TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The reported participation of some employees of the provincial government in alleged vote buying activities and partisan politics in the different parts of the province was formally brought to the attention of the provincial and regional offices of the Civil Service Commission (CSC-CAR) for the agency’s needed action to ensure the conduct of honest, orderly and peaceful elections in the province during the May 13, 2019 mid-term polls.
In a letter to the CSC-CAR copy furnished the CSC Kalinga provincial field office, the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, requested the CSC to look into the alleged spike in the employment of job order employees for provincial road maintenance which is deemed highly irregular compared to the data that can be obtained from the previous years.
The source claimed that the recent actuation of a number of provincial government employees in allegedly openly participating in partisan politics is construed as a blatant violation of established rules and policies crafted by the Commission to ensure the neutrality of civil servants in the conduct of the upcoming elections.
The source attached screen shots of the facebook page of the provincial government showing that some career officials and employees of the provincial government are allegedly in attendance during the different campaign sorties of Gov. Jocel C. Baac who is running for the province’s lone congressional district currently occupied by incumbent Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang who is also serving as the caretaker congressman of Mountain Province.
Based on the letter of the source, some 5 career officials of the provincial government were named to be allegedly involved in partisan politics and were seen in the different municipalities reportedly openly campaigning for the one that appointed them to their current position.
The source also sought the needed indepth investigation on the alleged vote buying activities involving the named provincial officials who had been allegedly distributing money to voters in the amount of P500 and the appointment papers of coordinators which is tantamount to vote buying and partisan politics considering that they are openly supporting the candidacy of a certain politician.
Earlier, Manogaoang urged the CSC regional and provincial offices to investigate the rampant vote buying activities involving a number of provincial officials and employees considering that such actions on their part are already gross violation of civil service rules and regulations wherein they must be meted the appropriate penalties for their involvement in partisan politicians in the province.
Mangaoang claimed that it will be unfair to his supporters who are religiously adhering to the prescribed rules and regulations of the game when there are certain provincial officials and employees that are being allowed to be directly involved in partisan politics and even going to the extent of distributing money as bribe to the voters to elect those who are not supposed to be in public service.
He said he still trusts the voters of the province who will not succumb to the pressure being exerted against them just to vote for officials who are not supposed to be elected into office because of their practice of dirty politics.
By HENT
