Stressing that public funds are for public service and not for personal publicity, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is encouraging the citizenry to report violations of the agency’s ‘Anti-Epal’ policy that prohibits public officials from attaching their names or images to government services or projects.
The policy is based on Senate Bill 1535, which specifically forbids incumbent government officials to name projects or programs after them or other persons or organizations whose name or identity may in any manner be associated with said officials from claiming credit through signages,markers, tarpaulins and similar publicly funded materials.
The prohibited act has been termed as ‘epal’, a Filipino-language colloquial term for ‘mapapel’ that refers to attention grabbers, scene stealers or people who crave a role (papel) in affairs that are not necessarily theirs to handle or decide.
Reiterating President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s call to keep government programs free from personality branding, public officials who display their identifiers on government-funded projects will now face a nationwide crackdown, following stricter enforcement of the DILG’s Anti-Epal policy under Memorandum Circular No. 2026-006.
According to Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor ‘Jonvic’ Remulla Jr., the circular applies to all provincial, city, municipal and barangay governments, including the DILG central, regional and field offices.
In a statement, Remulla pointed out that government projects should not be used for personal promotion or political credit, citing that “government programs are not personal billboards (because) these are funded by taxpayers and must reflect public service, not political credit grabbing.”
Based on the 1987 Constitution as well as the rules of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and Commission on Audit, personalized displays on public projects have been classified as unnecessary and improper expenditures.
This was further reinforced by the current year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA), which explicitly barred attaching officials’ names or images to government-funded projects.