Comelec reminds losing candidates: 1-year appointment ban in effect
Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia (middle). (PNA photo by Ferdinand Patinio)
MANILA, Philippines – Unsuccessful candidates could not be appointed to government positions within one year after the elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday.
“The one-year ban is effective. A losing candidate in an election cannot be appointed to the government. Therefore, one must wait for one year (to be appointed),” Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said in an interview.
“It’s in the Constitution. It is a mandatory requirement because it is provided in the Constitution.”
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The 1987 Constitution states that “no candidate, who has lost in any election shall, within one year after such election, be appointed to any office in the government or any government-owned or -controlled corporations or in any of their subsidiaries.”Garcia said the provision ensures that the appointment of public officials would not be used for patronage politics.
“This is so the appointment won’t be used as a reward by the incumbent to those who supported him but lost in the last elections,” he said.
READ: Comelec reminds candidates to file SOCE within 30 days
Garcia issued the reminder amid President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s order for his Cabinet secretaries to submit their courtesy resignations to allow him to “recalibrate his administration.”
The order has left top Cabinet posts temporarily vacant. (PNA)
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