Resolution No. 9435

WHEREAS, Sec. 261 (g), (h) and (x) of the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines provides that:

"The following shall be guilty of an election offense:

WHEREAS, to enforce effectively the foregoing provisions, there is a need to promulgate the necessary rules for the guidance of all concerned.

NOW THEREFORE, the Commission on Elections, pursuant to the powers vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code, and other election laws, RESOLVED to promulgate, as it hereby RESOLVES to promulgate, the following rules to implement the provisions of Section 261, subsections (g), (h) and (x) of the Omnibus Election Code, in connection with the June 30, 2012 Plebiscite in the Imus, Cavite:

SECTION 1. Scope. - This Resolution shall be effective within the Municipality of Imus, Cavite.

SECTION 2. Prohibited acts. - (a) During the plebiscite period from May 28, 2012 until July 05, 2012, no public official shall, except upon prior written authority of the Commission:

1. Make or cause any transfer/detail whatsoever of any officer or employee in the civil service, including public school teachers.
   "Transfer" as used in this provision shall be construed as any personnel movement from one government agency to another or from one department, division, geographical unit or subdivision of a government agency to another with or without the issuance of an appointment."
2. Suspend any elective municipal or barangay officer, unless the suspension will be for purposes of applying the "Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act" in relation to the suspension and removal of elective officials.

   (b) Beginning May 28, 2012 to June 30, 2012:

   1. No appointing officer shall, except upon prior authority of the Commission:

      b.1. Appoint or hire any new employee, whether permanent, provisional, temporary, substitute or casual; or
      
      b.2. Create or fill any new position.

   2. No government official shall promote or give any increase of salary or remuneration or privilege to any government official or employee, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations.

SEC. 3. Request for authority of the Commission; How to file. - (a) Requests for authority to make or cause any transfer or detail of any officer or employee in the civil service shall be in writing and filed with the Office of the Regional Election Director of Region IV.

Said requests shall indicate: (1) the office and place to which the officer or employee is proposed to be transferred/detailed or otherwise moved; and (2) stating the reasons therefor.

(b) Requests for authority to appoint or hire new employees, shall be submitted in writing to the Office of the Regional Election Director of Region IV where the vacancy exists, stating all the necessary data and reasons for the same.

(c) Requests for authority to create and fill new positions shall be submitted to the Office of the Regional Election Director, Region IV.

The Commission shall not grant the authority unless it is satisfied that the position to be filled is essential to the proper functioning of the office or agency concerned; and that the filling up of such position shall not in any manner influence the results of the elections.

(d) Renewal of appointments of temporary, casual, substitute and contractual personnel are not covered by this prohibition and therefore will no longer need prior authority of the Commission. However, the appointing authority shall furnish the Commission, through its Regional Director of Region IV, and through the Law Department for main office positions, a complete list of employees whose appointments were renewed indicating their position, item number, salary grade and station.

(e) Requests for authority to suspend an elective municipal or barangay officer shall be submitted to the Law Department of the Commission, supported by a copy of a formal complaint executed under oath and containing the specific charges therefor.

(f) The Law Department shall submit all requests received by it, together with its recommendation, to the Commission for approval or disapproval.

(g) The Regional Election Director of Region IV shall approve or disapprove all requests received by him, and submit a report on the requests acted upon by him to the Law Department, within seventy-two (72) hours from his action thereon, by the fastest means of communication: Provided, that all actions of the Regional Election Director granting the requests for exemptions from the coverage of the ban herein involved are subject to review by the Commission and shall remain valid and effective unless otherwise rescinded or nullified by the Commission.

SEC. 4. Urgent need to appoint new employees. - Where there is urgent need to appoint or hire new employees, the same may be allowed without the need for a prior request for authority from the Commission provided that within three (3) days from the date of the appointment or hiring, the Commission, through the Office of the Regional Election Director of Region IV, shall be notified in writing, stating therein the exact date when the position sought to be filled became vacant, the cause of vacancy, reason/s for said appointment or hiring and all the necessary data or information regarding the same.

The appointment or hiring of new employees shall be valid unless the same is found by the Commission: (1) to have been made to influence in any manner the results of the plebiscite; (2) to have been issued without the required notice; and (3) that there is no urgent need for the appointment.

The need to fill up a vacant position by a new employee may be considered "urgent" if the position to be filled is essential to the proper functioning of the office or agency concerned and that the position sought to be filled has been vacated either by the death, retirement, resignation, promotion or transfer of the regular incumbent; provided, that the appointment is issued within sixty (60) days from occurrence of the vacancy, and that the same cannot be filled by promotion or transfer of insiders within the same period; and provided further, that the position shall not be filled in a manner that may influence the election.

Appointment to a position which has been vacant for more than sixty (60) days before the issuance of appointment shall not be considered urgent and must, therefore, require prior written authority from the Commission or the Regional Election Director of Region IV.

SEC. 5. Total ban on promotion, salary increases, granting privileges. - Promotion, or giving any increase of salary, remuneration, or privilege to any government official or employee including those in government-owned or controlled corporations, is strictly prohibited without exception whatsoever.

"Promotion" as used in this provision shall mean the advancement of an employee from one position to another with an increase in duties and responsibilities as authorized by law, and usually accompanied by increase in salary. Promotion may be from one department or agency to another or from one organizational unit to another within the same department or agency.

SEC 6. Injunction. - The Civil Service Commission (CSC), including all its field offices, is hereby enjoined not to approve the appointment of new employees where no prior written approval of the Commission or its regional offices is presented by the appointing authority concerned or proof that the required notice within the 3-day reglementary period as provided in Section 3 hereof has been complied with.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA), including all their field offices, shall not release or authorize the release of any appropriation, or pass in audit, payments or expenditures of public funds that may be directly or indirectly used in violation of the foregoing prohibitions.

The field office of the CSC concerned is directed to submit immediately to the Commission a written report on any violation of said provisions of the Omnibus Election Code.

SEC. 7. Penalty. - Any violation of the provisions of this Resolution shall constitute an election offense and shall be punishable by imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6) years, among other penalties provided by law.

SEC. 8. Effectivity. - This Resolution shall take effect on the 7th day after its publication in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines and in one (1) newspaper of local circulation in the Municipality of Imus, Cavite.

SEC. 9. Dissemination. - The Office of the Deputy Executive Director for Operations shall furnish the Regional Election Director of Region IV, the Provincial Election Supervisor of Cavite, the Election Officer of the Municipality of Imus, and the Municipal Mayor of Imus, with a copy of this Resolution. The Regional Election Director of Region IV, the Provincial Election Supervisor of Cavite and the Election Officer of the Municipality of Imus shall give this Resolution the widest dissemination possible.

SO ORDERED.