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Part 14
G.R. No. 189698 - ELEAZAR P. QUINTO AND GERINO A. TOLENTINO, JR. v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, December 1, 2009
DISSENTING OPINION OF CHIEF JUSTICE REYNATO S. PUNO
The final proviso in paragraph 3, Section 11 of RA No. 8436, as amended, is a mere reiteration of Section 66 of the Omnibus Election Code, which provides:
Section 66. Candidates holding appointive office or positions. ? Any person holding a public appointive office or position, including active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and officers and employees in government-owned or controlled corporations, shall be considered ipso factoresigned from his office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy.
Congress inserted the final proviso to clarify that Section 66 of the Omnibus Election Code still applies despite the second sentence in the paragraph 3 of Section 11, which states that a person who files a certificate of candidacy is considered a candidate only upon the start of the campaign period.
The final proviso in paragraph 3, Section 11 of RA No. 8436, as amended, and Section 66 of the Omnibus Election Code are constitutional.
First. Appointive public officials are civil service officers or employees. Section 2(1), Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution provides:??
The civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters.
The Constitution expressly prohibits civil service officers and employees from engaging in any electioneering or partisan political activity. Section 2(4), Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution provides:
No officer or employee in the civil service shall engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan political activity. (Emphasis supplied)
Since the Constitution also provides that suffrage ?may be exercised by all citizens,?? Section 2(4) of Article IX-B does not prohibit civil service officers and employees from voting.? Thus, civil service officers and employees cannot engage in any electioneering or partisan political activity except to vote. This is clear from the second paragraph of Section 3(3), Article XVI of the 1987 Constitution, which provides:
No member of the military shall engage directly or indirectly in any partisan political activity, except to vote. (Emphasis supplied)
The Civil Service laws implement this constitutional ban by stating that civil service officers and employees cannot engage in any partisan political activity except to vote.? Section 55, Chapter 7, Title I, Book V of the Administrative Code of 1987 provides:
Section 55. Political Activity. ? 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 votenor shall he use his official authority or influence to coerce the political activity of any other person or body. xxx. (Emphasis supplied)
Likewise, the Omnibus Election Code penalizes civil service officers and employees who engage in any partisan political activity except to vote. Section 261 (i) of the Omnibus Election Code states:
Section 261. Prohibited Acts. ? The following shall be guilty of an election offense:
(To be continued)
