Public officials should focus on work, not early campaign: DILG

Public officials should focus on their work rather than on early campaigning for the 2019 elections, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG-6) said on Wednesday.

In a media interview, Anthony Nuyda, DILG-6 director, said public officials, particularly those seeking re-election or election for another post, should wait for the campaign period to start next year because it is still too early to campaign.

His statement came after he received reports that there are already campaign materials in different parts of the region and even in the vicinity of barangay halls.

Nuyda explained that DILG has no jurisdiction regarding the issue of early campaigning.

He said that they do not even have a directive from their central office to remove these campaign materials.

“As long as the posting of campaign materials is not illegal, and it does not cause obstruction in an area, DILG cannot force the local government unit to remove them,” Nuyda said.

He then reminded the public officials to focus on their duties and responsibilities particularly on the implementation of the priority programs of the government like the campaign against illegal drugs.

“Do not be too obvious that you are more focusing on politics, you have many things to do,” Nuyda told officials.

In fact, he said, there are about 20 percent of the villages in the entire Western Visayas that do not have functional Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADAC).

Nuyda said that public officials should disregard politics and relentlessly work with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to solve the problem on illegal drugs in their areas.

“We need your cooperation because we wanted to ensure that all our BADACs in the region are functional,” he said.

SOURCE: Iloilo Metropolitan Times

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