THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday warned all government agencies against violating the ban on hiring and transferring of personnel during the election period for the May 9 polls.
In a statement, the Comelec said it is imperative for all government officials to follow the ban on the movement of personnel as required by the law or else face election offense cases.
“The Comelec will be fair but strict in the implementation of election laws for an honest and credible elections,” it said.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, it is prohibited to transfer officers and employees in the civil service during the election period, while the appointment of new employees, creation of new position, and promotion is banned 45 days before Election Day.
An election offense carries the penalty of one to six years of imprisonment.
The poll body said it has received several complaints of alleged violations of the ban on hiring and transferring of personnel. “One such complaint received by the Comelec pertains to the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF),” it said.
“The Comelec Law Department is currently investigating the complaint whether the NCMF violated the provisions of election law,” it added.
Named as respondents to the complaint is newly appointed NCMF Secretary Guiling Mamondiong, his chief of staff Manggay Guro Jr., and NCMF executive director Tahir Lidasan Jr.
According to the complaint, Mamondiong allegedly created the positions of Assistant Bureau Director, Assistant Regional Director, and Assistant Service Directors.
The complaint also cited Mamondiong’s alleged premature termination of contracts of job order employees.
The NCMF secretary also supposedly replaced incumbent heads of offices and appointed their replacements.
“These personnel movements were all effected by Mamondiong without the required exemptions from the Comelec,” said the poll body.
Mamondiong succeeded Saidamen Pangarungan as NCMF head after the latter was appointed Comelec chairman last month.
Meanwhile, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) yesterday lamented the numerous incidents of abuse of state resources (ASR) involving candidates in the May elections.
In a press conference, LENTE Executive Director Ona Caritos said it is unacceptable that many commit ASR, which is defined as acts of incumbent political parties and candidates who manipulate or misuse government resources for electoral advantage.
“While there are laws prohibiting the use of state resources, such as vehicles, buildings, civil servants, and other state resources during elections, much effort is left to be done in terms of law enforcement,” said Caritos.
“It presently leaves the electoral system vulnerable to manipulation and misuse of state resources by incumbent officials,” she added.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, it is prohibited to use public funds, equipment, facilities owned or controlled by the government for an election campaign.
Caritos identified four kinds of ASRs, namely financial, institutional, regulatory, and coercive resources.
Citing their ongoing study among election stakeholders, LENTE said several incidents of ASRs have been continuously observed in the ongoing campaign period.
She said 28 out of the 130 voter respondents (21.5%), and 45 out of the 161 community leader respondents (28%) have said that they have observed candidates using state vehicles or state resources during their campaign.
On the other hand, 66 out of the 71 civil servants interviewed (93%) claimed that they are aware of the legal restrictions imposed on government employees for the conduct of campaign activities.
On the part of candidates or their campaign staff, only 4 out of 23 candidates or campaign staff interviewed (17.3%) claimed that they have equal access to institutional and financial resources.
Caritos appealed to the people to report similar ASR activities in their areas.
“We call on the general public to be more cooperative and vigilant and report instances of abuse of state resources to oversight bodies and to LENTE,” said Caritos.
