THREE members of President Duterte’s political party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), are facing administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly participating in illegal political activity when they attended the party’s national council meeting in Cebu City last month.
Named respondents are Raul Lambino, administrator of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA); Melvin Matibag, president of the National Transmission Corp. (Transco); and Astravel Pimentel-Naik, executive director of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.
Complainant Victor V. Morillo, a Quezon City resident who described himself as an advocate for greater public accountability, said the three officials violated Section 55, Chapter 8, Subtitle A, Title I, Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (Revised Administrative Code).
The provision made it illegal for any “officer or employee in the Civil Service including members of the Armed Forces” to engage directly or indirectly in any partisan political activity except to vote. The same rule clarifies that merely expressing a personal view on political problems or mentioning the name of political figures being supported is not considered a violation.
What is expressly prohibited is solicitation of contributions from subordinates or other related acts barred by the Election Code.
In the May 31 PDP-Laban meeting, majority of the party members urged the 76-year-old Duterte to run for vice president after his six-year term expires on June 30, 2022.
Morillo noted the said meeting pushed through despite “well-publicized objections” of other members of the party.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao, acting PDP-Laban president, has called on party members not to participate in the Cebu meeting, saying the government should instead focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the party vice chairman and the one who called for the meeting, prevailed as Malacañang later said it was the President who told Cusi to call the meeting.
The complaint quoted portions of the minutes, including Lambino’s proposal that the party convince Duterte to run for vice president next year and to pick his running mate.
Matibag was quoted as saying all party officials have been holding their posts more than the two-year limit set in the bylaws and that the national assembly was necessary to help the party leadership decide on urgent issues.
He was also credited for saying Duterte agreeing to run for VP is a “supreme sacrifice” as he will have too “humble himself” to run for a lower post “for the benefit of the country.”
Pimentel-Naik reportedly lauded the number of new members joining PDP-Laban, saying “from being a Volkswagen party” there were will already be 100,000 party members as soon as registration requirements are fulfilled.
“The three respondents, by participating in the PDP National Council Meeting on May 31, 2021 violated the prohibition on partisan political activity for officers and employees of the civil service,” Morillo said.
He noted that the same prohibition is supported by the Omnibus Election Code and the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Santos v. Yatco.
Morillo noted that only the three officials were named in his complaint because the others are included in the list of exempted public officers released by the Civil Service Commission in 1992.
The exemption covers the President, the Vice President, Cabinet secretaries, and all elective officials and their confidential staff.
“To be clear, the respondents are not members of the Cabinet. Neither are they among the other exceptions for permissible political activity under law and jurisprudence,” the complainant added.
He pointed out that the CSC through Memorandum Circular No. 30, s. 2009 defined partisan political activities to include “holding political caucuses, conferences, meetings, rallies, parades and other similar assemblies…”
Morillo asked the Ombudsman to place all three under preventive suspension while investigation is ongoing and to order their dismissal from government service with cancellation and forfeiture of all eligibility and benefits if found guilty of the allegations.
QUALIFICATIONS
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said voters should look at a candidate’s qualifications, such as his capabilities and experience when choosing the country’s next leaders.
He made the statement after being asked why the country needs President Duterte to become the next vice president.
He said the President has not made a decision.
Roque reiterated there is nothing wrong with the President’s possible running for vice president in the 2022 elections because the Constitution does not prohibit it.
Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Christian Monsod has said Duterte running for vice president is a way to circumvent the Constitution.
On claims of former senator Antonio Trillanes IV that Duterte and her daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio are free to run in 2022 and experience how the people will reject them, Roque said only the 2022 elections can tell.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he agreed with Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s position that the country’s next president should prepare a solution to the many woes facing the country, such as the problem on unemployment, ballooning national debt, and corruption, among others.
“In fact kung sino man ang susunod na presidente kung ako sila kukunin ko si Sen. Lacson,” Moreno told reporters in an ambush interview.
The country’s outstanding loans have reached P10.99 trillion as of April this year, as the government borrowed more money to fund its COVID-19 response, while more than three million Filipinos are out of work as of May, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Lacson has also cited the need to address the maritime territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
Moreno and Lacson are among names floated as a candidates for the presidency next year.
Moreno is also said to be eyeing reelection next year.
Last Friday, Moreno said he will run in next year’s election but did not say for what post.
Presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has been leading surveys on preferred presidential candidates in 2022.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, staunch critic of Duterte, has expressed his intention to run for the highest position in the country. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Ashzel Hachero
