Comelec: Report candidates who use gov’t resources to campaign

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) are calling on the public to report candidates who are using government resources to advance their campaign for the midterm elections in May.

“Let us document everything and report these actions and behaviors,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said on Thursday.

Jimenez cited the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits any officer or employee in civil service, except those holding political offices, from intervening, directly or indirectly, in any election campaign or engaging in any partisan political activity.

Monitoring ‘supply officers’

The use of public funds, equipment or facilities owned by the government is strictly prohibited under the code, he stressed.

PACC chair Dante Jimenez said the anticorruption agency would be particularly monitoring “supply officers” of government agencies to check if they were being used for political ends.

“We need the support of the public to report even those who belong to the same government agency. For example, [if] you are the agency secretary or supply officer, we will have you audited,” Jimenez said.

The PACC will not have any sacred cow in performing its mandate, he said. “I think all of these candidates, I don’t want to name names, they must understand their responsibilities. We will not spare anyone.”

Also on Thursday, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero cautioned officials and employees of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) against unscrupulous individuals who were name-dropping President Duterte to solicit campaign contributions in cash or in kind.

Not authorized

Guerrero said he recently received reports that certain individuals had been contacting potential victims in the private and public sectors, including the BOC, claiming that the President had authorized them to solicit funds for senatorial candidates he had endorsed.

The President has never authorized anyone to solicit campaign money on his behalf, he said.

“All customs stakeholders are advised to be wary of these unscrupulous individuals and immediately inform the customs help desk, BOC-CARES, at 705-6000 or send a message to the official Facebook page, Bureau of Customs PH,” the BOC chief said.

Those who were targeted by scammers are advised to alert the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies. —TINA G. SANTOS