GATO, Vicente S.

Re: Query; Hiring of Non-winning

Election Candidates on Job Order Basis
x---------------------------------------------------------------x

RESOLUTION NO. 02-0012

Honorable Vicente S. Gato, Province of Batanes, requests clarification on the issue of whether a non-winning
candidate in an election may be subsequently hired on job order bases.

The request of Governor Gato reads, as follows:

This is to seek the legal opinion of the Civil Service Commission if the Provincial
Government of Batanes is allowed to hire, on job Order basis, the services of candidates who lost in
the recent elections.

“It is embodied in the Compendium on Local Autonomy and Local Government that the
prohibition on the hiring of losing candidates does not cover casual or consultancy employment per
DILG Opinion No. 69-1993, however, this query is being forwarded to obtain you opinion/advise in
aid of policy decision-making in view of the fact that the above-cited DILG opinion can not be
considered for audit.”

Pertinent to the instant query is Section 4, Rule XIII, Omnibus Rules on Appointment and Other
personnel Actions (CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40, s. 1998, as amended) which provides, as follows:

“Section 4. A person who lost in an election (except Barangay election) shall not be
PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 eligible for appointment or reemployment to any office in the government or any government-
owned or controlled corporation within one year following such election.”

This same prohibition is clearly spelled out in the 1987 Constitution, as well as in the Local Government
Code of 1991, as follows:

“SEC. 6. No candidate who has lost in any election shall, within one year after such
election, be appointed to any office in the Government or any government-owned or controlled
corporation or in any of its subsidiaries.” (Section 6, Article IX-B, 1987 Constitution)

“Section 94. Appointment of Elective and Appointive Local Officials; Candidates Who Lost
in an Election.

xxx

‘(b) Except for losing candidates in barangay elections no candidate who lost
in any election shall, within one (1) year after such election, be appointed to any office
in the Government or any government-owned or controlled corporations or in a any of
their subsidiaries.” (Section 94. Local Government Code of 1991)

It is clear from the foregoing that a non-winning candidate in an election, except barangay elections, is
precluded from being appointed or re-employed in the government or in any government-owned or controlled
corporation for a period of one (1) year from the date of the recently-concluded election.
1
The rationale behind this
prohibition is the extirpation of the “spoils system,” considering that the foregoing provisions are directed against the
so-called “political lameducks”.
2
The issue now to be resolved is whether job order services in the government may be considered as included
within the purview of an appointive office, as to come within the one-year prohibition under CSC Memorandum
Circular No. 40, s. 1998.

PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 In an intimately related case (MELENDEZ, Amador O., CSC Resolution No. 01-1606 dated October 4,
2001), the Commission has occasion to rule on the issue of whether a non-winning candidate in an election may be
appointed to a consultant position within one-year from the date of such recently-concluded election. In said
Resolution, the Commission ratiocinated that the purpose of the prohibition is not defeated when a non-winning
election candidate is hired as consultant considering that the services of a consultant are not directly delivered to the
people who rejected him-her but more to the person who hires him/her. The pertinent portions of said Resolution
read, as follows:

“After a careful evaluation of the records, the Commission funds the hiring as consultant of a
non-winning candidate in an election beyond the purview of the one-year prohibition provided under
CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40, s. 1998 . . .

xxx
________________________________
1 BERNAS, Joaquin G., SJ., The 1987 Philippine Constitution, A Reviewer-Primer, 1997 Ed., p. 354.
2 DE LEON and DE LEON, The Law on Public Officers and Election, 1994 Ed., p. 45

“It logically follows that consultants do not hold a public appointive office within the
contemplation of Civil Service Law and Rules.

“Further, since the services of a consultant are not directly delivered to the people who
rejected him/her in an election but more to the person who hires him/her, it is the stand of the
Commission that the rationale behind the prohibition will not be defeated by hiring said defeated
candidates as consultants.”

PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 The foregoing ruling may similarly be applied to non-winning candidates hired on job-order basis, considering
that the reason behind the prohibition will not be defeated through such mode of hiring. In like manner as services of
consultants, services rendered on job-order basis are not delivered directly to the people who rejected such
defeated candidate but more to the specific agency/unit in need of the particular services offered by such defeated
candidate.

More importantly, under CSC Memorandum Circular No. 38, s. 1993 (now reproduced under Rule XI,
Omnibus Rules on Appointment and Other Personnel Actions/CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40, s.
1998), services rendered under contracts of services and job orders are not considered government services; and
contracts do not have to be submitted to the CSC for approval; the employees involved in the contract or job orders
do not enjoy the benefits enjoyed by government employees such as PERA, COLA and RATA; no employer-
employee relationship exists; and they are not covered by civil service law. 3

From all the foregoing, it logically follows that those employed on job order basis do not hold a public
appointive office within the contemplation of Civil Service law and rules.

Accordingly, candidates who ran and lost in the recently-concluded May 14, 2001 elections, may be hired on
job order basis in the provincial government of Batanes; and the same does not violate the rule prohibiting
appointments of losing candidates in an election within one-year from the date of such election.

PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 ___________________________
3 CSC Resolution No. 98-2895 dated November 10, 1998.

WHEREFORE, the Commission hereby rules that the hiring on job order basis of non-winning candidates in
an election may be allowed, considering that job order contract is not an appointment within the contemplation of
Civil Service Law and rules.

Quezon City, January 3, 2002

(Signed)
KARINA CONSTANTINO-DAVID
Chairman

(Signed) (Signed)
JOSE F. ERESTAIN, JR. J. WALDEMAR V. VALMORES
Commissioner Commissioner

Attested by:

(Signed)
ARIEL G. RONQUILO
Director III, CPS

PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com