Is there any violation for a barangay officials to joined an election campaign?

Answer 1

No. There is no violation for a barangay official to join an election campaign. While Section 2(4), Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution provides that "no officer or employee in the civil service shall engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan political campaign", this constitutional ban, as held by the Supreme Court "does not cover elected officials notwithstanding the fact that the civil service embraces all branches and agencies of the government.xxx This is so because elected officials, by the nature of their office, engage in partisan political activities all year round, even outside the campaign period. Political partisanship is the inevitable essence of a political office, elective positions included." (Quinto vs Comelec, GR 189698, Supreme Court Resolution dated Feb. 22, 2010).

Clearly, since the positions of barangay officials are "elected" or holding "elective or political positions", they are not covered by the said constitutional ban to engage in partisan political activities or campaign for the candidates of their choice. While barangay officials, by the nature of their office, are partisans, it is the "barangay election" that is treated by law as "non-partisan." Thus, Section 38 of the Omnibus Election Cod clearly provides that "The barangay election shall be non-partisan and shall be conducted in an expeditious and inexpensive manner." In other words, it is the "barangay election" that is "non-partisan" and not the barangay officials who are elected and should be treated and considered also as holding political positions who, like the President and down to the last elected councilor, are not prohibited from campaigning or undertaking partisan political activities during an election.

Barangay elections are "non partisan" in the sense that the second paragraph of Section 38 of the Omnibus Election Code provides, among others, that candidates in barangay elections "shall not allow himself to be represented by any political party or any other organization and no political party shall intervene in his nomination nor give aid or support, directly or indirectly, for or against his campaign for election." But, as stated, this provision does not prohibit them from campaigning for or against a candidate nor from joining political parties.

ATTY. ROMULO B. MACALINTAL

Election Lawyer