An administrative complaint has been filed before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) against three ranking government officials for their participation in the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) National Council Meeting held in Cebu City last May 31.
The complaint was filed by Victor V. Morillo against Raul L. Lambino, presidential adviser for Northern Luzon and administrator of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA); Melvin A. Matibag, president and chief executive officer of the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo); and Undersecretary Astravel Pimentel-Naik, executive director of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO).
Morillo said the May 31 meeting of the PDP-Laban political party was held to urge President Duterte to run for vice president in the May 2022 elections.
He said that during the meeting, Lambino, Matibag and Naik delivered speeches to bolster Duterte’s candidacy in 2022.
In his complaint, Morillo said that the law and jurisprudence prohibit public officers and employees from participating in partisan political activities.
He said the Administrative Code of 1987 and the Omnibus Election Code expressly exclude civil service officers or employees holding political offices from engaging in any election campaign.
He pointed out that the law provides that "no officer or employee in the civil service, including members of the Armed Forces, shall engage directly or indirectly in any partisan political activity or take part in any election except to vote nor shall he use his official authority or influence to coerce the political activity of any other person or body."
"It is our position that the respondents engaged in prohibited partisan political activity under E.O. No. 292," Morillo stressed in his complaint.
"To be clear: The respondents are not members of the Cabinet. Neither are they among the other exceptions for permissible partisan political activity under law and jurisprudence."
He also pointed out that the PDP-Laban National Council meeting is a partisan political activity that respondents should not have participated in as appointive officials.
"It is thus our most respectful submission that all respondents' actions and utterances during the event constitute prohibited partisan political activity for which they should be found administratively liable," he also said in his complaint.
He thus urged the OMB that Lambino, Matibag and Naik be preventively suspended without pay or dismissed from the service with their eligibility cancelled, their retirement benefits forfeited, and perpetually disqualified from holding public office.