Argosy S. Nazareno
Civil Servant’s Voice
We constantly see in the news and social media posts reminding government employees not to engage in partisan political activities. Most of the articles refer to the Joint Resolution 1600298 of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dated March 29, 2016, entitled: “Advisory on Electioneering and Partisan Political Activity” for all officers and employees of the government.
All acts, including Facebooks posts, that are “designed or intended to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to a public office” are included. But how can we determine between freedom of speech and electioneering? Should government employees completely zip their mouths when it comes to election matters?
Section 55, Chapter 7 (Prohibitions) of Subtitle A of the Administrative Code of 1987, could explain regarding the prohibition to engage in partisan political activity: “Nothing herein provided shall be understood to prevent any officer or employee from expressing his views on current political problems or issues, or from mentioning the names of candidates for public office whom he supports; provided, that public officers and employees holding political offices may take part in political and electoral activities, but it shall be unlawful for them to solicit contributions from their subordinates or subject them to any of the acts involving subordinates prohibited in the Election Code.”
Also, Section 79 of the Omnibus Election Code provided that: “Public expressions or opinions or discussions of probable issues in a forthcoming election or on attributes of or criticisms against probable candidates proposed to be nominated in a forthcoming political party convention shall not be construed as part of any election campaign or partisan political activity contemplated under this Article.”
It would be safe to say that the prohibitions are not absolute. They are not contradictory with the free speech that is guaranteed by the Constitution. The Supreme Court is always there to uphold the freedom of speech and expression over any form of regulation.
In the case of Diocese of Bacolod vs Comelec (G.R. No. 205728, January 21, 2015), the Supreme Court ruled that while “speech in the context of electoral campaigns made by candidates or the members of their political parties or their political parties may be regulated,” it is unconstitutional to “[regulate]…speech in the context of electoral campaigns made by persons who are not candidates or who do not speak as members of a political party which are, taken as a whole, principally advocacies of a social issue that the public must consider…”
With this jurisprudence regarding the non-regulation of speeches and expressions by non-candidates, could be social media posts of government employees about their personal opinions regarding certain issues and stand of political candidates, legal?
Government employees remain, citizens, even if they are in public service. They pay taxes, suffer when prices of basic commodities go up, and carry the burden like any other citizen when elected government officials are corrupt. Government employees should be the voice of the people who have more to say about what is really happening in the government. They should know who is qualified to fix the problems in the government that they are working for.