Thursday, April 12, 2007 Use of government resources, employees joining campaign top the list
NEXT time you see a candidate using government vehicles or employees in his campaign, the undermanned Commission on Elections (Comelec) would like to hear from you.
Cebu Provincial Election Officer Marco Castillano called on the public to be vigilant and report election violations, even as he urged candidates to refrain from defying the law.
“Ayaw ninyo huwata nga ang mga tawo na ang mobuyag ninyo (Don’t wait for the people to call your attention),” he told candidates.
Castillano admitted, however, the challenges of proving such violations. An incumbent official may use a government vehicle to attend an official function, where he may then ask for the voters’ support during the event.
One Cebu party spokesman Pablo John Garcia said he will file complaints against the group of Reps. Antonio Yapha and Clavel Martinez, for allegedly using government vehicles while campaigning in the third district.
Garcia, who is running for that district’s congressional seat, said he saw the caravan last Monday in Toledo City and witnessed that vehicles with red plates were used.
“We will file cases for violation of election laws and if warranted, disqualification cases because these are grounds for disqualification,” Garcia said.
Whodunit
Martinez, in a separate interview, said it’s ironic that Garcia will be charging their group because it was Toledo City Councilor Ian Zambo, One Cebu’s candidate for the Provincial Board, who used a car with a red plate.
Zambo is the brother-in-law of Toledo City Mayor Arlene Zambo, an ally of Yapha and Martinez, as well as the son-in-law of Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay, an ally of the Garcias.
“Bahala na lang sila unsay ilang buhaton. We are not bothered at all,” Martinez said.
Zambo, in a separate interview, denied the allegation.
“Wala ko mogamit og red-plate vehicles. I used my own vehicle, which has a green plate,” he said.
Aside from his plan to file complaints before the Comelec, Garcia is also challenging the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to look into the matter so that they will not be accused of partiality.
A representative of the anti-graft office was sent to Dumanjug last Tuesday to check on the caravan of One Cebu party.
“There was a representative from the ombudsman checking on our caravan. I hope the ombudsman will also check their caravan. Otherwise, we would say that’s unfair treatment kay nganong kami bantayan man, unya ang ila dili,” Garcia said.
Job details
Proving that a government employee has violated election rules by participating in campaign activities may also prove tricky for the accusing party.
Although the Omnibus Election Code and Civil Service Commission (CSC) rules exempt some employees from the prohibition, the employee’s job description will be the ultimate basis of whether or not they are exempted.
CSC 7 Regional Director David Cabanag Jr. admitted that determining whether one is exempted from the prohibition could be a tedious and complicated process.
Under CSC rules, all government employees are prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities, except those whose employment is covered only by a job order or contract of service.
Consultants are also covered by the prohibition.
But even if they are consultants or are employed through job orders and contracts of service but hold political positions, they cannot be exempted from the prohibition, Cabanag explained.
“The nature of an employee’s position is the determining factor on whether or not they can be exempted. An employee may be coterminous and is therefore covered by the prohibition, but if the position is non-political, then he may not be covered by the rule,” Cabanag told Sun.Star Cebu.
‘Political’
Cebu City Councilor Edgardo Labella yesterday asked the CSC to clarify its advisory and to reconcile their rules with the Omnibus Election Code and Supreme Court jurisprudence.
He said that while a CSC official specified coterminous and casual employees who are working as staff members of an elected official as among those covered by the prohibition, the Election Code states that those holding political positions are exempted.
Consultants and employees with job orders or contracts of service are exempted from the rule under normal circumstances. But if he or she is a consultant or adviser on political affairs and matters, then he cannot be exempted from the prohibition, Cabanag explained.
A government office clerk or secretaries of elected officials are also considered political positions and are therefore covered by the prohibition.
“A private secretary is definitely a political position and they are not exempted. We have to check the position description form of the employee and without the document, we can’t tell if one’s position is political or not,” Cabanag said.
As for barangay tanods, the CSC has yet to check if their functions are in any way political in nature and if they should be exempted from the prohibitions, he added.
Among other things, government employees are prohibited from holding political caucuses, conferences, meetings, rallies, parades or other similar assemblies for soliciting votes, or undertaking any campaign propaganda for or against a candidate.
They are also not allowed to make speeches, announcements or commentaries or holding interviews for or against the election of any candidate for public office. (MBG/LCR/KNT)
