DILG warns civil servants not to participate in political campaigns

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) over the weekend warned civil servants, including barangay officials, not to participate in campaigns for candidates in the upcoming 2019 midterm elections.

DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III, who was in Bacolod City for the launch of the “Bantay Korupsyon” program, said, under a Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) joint memorandum, civil servants are prohibited from involving themselves in campaigning for politicians.

Densing also encouraged the public to immediately report to DILG any barangay official or government employee engaged in such activities.

The DILG undersecretary said those found in violation of the memorandum face one to six years in jail.

Densing also revealed DILG has already received numerous complaints and are scheduled to begin filing the first set of charges against barangay officials this week.

“When the law is there, everybody should follow,” the DILG official added. “We have to remove the culture [where] following the law is optional,”/DGB, WDJ