jcime Repub fhe Phitpines DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT. DILG-NAPOLCOM Conte, EDSA rrr Quezon Avan, Wet Tilangl,Gutzon Cay te: tw gosh 03 OCT 2013 SILG OPINION NO. 70_ 5, 2018 VM JOSEPHINE T. ABING Vice Mayor Municipality of Compostela Province of Cebu This is in reference to your letter dated 30 August 2018 requesting for legal opinion on whether you can sign an amendment to an approved vacation leave. Foremost, before this Department gives an opinion on this matter, may we discuss first the nature of the working hours of elective officials. We would like to reiterate the discussion in DILG Opinion No. 8 s, 2018 which provides: “Neither the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC) nor any regulation has fixed the office hours of elective officials. The rationale for this is understandable for it violates the very nature of the work of elective officials who are considered on call anytime of the day. Fixing their working hours unnecessarily delimit their services to the prejudice of their constituents and ultimately the public service. In other words, the nature of work of elective officials should noe be confined and limited to attending sessions. Be that as it may, local elective officials are also entitled to leave credits as Provided in section 5 of Civil Service Commission (CSC) Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 14. S. 1999, entitled “ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO CSC MC NO. 41, 8. 1998”, to wit: Sec 5 ~ Leave credits of local elective officials - Local elective officials ARE entitled to leave privileges effective May 12, 1983 Pursuant to Batas Pambansa 337 and Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160). SAID LEAVE CREDITS SHALL BE COMMUTATIVE AND COMULATIVEHowever, if they will be absent during their session for personal reasons, they have to file their respective leaves of absence, following the procedures/guidelines laid down in Section 47(a)(2) of the LGC, vie: ax oor nor (2) Leaves of absence of vice-governor or a city or municipal vice- mayor shall be approved by the local chief executive concerned: Provided, that the leaves of absence of the members of the sanggunian and its employees shall be approved by the vice- governor or city or municipal vice mayor concerned.” In the herein case, it appeared that Sangguniang Bayan Member Tessa Paradiang-Cang is abroad from August to October, 2018. The attached records showed that she filed her leave of absence only on the session days of the Sangguniang Bayan and not for the whole months that she is not in the Municipality to do her duties as SB Member. To reiterate the discussion above, we said that “neither the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC) nor any regulation has fixed the office hours of elective officials. The rationale for this is understandable for it violates the very nature of the work of elective officials who are considered on call anytime of the day. Fixing their working hours unnecessarily delimit their services to the prejudice of their it it jc service. In r words, the nature of work of elective officials should not be confined and limited to attending sessions.” ‘Therefore, the duties of the elective officials, including SB Member Cang, is not limited to attending the session, They are also considered on call anytime of the day. In the herein case, SB Member Cang cannot be considered on call from August to October 2018 because she is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality and this country. She cannot render other tasks expected of her even if they are not in session. In other words, she cannot perform any task for the municipality and their constituents during the entire time that she is abroad. Hence, she should have filed her leave of absence for the whole months that she is not in the country and not merely on session days. ‘Gomes now to your issue on whether you can sign the amendment to the signed vacation leave, this Department is of the view that we should not strictly interpret the law on filing of leave in this case for the purpose of rectifying error. It is noted by this Department that SB Member Cang is currently abroad based on the representation in your letter. We cannot also declare her absent without official leave given the presence of her approved leave of absence. It was shown that SB Member Cang has the intention to comply with the requirements of the law that she should file her leave of absence before travelling abroad, and that SB Member Cang has filed the same, despite the error she seeks to be rectified. She also admitted the saiderror and filed necessary corrections on her leave of absence. Therefore, we find no reason for your Office to deny the said approval. Lastly, in the amendment to the leave of absence of SB Member Cang, please take note of this Department's position on the days when she should have filed her leave of absence. ‘We hope we have addressed your concern accordingly. Very truly yours, BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY: dell ‘C, SACENDONCILLO, CESO III Assistartt Secretary for Local Government Copy furnished: Dir. Leocadio T. Trovela DILG Region VIL Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City us?