Cabinet members and appointed officials who intend to run in the 2016 elections need not resign before they file certificates of candidacy (COCs), according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez on Wednesday said that appointed officials would be considered automatically resigned once they file their COCs in October.
“Once you file your COC and you are an appointed official, ipso facto you are deemed automatically resigned. It means you don’t have to resign,” he said.
Jimenez said a government official’s declaration of intention to run for office was not tantamount to a COC being filed.
The situation is different for elected officials. “If you’re an elected official and you file a certificate of candidacy, you’re not deemed resigned,” he said.
Jimenez cited the case of senators who ran for higher office and lost, and returned to the Senate to finish their six-year terms.
“If you had an elected official who also held an appointed position or a designation of some sort, then you can imagine that if someone files a certificate of candidacy, then that would trigger losing the appointed position but he would retain the elected position,” he said on the sidelines of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) workshop on election observation.
Earlier this week, Vice President Jejomar Binay resigned as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and as presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns.
His allies claimed that Binay quit his posts because he was tired of being treated as the Aquino Cabinet’s “punching bag.”
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito the other day said Cabinet members planning to seek elective posts in next year’s elections should resign, too, out of delicadeza.
Using state resources
Ejercito said the appointed officials were already using government resources to advance their respective political interests.
Malacañang has defended the TV and radio advertisements of Cabinet officials and other government executives as part of their jobs.
While resigning is a judgment call, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said on Tuesday if Cabinet officials prolonged their tenure in the administration and then run in next year’s polls, they would have much explaining to do.
Focus on work
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the presumptive Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer, said only those who “declared” their intention to run next year should tender their resignation to avoid suspicion they were using government resources for their political agenda.
“It’s just right. If a candidate has declared and has made a decision, I think that’s just natural,” Roxas told reporters after leading the launching of the “Safe Kam” project of the police in Caloocan City.
Asked if he would also resign like what his political archrival, Binay, did on Monday, the interior secretary said he was just carrying out his responsibilities as overseer of the Philippine National Police and the local government units.
Roxas, who opted to play coy on his political plans, said he had been leading several government projects even before his name was mentioned by fellow LP members as President Aquino’s possible successor.
“I have a duty to perform. Do you think this is just electioneering or a part of my job? All of us in the Cabinet are focused on our work,” Roxas said.
“We have an obligation to the people … to provide them our complete services. We’re just complying with our mandate,” he added.
Too valuable
An LP lawmaker said Roxas was too valuable a Cabinet member to resign just to announce his candidacy in 2016.
Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas, the LP’s organizing and membership committee chair, said it was premature to ask Roxas to quit his Cabinet post.
Treñas said Roxas’ role in the Aquino administration “is very important especially at this time when the government is focused on completing all the needed infrastructure support for local government units nationwide in pursuit of its medium and long-term development agenda.”
Another LP stalwart, Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, also came to Roxas’ defense, saying Binay and Roxas’ situations were different.
Erice pointed out that the Vice President had made it known that he was setting his sights on the highest government position right after the 2010 elections.
“Binay does not care because what’s important for him is his ambition. That’s the reason why he resigned, unlike the rest of the Cabinet who know when to resign. They know they should not use their positions for politicking,” he said.
“Since he joined the Cabinet, he (Binay) already used his office in politicking unlike (Roxas) and other Cabinet members who have carried out their tasks.”
Ethical conduct
Malacañang on Wednesday brushed aside calls by some lawmakers for Cabinet members and other government officials planning to run in the 2016 elections to resign and avoid suspicions they are using state resources for personal gains.
“In due time, the political campaign season will start. But until such time, the government will focus on governance,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told the Inquirer.
Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said Cabinet secretaries and all other government officials were expected to abide by the norms of good governance and ethical conduct.
Coloma asserted that “for the record, no member of the Cabinet has formally declared the intention to be a candidate in the 2016 elections.”
“Those that may be inclined to do so would be well advised to conduct themselves in a manner that would not be construed as politicking by our bosses, the Filipino people,” he added.
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director General Joel Villanueva acknowledged that officials planning to run in 2016 enjoyed the advantage of their current posts. “More so with reelectionists and show biz personalities who get the exposure by the nature of their work.”
Villanueva said that resignation was a personal matter and that he could not answer for others. “As for me, the simple truth is unlike (Binay) and the others, I have not firmed up my decision for 2016,” he said in a text message.
Aside from Roxas
Members of the Cabinet who are expected to run or are among those considering running for elective posts include Villanueva, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, Health Secretary Janette Garin, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino (all for Senate seats).With a report from Jerry E. Esplanada
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