AN INFLUENTIAL member of the Citizens Watch for Good Governance (CWGG) said the councilors' practice of employing family members as staff may not be nepotism but may be a possible violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Lawyer Antonio Soriano, CWGG convenor, said Councilor Lordan Suan cannot be charged with nepotism since he is not the appointing authority of the City Council of Cagayan de Oro.
If anyone would be accused of nepotism, Soriano said it is Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin "Kikang" Uy who is the appointing officer of the legislative department.
But Soriano said in this case, even if Uy approves Suan's recommendation to employ the latter's relatives to work in the city government, Uy wouldn't still be charged with nepotism, since the persons he hired are not his own relatives, but Suan's.
"In the case of Vice Mayor Kikang and Councilor Lordan, there is an appointing authority there, now if vice mayor Kikang hires the relatives of Councilor Suan, it is not nepotism because these persons are not his relatives. But if Vice Kikang, as the appointing authority, hires his own brother, for example, to work in the city council, it is possible that he committed nepotism)," Soriano said.
"In the case of Councilor Suan, dili na mahulog sa nepotism (it won't fall under nepotism), mahulog siguro na sa Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act kay under man sila sa the same office maybe it would fall under the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act because they they work under the same office), murag nagtake advantage ang konsehal sa iyang authority sa pag-convince sa iyang appointing authority na mahire ilang relatives (it appears that they are taking advantage of their positions as councilors to convince the appointing authority, which is the vice mayor, to hire the councilors relatives)," Soriano added.
Soriano explained that the nature of job order employees are the same with the contractual workers in the private sector because their positions are limited and temporary.
Suan also earlier said that his job order employees, which included his parents, among others, are performing confidential functions, making his proposal legal.
It started when a staff of Suan filed a complaint against Uy before the Department of Interior and Local Government for not reappointing them in the position.
But Uy got mad and instead went public with Suan's list of job order employees and hit back at Suan for allegedly committing nepotism.
Under the Administrative Code of 1987, persons employed in a confidential capacity, teachers, physicians, and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are exempted from the nepotism rules.
But Soriano said the confidential capacity exemption only covers those who are working in the constitutional body.
Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in its website notes that both elective and appointive officials are prohibited from indulging in nepotism.
Under Book V, Title I(A), Chapter 8, Section 59 of Executive Order No. 292, also known as the Administrative Code of 1987, nepotic appointments are prohibited, or those made in favor of a relative of the appointing or recommending authority, or of the chief of bureau or office, or of the persons exercising immediate supervision over the appointee.
The word “relative” under the said Code refers to those related within the third degree of consanguinity (relationship by blood) or affinity (relationship by marriage) such as spouse (1st degree), children (1st degree), sibling (2nd degree), nephew and niece (3rd degree), and uncle and aunt (3rd degree).
Also, under, Section 79 of the Local Government Code of 1991, the prohibition extends to the appointing or recommending authority’s relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, such as first cousin or first cousin-in-law (4th degree).
The CSC said that nepotism is a form of corruption or abuse of authority that violates Article IX(B), Section 2(2) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which states, “Appointments in the civil service shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as practicable, and, except to positions which are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical, by competitive examination.”
