This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla signed a six-page legal opinion saying that the DSWD accepting donations from individuals and businesses in the tobacco industry would not violate Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2010-01 of the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Health, particularly Section 3.3.
This section of the law reads: “Public officials and employees shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.”
The JMC also imposes a penalty on the erring individual public official or employee, not the agency or department itself. A year later, the DSWD issued AO No. 11, expanding the prohibition against receiving gifts from any individual or business linked to the tobacco industry.