INQUIRER.net photo / Faye Orellana
MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer and opposition senatorial candidate Romulo Macalintal filed a petition on Monday before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), urging the agency to clarify its policies on campaigning done by elected barangay officials.
Macalintal, accompanied by former Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes and Atty. George Garcia, filed the petition before the law department of the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila.
In his petition, Macalintal asked the Comelec to clarify that incumbent elected barangay officials are not prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities or campaign for candidates in the upcoming polls.
The petition of Macalintal stemmed from the filing of complaint made by an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against some barangay officials who were allegedly conducting campaign for and against other candidates.
Citing Section 38 of the Omnibus Election Code, Macalintal said that “barangay candidates cannot be nominated by any political party in any barangay election.”
With this, Macalintal said that it is the barangay election that is non-partisan in nature and not the barangay officials themselves. If so, President Rodrigo Duterte should also be prohibited in campaigning for his candidates following the order of the DILG, he noted.
“Kung ang pangulo ay pwedeng mangampanya, eh bakit naman hindi pwede ang barangay officials ganon sila ay elective rin naman,” Macalintal said in an interview, citing that elected officials can campaign but appointed officials cannot.
“Napakadami na ng barangay officials ang sinasabing kinasuhan kaya’t minarapat ko bilang election lawyer na humingi ng ganitong clarifcation sa commission on elections,” he added.
Recently, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III submitted the names of the “initial” 52 barangay officials who were allegedly engaged in partisan political activities.
Densing nevertheless, noted that they received “more than 700” complaints against barangay officials, but the bulk of these reports were still being verified.
READ: DILG identifies 52 erring village execs
According to Macalintal, these barangay officials were being threatened by the DILG that it would file a case against them if they would continue to campaign for or against any candidates for the upcoming elections.
Brillantes, meanwhile, said that “there is no such law” that would backup the claims of the DILG prohibiting elected barangay officials for campaigning.
He also downplayed the threats received by the village executives.
“Maliwanag ang Konstitusyon, ang batas, pwede lahat kumandidato at pwedeng kumanpanya ang barangay officials,” Brillantes said.
“Dapat hindi nila tinatakot yung mga barangay officials. Tingin namin, kung hindi kakampanya yung mga barangay, eh maraming mawawala sa kanyang boto dahil marami kaming kliyenteng barangay,” Brillantes added while referring to Macalintal who is running for senator under the slate of Otso Diretso.
Under Section 2(4), Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution, it states that “no officer or employee in the civil service shall engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan political campaign.”
According to Macalintal, this constitutional ban “does not cover elected officials notwithstanding the fact that the civil service embraces all branches and agencies of the government.” /jpv