MANILA (PNA) — Officials covered by President Benigno Aquino III's Executive Order 2 on sacking midnight appointees still have a chance to continue serving in government.

Communications group Secretary Herminio Coloma raised this possibility, saying the government will review qualifications of officials concerned to determine who among them can be rehired.

"There's the possibility they can be reconsidered for government service," he said.

He clarified President Aquino issued EO 2 to rid the government of midnight appointees so that the process of hiring public officials can be set straight.

Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's appointment of the officials became controversial as critics consider such move a violation of the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.

Article VII, Section 15 of the Constitution provides that "two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety."

For the 2010 presidential elections, the two-month period cited in this provision commenced on March 10.

Mrs. Arroyo's camp maintains appointments she made during her final months in Malacanang are aligned with this provision.

"As former head of Presidential Management Staff, I can attest that the appointments were before March 10 when the banned period commenced," Mrs. Arroyo's spokesperson Ma. Elena Bautista-Horn said.

Horn said the Arroyo appointees can question EO 2 before the Supreme Court since their appointments are aligned with provisions of the Constitution.

"They have the legal basis to stay on," Horn said.

The Arroyo camp is also questioning why Malacanang made as a midnight appointment parameter an appointee's acceptance of the presidential offer to work in government.

"There's no constitutional provision on acceptance of an appointment," Horn said.

By making acceptance a parameter, she said the administration merely expanded coverage of Article VII, Section 15.

Such act is questionable, she noted.

"The executive branch can't interpret the Constitution," she said.

Malacañang believes EO 2 provides an objective definition for midnight appointments.

Aside from the appointment date itself, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said acceptance and assumption to the post are also parameters.

"The previous administration merely made a literal interpretation of the constitutional provision on midnight appointments," he said.

Malacañang earlier noted several Arroyo appointees were unable to accept their appointments and take their oath of office before March 10 this year.