Govt employees warned vs electioneering

Government employees who will be involved in partisan politics may be dismissed from service, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) warned Thursday. "That is a violation because they should remain impartial... [they will face] dismissal from government service," Comelec Law Department head Ferdinand Rafanan told reporters in an interview. According to Section 93 of the Local Government Code of the Philippines, no local official or employee in the civil service shall "engage directly or indirectly in any partisan political activity or take part in any election, initiative, referendum, plebiscite, or recall, except to vote, nor shall he use his official authority or influence to cause the performance of any political activity by any person or body." Rafanan also noted that all government employees are covered by the provision, regardless of their status. "Kahit anong status mo [Whatever your status is], casual, temporary, permanent, civil service employee ka kung employee ka of the government," he said. He added that it doesn't matter whether they are on duty or not. "Bawal pa rin [That’s still prohibited]. You are still a government employee even if it is a Saturday or Sunday," he said. The code, however, still allows government employees to "express" their views on current issues or mention the names of certain candidates whom they support. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMANews.TV