section 4 of the constitution, the President of the Philippines is mandated to supervise local governments all over the country. However, because of Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, local governments enjoy relative autonomy from the national government.
Among the social services and facilities that local government should provide, as stipulated in Section 17 of the Local Government Code, are the following:
- facilities and research services for agriculture and fishery activities, which include seedling nurseries, demonstration farms, and irrigation systems;
- health services, which include access to primary health care, maternal and child care, and medicines, medical supplies and equipment;
- social welfare services, which include programs and projects for women, children, elderly, and persons with disabilities, as well as vagrants, beggars, street children, juvenile delinquents, and victims of drug abuse;
- information services, which include job placement information systems and a public library;
- a solid waste disposal system or environmental management system;
- municipal/city/provincial buildings, cultural centers, public parks, playgrounds, and sports facilities and equipment;
- infrastructure facilities such as roads, bridges, school buildings, health clinics, fish ports, water supply systems, seawalls, dikes, drainage and sewerage, and traffic signals and road signs;
- public markets, slaughterhouses, and other local enterprises;
- public cemetery;
- tourism facilities and other tourist attractions; and
- sites for police and fire stations and substations and municipal jail.
Local government units also have the power to create its own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees, and charges that shall accrue exclusively to them.
Each local government has its own chief executive. The local chief executive for the province is the Provincial Governor. The local chief executive have the power to approve or veto local ordinances recommended by the local legislators.