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Epal in the context of Philippine politics is a pejorative used for politicians who habitually associate their name and/or likeness in government-funded projects.
"Epal" is a Filipino-language colloquial term for "mapapel", for attention grabbers, scene stealers, or people who crave a role (papel) in affairs that are not necessarily theirs to handle or decide.[1]
What constitute as an epal act could vary. This could include placing the likeness and/or names of politicians and their relatives in:
- Names of infrastructure projects
- Signage
- Financial aid and relief goods[4][5]
- Public documents such as license, permits, and certificates[6]
Politicians could also name projects after their initials or acronym of their names. (e.g. Ginintuang Masagana Ani farming program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo)[7]
It can be used as a means for premature campaigning for upcoming elections.[8] Critics argue that associating politician's names and likenesses to government projects is contrary to the idea that such projects are funded by the taxpaying public.[3][1][9]
Quezon City representative Danilo Suarez has defended the practice as necessary so that local politicians' constituents are informed that their officials are fulfilling their mandate.[10] Education Secretary Armin Luistro in 2013 said he has no problem with politicians plastering their names and signages on public school projects since the same politicians would be held accountable to the Commission on Audit if their implementation were found to be substandard.[11]
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Audit has policies in place against placing names, initials, and images of government personalities on government projects, signage, and properties. The anti-epal policy is laid out in DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2010-101 issued during the tenure of Secretary Jesse Robredo.[12]
There has been multiple attempts to pass a dedicated law against epal practices in the Philippine Congress. Defining what should constitute epal acts has been one of a challenge in passing an anti-epal legislation.[2]
Provision in the 2021 budget act
Senator Grace Poe was able to introduce General Provision No. 82, which has measures against epal, in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2021. The provision prohibits any public official, whether elected or appointed to "affix, or cause to be affixed, their name, visage, appearance, logo, signature or other analogous image, on all programs, activities, projects (PAPs), or corresponding signage" of projects funded under the act.[13][14]
Proposed legislation
- Senate
| Bill No. | Congress | Dated filed | Principal author | House of Representatives counterpart | Scope | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate Bill No. 1668 | 13th | August 4, 2004 | Miriam Defensor-Santiago | House Bill No. 5497 | Anti-Signage of Public Works Act Name and image of public officials (elected and appointed) on signage of public works | [1] |
| Senate Bill No. 1340 | 14th | June 24, 2007 | House Bill No. 2026 | |||
| Senate Bill No. 1967 | 15th | July 22, 2010 | House Bill No. 2309 | |||
| Senate Bill No. 54 | 16th | July 1, 2013 | House Bill No. 4929 | [15] | ||
| Senate Bill No. 776 | 17th | July 21, 2016 | Chiz Escudero | — | Naming of government projects after government officials and other persons associated with said officials except instances identified by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines | [9] |
- House of Representatives
| Bill No. | Congress | Dated filed | Principal author | Constituent | Senate counterpart | Scope | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House Bill No. 5497 | 13th | May 30, 2006 | Teddy Casiño | Bayan Muna | Senate Bill No. 1968 | Naming of public properties and government services after incumbent elected public officials, their kin, spouses and relatives of up to fourth civil degree of consanguinity. Naming includes naming projects after one's moniker and initials. | |
| House Bill No. 2026 | 14th | August 13, 2007 | Senate Bill No. 1340 | [7] | |||
| House Bill No. 2309 | 15th | September 3, 2014 | Senate Bill No. 1967 | ||||
| House Bill No. 4929 | 16th | September 3, 2014 | Terry Ridon | Kabataan | — | Name and identification of government officials on government projects and "other persons whose name or identity may in any manner be associated with said officials" except instances identified by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines | [16] |
| House Bill No. 3952 | 17th | October 11, 2016 | Robert Ace Barbers | Surigao del Norte 2nd district | — | Affixing or causing to be affixed the name, initials, logo or image of any public official to signage announcing a proposed, ongoing, or completed public works; And crediting an individual officer by placing his or her name or photo on any public service project or vehicle | [17] |
| House Bill No. 71 | 18th | July 1, 2019 | — | [18] |
Various civic groups such as the Samahan ng mga Mamamayan Laban sa Trapo (SMLT), People's Support for Clean Elections, and Tama na Epal Movement has opposed epal practices and advocated for the passing of legislation related to this.[19]
The Transparency and Accountability Network launched a campaign against epal in a lead up to the 2013 elections by setting up the "Anti-Epal" page in Facebook and encouraged users of the social platforms to share photos of instances of epal to encourage politicians to voluntarily cease from epal practices.[20][21]
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