Comelec warns against appointing defeated poll candidates to gov’t offices

Lawyer Ferdinand Gujilde | CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has warned government officials against the appointment of defeated candidates in the May 2019 polls.

Lawyer Ferdinand Gujilde, election officer for Cebu province, said officials should observe the one-year ban on the appointment of officials following provisions set by the 1987 Constitution.

Under Section 6 of Article 9-B of the 1987 Consitution, a person who lost in the immediately preceding election, except for the barangay elections, cannot be appointed to any position in any government office within one year from the conduct of the said polls.

The same provision was cited by the Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular No. 40 which provides for the rules on appointments of personnel.

“The Constitution is trying to prevent the appointment of political lame ducks. Kanang ilang gicircumvent nga pananglitan, kandidato ka unya wala ka gipadaog sa mga tawo, gireject ka sa mga tawo so buot pasabot di gusto ang mga tawo nga molingkod ko. Di na nimo ma-circumvent through appointment within one year,” said Gujilde.

(The Constitution is trying to prevent the appointment of political lame ducks. Losing candidates, who try to circumvent this rule. Those whom the voters did not choose, those who were rejected by the people, which means that these are the people whom the people would not like to sit in the government. They could not circumvent that one-year rule by appointment or being appointed into office.)

In Cebu, 48 individuals vied for the 23 different elected posts in the provincial government. These include the 14 members of the Provincial Board, seven congressional representatives, the governor and the vice governor./dbs