House OKs bill banning elected officials from accepting Cabinet posts

MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms has endorsed to the plenary for final voting a bill prohibiting an elected public official from resigning from his post to accept an appointment to another government position.

“The bill stems from an idea that an elected official should keep to the role entrusted to him by the sovereign people and refrain from resigning his office in order to accept an appointive position,” Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada, principal author of House Bill 220, said.

He said there are many elected officials who resign their posts in favor of an appointive position in government.

“This pernicious practice leads to a perversion of the political will. The integrity of every democratic system rests upon the value of respecting the people’s choice,” Tañada said.

Committee chair Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said the bill was approved for final voting by a vote of 5-3.

Deputy Speaker Rep. Pablo Garcia said, however, that he would seek some revisions in the bill once it is taken up in the plenary.

“There should be some sort of modification or exceptions in House Bill 220,” he said.

He said an elected official should not turn down an offer of a higher position in government because his skill would be of value.

“In case of national emergency and the President needs his services and at the point where it will be a sacrifice on the part of the governor or an elected official, he is constrained to resign and accept the appointment because of greater interest,” Garcia said.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the President should not be curtailed from choosing the best candidates even if they are elected officials.