Gov’t execs joining polls ‘have a month to serve’

DFA: More absentee voters in 2013 than in 2010 presidential elections The Commission on Elections sets the period for filing of certificate of candidacy on Oct. 1 to 5

APPOINTED officials looking to run in the 2013-midterm elections have only one month to serve before they will be considered resigned, an election lawyer said yesterday.

“The present ruling is that once an appointive government official or employee files his COC (certificate of candidacy), he is deemed resigned and has to vacate his position,” lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set the period for the filing of COCs on Oct. 1 to 5, as Congress will go on a two-week break beginning Sept. 22 to allow lawmakers to take care of their political plans.

Up for grabs

Seats up for grabs in the May 2013 polls are from senators to municipal councilors.

Section 15 of Republic Act 9369 or the Automated Election Law states that appointive officials and employees “shall be considered ipso facto resigned from their office and must vacate the same at the start of the day of the filing of the certificate of candidacy.”

However, elected government officials looking to run for any position other than the one they are holding in a permanent capacity are not automatically deemed resigned upon filing their COCs.

The same provision

This was the very same provision sought to be repealed by Macalintal in 2009, wherein he represented Undersecretary Eleazar Quinto and Director Gerino Tolentino of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), who were then both eyeing elective posts in the 2010 polls.

On Dec. 1, 2009, the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional Section 15 of Republic Act 9369 and ruled that government officials and employees, who filed their COCs, will only be considered as resigned upon the start of the campaign period.

However, on Feb. 22, 2010, the Supreme Court immediately reversed itself ruling that once an appointive government official or employee files his COC, he/she is deemed resigned and has to va- cate his position.

Macalintal remains opposed to the SC ruling believing it is unfair for appointed officials eyeing elective positions next year.

“That’s the way it is in Philippine politics,” he said.

Meanwhile, while the Comelec is not as optimistic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported yesterday that the ongoing overseas absentee voting (OAV) registration program for the 2013 polls has managed to attract more Filipinos abroad than in the 2010 presidential elections.

OAV registrants

The DFA said it has managed to surpass the number of new OAV registrants during the 2010 polls with 249,391 as of Aug. 31.

“Although the 2013 elections is senatorial, the number continues to rise. This indicates the increasing political consciousness of Filipinos overseas,” said the DFA.

During the 2010 presidential election, the government had garnered a total of 235,950 new OAV registrants during the same period.

With the number of new registrants, the DFA disclosed that the number of OAV registrants for the upcoming 2013 senatorial and party-list elections had gone up to 839,221 owing to the 589,830 stock total.

Earlier, the Comelec had already said they are already resigned to the possibility that they may not be able to reach their target of registering one million in the OAV.

Registration

For its part, Migrante International urged Filipinos abroad to register in the OAV in order to allow them to exercise their rights of suffrage.

“We still believe that Filipinos abroad, as absentee voters, could be a potent swing vote that could win a nationally-elected position,” said Migrante.

They said there is nothing wrong if their chapters and networks abroad would join the Philippine government in attempting to register at least one million Filipinos for the OAV.

The Comelec has already set the OAV registration to end on Oct. 31.