EDITORIAL - Hanging on

If appointive officials seeking elective posts in May have any delicadeza, they would not even need a court ruling deeming them resigned after filing their certificates of candidacy. Instead appointive officials, including Cabinet members, have said they intend to appeal the latest Supreme Court ruling, which said the officials concerned are deemed resigned upon filing their COCs.

By the time the SC hands down its final ruling on this case, the officials concerned would have managed to hang on to their posts until the last second, before the official start of the campaign period for local races.

The officials can always toss the blame to the Supreme Court, which originally overturned last year a long-standing rule of the Commission on Elections. Before the SC stepped in, the Comelec had wanted to enforce its rule, which deemed all appointive officials resigned from government positions after filing their COCs. That was a reasonable requirement, meant to prevent appointive officials from using their positions in government — especially in the Cabinet and in revenue-generating agencies — in their campaign. Local government executives and lawmakers are not covered by the rule, but then they are elected and must serve for a particular period, and are entitled to enjoy the equity of the incumbent. Why should government officials appointed by the president enjoy a similar privilege? But the SC decided to step in, and scrapped the Comelec rule.

The other day, the SC reversed its own ruling, but affected officials still have reason to hope. Late last year the SC did the unprecedented and reversed its own “final and executory” ruling, recorded in its entry of judgment, in the case of the creation of 16 cities. The reversal raised the prospect of perpetual litigation in this country, without hope of ever closing any case.

Appointive officials can avoid aggravating what some quarters have described as judicial instability by abiding by the latest SC ruling on their resignations instead of appealing the decision. But that is probably too much to expect of public officials in this administration.