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Thursday, January 08, 2004
No guards for reelectionists
By Linette C. Ramos & Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
PUBLIC officials seeking a fresh term in the May 10 elections will have to give up their police escorts, as well as avoid using government vehicles for campaign sorties.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is willing to let his police escorts go to comply with a Philippine National Police (PNP) directive prohibiting the use of police escorts by candidates in the coming elections.
He is hopeful, though, that arrangements can still be made so he can keep his and wife Margot’s police escorts.
“They can have them. It’s needed but it’s not necessary, it’s really not a major thing. It’s just that when I have to go to the bar and naay mga hubog na muduol (some drunkards approach me), what do you want me to do, punch them? That will be an even bigger issue,” the mayor said.
He added that he finds it hard to believe that incumbent officials who will run in the May 10 elections will not be given security.
Osmeña said he only has one police escort and another one for Margot. He also assigns one to his son Miguel whenever he is on vacation here.
A PNP official clarified, though, that there are exemptions to the directive, which will require approval from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
At the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7, Regional Director Rolando Garcia warned members of the PNP that they can be dismissed if they violate the directive.
“If they allow themselves to be used as personal security of candidates even when they are off-duty, they will be subjected to administrative dismissal proceedings because that is a prohibited act,” Garcia told reporters yesterday.
Ask Comelec
The PNP directive on the prohibited acts in connection with the May 10 elections, which is based on Comelec Resolution 6420, also prohibits the carrying of firearms.
“The use of security personnel or bodyguards by candidates, whether or not the bodyguards are regular members or officials of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies, is strictly prohibited,” the directive read.
PRO 7 Deputy Director for Operations Ronald Roderos explained that the directive covers candidates in the May 10 elections, unless there is an exemption approved by the Comelec.
“Therefore, an incumbent official who is running in the elections can have a police escort but he or she has to ask Comelec,” Roderos said.
For 20 positions at stake, 14 of the 61 candidates in Cebu City are incumbent officials. In Cebu Province, there are at least nine candidates who are reelectionists.
Moving around
Because they can take credit for government projects or services, incumbent officials seeking reelection are seen to enjoy an edge over their rivals.
Another advantage is that public duties, such as visits to the barangays, allow them to maximize their exposure to voters.
Incumbent officials who are seeking reelection can still hang on to their government-issued vehicles, provided they do not use these for campaign sorties, according to Cebu City Election Officer Simaco Labata.
Of the 18 Cebu City councilors, six have so far turned over their old vehicles after they got their new Mitsubishi Adventures, worth P871,000 each, before the start of the year.
Although these already sport red plates, the new vehicles of the Cebu City councilors, most of whom are seeking another term, have yet to be marked “for official use only” in keeping with audit rules.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama’s new Mitsubishi Outlander, worth around P1.2 million, arrived the other day.
Sought for comment about the use of government property during the campaign period, Labata said officials can still use the vehicles.
“They’re still officials and they use it for work. But they must use their own vehicles when campaigning,” he said.
But what if, during official trips, the officials cannot help but advertise their candidacies by wooing potential voters?
“That shouldn’t be, but we need a complainant and evidence for that,” Labata added.
Hand-me-down cars
Mario Mondares, General Services Office (GSO) property division chief, on the other hand, said only Councilors Arsenio Pacaña, Carmelita Piramide, Danilo Fernan, Procopio Fernandez, Christopher Alix and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation president and council ex-officio member Glena Bontuyan have handed over their old vehicles.
Councilor George Rama, although he had yet to follow suit, had the Department of Public Services use his old Mitsu-bishi Highlander.
Mondares said Piramide had her old Proton Wira used by Cebu City Medical Center chief Felicitas Manaloto.
Alix’s Isuzu Highlander is now with the Cebu City Health Department, while Fernandez already requested the GSO to transfer a similar vehicle, originally issued to him, to Cebu City Prosecutor Jose Pedrosa.
The city’s chief prosecutor, however, has yet to receive the vehicle since GSO received the issuance order only yesterday and still has to give him a memorandum receipt.
The vehicles of Bontuyan, Fernan and Pacaña allegedly had mechanical defects and were not re-issued to any official or office.
(January 8, 2004 issue)
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