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ORDINANCE NO. 2025-096

AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE ACT OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN AFFIXING OR INSTALLING THEIR NAMES, LOGOS, IMAGES, AND/OR PERSONAL BRANDING ON PUBLICLY FUNDED PROJECTS, PROGRAMS, SIGNAGES, AND GOVERNMENT-ISSUED DOCUMENTS IN NAGA CITY

Authors: City Councilor Hon. Allan Reiz C. Macariñg
City Youth Councilor Yuan Angelo P. Pacao

Co-Author: City Councilor Hon. Ghiel G. Rosales

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Public office is not for sale.

Misleading advertisements of public servants make patronage politics a staple of democracy. Epal breeds bad governance – it is its face card.

DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2010-101, issued on September 23, 2010 by then Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, states: – “[t]he practice of putting up billboards or signages bearing the names, initials, and images of government officials on government programs and projects has been noticeably abused and misused by some public officials for their personal interests and has taken the credit away from the taxpayers who are the ones paying for such programs or projects through their tax payment.”

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Ordinance shall be known as the “Anti-Epal Ordinance.”

SECTION 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY. Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people; serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice; and lead modest lives, upholding public interest over personal interest (Sec. 2, Republic Act No. 6713).

All resources of the government shall be managed, expended, or utilized in accordance with law and regulations, and safeguarded against loss or wastage through illegal or improper disposition, with a view to ensuring efficiency, economy, and effectiveness in government operations (COA Circular 2013-004).

SECTION 3. DEFINITION OF TERMS. For purposes of this Ordinance:

1. Government Officials refer to all incumbent elected or appointed public officials or employees of the government, including those in the government service and other instrumentalities.
2. Government Project / Public Works include, but are not limited to, streets, bridges, sidewalks, walkways, public buildings, public parks, sewage facilities, basketball courts, waiting sheds, lamp posts, and other infrastructure, engineering works, and related activities such as site acquisition, supply and/or installation of equipment and materials, construction, completion, operation, maintenance, improvement, repair, and rehabilitation funded wholly or partly through public funds.
3. Government Program refers to all past, current, and future government programs that offer any basic or social services utilizing government funding and resources.
4. Signage means any form of written announcement installed, posted, hung, painted, or otherwise displayed in a public place.
5. Government-Issued Documents refer to official papers or digital records formally created, authorized, or released by the government to serve a legal, administrative, regulatory, or informational purpose. These include, but are not limited to, permits, certifications, IDs, and clearances.
6. Personal Branding refers to any image, logo, or graphic representation of an incumbent local government official that is not associated with any official government function, program, office, activity, service, protocol, mandate, or action, and serves no purpose other than personal identity.

SECTION 4. PROHIBITED ACTS. The following acts are deemed violations of this Ordinance:

1. Naming publicly funded projects and programs after living government officials or using their initials.
2. Affixing the name, alias, image, or personal branding of a government official to any signage for public works or projects, whether proposed, ongoing, or completed.
3. Installing signage for the maintenance, rehabilitation, or construction of public works that credits any government official by name, initials, image, or personal branding.
4. Affixing the name, alias, image, or personal branding of a government official to any public or official signage intended for public safety.
5. Using marks, stickers, or materials containing the name, logo, initials, image, or personal branding of a government official on barangay- or city-owned or borrowed properties.
6. Posting tarpaulins or banners with the name, logo, initials, image, or personal branding of a government official in connection with government programs or publicly funded events such as barangay fiestas, Peñafrancia Festival, Naga City Charter Day, and other holidays.
7. Affixing the name, alias, image, or personal branding of a government official to any government-issued document, except when the name or alias is allowable as a signatory, is inevitable in the statement of facts or referral, or appears in the list of those furnished copies.
8. Painting public buildings and places with the personal branding colors of a government official.
9. Posting on social media about programs, projects, and activities implemented through public funds in a manner that misleads the public into believing that such initiatives were personally funded by the official concerned.

SECTION 5. ALLOWABLE ACTS. The following shall not be construed as a violation of this Ordinances:

1. Branding for purposes of tourism, culture and arts, public information, or any graphic representation in furtherance of a public event, program, or activity that does not include the name, initials, image, or personal branding of a government official.
2. Public slogans, whether text or graphic-based, covered by an Executive Order issued by the Office of the City Mayor, provided they do not violate the prohibition against personal branding.
3. Campaign materials during the election period.
4. Other similar practices mandated or allowed by ordinance or law.

SECTION 6. APPLICABILITY. The prohibitions in this Ordinance apply to all government officials, properties, programs, and projects of the government, including those implemented by any local government official within the territorial jurisdiction of Naga City, regardless of ownership or source of funding.

SECTION 7. ENFORCEMENT. The City Engineering Office shall strictly implement and lead the enforcement of this Ordinance and is authorized to remove any material found in violation hereof, without prejudice to any case that may be filed against the violators.

SECTION 8. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION. Any incumbent official found violating any provision of this Ordinance shall pay the penalty of P5,000.00 or suffer imprisonment of not less than 30 days but not more than 1 year or both. The cost of removing the material found in violation of this Ordinance shall be at the expense of the violator.

SECTION 9. REPEALING CLAUSE. All ordinances or issuances of the City, or parts thereof, inconsistent with this Ordinance are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 10. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. If any provision of this Ordinance is declared invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the remaining provisions hereof, which shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 11. EFFECTIVITY. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon approval in accordance with law.

ENACTED: November 18, 2025

WE HEREBY CERTIFY to the correctness of the foregoing ordinance.

GIL A. DE LA TORRE
Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlungsod

GABRIEL H. BORDADO JR.
City Vice Mayor & Presiding Officer

APPROVED:

MARIA LEONOR G. ROBREDO
City Mayor