OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, G.R.
No. 170021
Petitioner,
Present:
Panganiban, C.J.
(Chairperson),
- versus - Ynares-Santiago,
Austria-Martinez,
Callejo, Sr., and
Chico-Nazario, JJ.
NITA P. BUENAOBRA,
Respondent. Promulgated:
September
8, 2006
x
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x
YNARES-SANTIAGO,
J.:
This petition for review under Rule
45 of the Rules of Court assails the Decision[1] of
the Court of Appeals dated
The following facts are undisputed:
The Office of the Ombudsman’s Special
Prosecution Officer filed an information against respondent Nita P. Buenaobra,
Chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Pilipino (KWP), with the Sandiganbayan for
violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 3019 for allegedly causing
undue injury to the government through gross inexcusable negligence in
connection with the unauthorized reprinting of the Diksyunaryo ng Wikang
Pilipino. The case was docketed as
Criminal Case No. 26918 (“the Sandiganbayan case”).[5]
Upon respondent’s motion, the
Sandiganbayan ordered a reinvestigation. Thereafter, then Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo
approved the recommendation for the reversal of the probable cause finding and
the withdrawal of the information filed against respondent. Thus, a motion to withdraw the information[6]
was filed which the Sandiganbayan granted in its Resolution dated
While
reinvestigation of the Sandiganbayan case was on-going, the Presidential
Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) conducted a parallel administrative investigation
(“the PAGC case”) against respondent charging her with the same acts and omissions
subject of the Sandiganbayan case. Respondent
was charged with causing undue injury to the government and giving unwarranted
benefits to Merylvin Publishing House, Inc., through gross inexcusable
negligence in not taking legal action to collect the 15% royalty fee of
P3,366,250.00 approved by the KWF Board to be levied against the publisher for
its unauthorized reprinting and selling of the dictionary.[8]
Instead
of filing her counter-affidavit/verified answer, respondent moved to dismiss
the administrative case on grounds of litis
pendentia and forum shopping in view of the pending Sandiganbayan
case. The PAGC denied respondent’s
motion to dismiss and recommended respondent’s dismissal from the service,
forfeiture of financial benefits, and disqualification from joining the
government.
On
Respondent
moved for reconsideration[10] but
was denied. Hence, she filed a petition
for review with the Court of Appeals, docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 78279.[11]
The Court of Appeals granted
respondent’s petition in its assailed Decision dated May 27, 2005 holding that
the proceedings before the PAGC were procedurally and substantially flawed
because after denying respondent’s motion to dismiss, the PAGC did not give
respondent the opportunity to present evidence.
Instead, it proceeded to rule on the merits of the case. The Court of Appeals also found no evidence
to prove respondent’s administrative liability in not collecting the 15%
royalty fee. The dispositive portion of
the Decision reads:
WHEREFORE,
premises considered, the petition is GRANTED.
The assailed Resolutions dated April [11], 2003 and
SO
ORDERED.[12]
Petitioner’s
motion for reconsideration was denied, hence, the instant petition.
Petitioner argues that respondent was
a presidential appointee and a holder of a non-career service position, hence, she
could be removed from the service at the pleasure of the President.
The petition lacks merit.
Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7104[13]
creating the Commission on the Filipino Language provides for 11 commissioners
to be headed by a chairman and all appointed by the President.[14] The chairman and two commissioners shall
serve full-time for a term of seven years.
Under Section 4, Article IV, of
Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 807, or the Civil Service Decree, positions in
the civil service are classified into career service and non-career
service. Section 6 of same article describes
a non-career service employee or officer as follows:
Sec. 6. The Non-Career Service shall be characterized by (1) entrance on bases other than those of the usual tests of merit and fitness utilized for the career service; and (2) tenure which is limited to a period specified by law, or which is coterminous with that of the appointing authority or subject to his pleasure, or which is limited to the duration of a particular project for which purpose employment was made.
The Non-Career Service shall include:
x x x x
3. Chairman and members of commissions and
boards with fixed terms of office and their personal or confidential staff; (Emphasis added)
x x x x
Based
on the foregoing, respondent who is the Chairman of the KWP is a non-career
service personnel whose tenure is limited to seven years as provided under R.A.
No. 7104. Since her tenure is fixed by
law, her removal from office is not at the pleasure of the appointing
authority.
We
have consistently ruled that non-career service personnel enjoy security of
tenure. They may not be removed without
just cause and non-observance of due process.
Thus, in Jocom v. Regalado,[15]
we held:
Regardless
of the classification of the position held by a government employee covered by
civil service rules, be it a career or non-career position, such employee may
not be removed without just cause. An employee who belongs to the non-career
service is protected from removal or suspension without just cause and
non-observance of due process.
x x
x x
The
constitutional and statutory guarantee of security of tenure is extended to
both those in the career and non-career service positions, and the cause under
which an employee may be removed or suspended must naturally have some relation
to the character or fitness of the officer or employee, for the discharge of
the functions of his office, or expiration of the project for which the
employment was extended. (Emphasis supplied)
Moreover, there is no showing that
respondent’s failure to file suit to collect the royalty fee prejudiced the
government. In its assailed Resolution
dated
More important, Sec. 2, Rule VIII,
Part IV of the PAGC rules requires that its report and recommendation to the
President “shall state, among others, the factual findings and legal
conclusions, as well as the penalty recommended to be imposed or such other
action that may be taken.” PAGC concluded
that respondent violated R.A. No. 3019, without any factual findings at
all.
We agree with the findings of the
Court of Appeals that respondent did not give any unwarranted benefits to
Merylvin, to wit:
The
act of “not taking legal action to
collect” is not defined by any criminal statute as an offense by omission per se.
If it were so, a sizeable number of public officials would be out of the
government service by mere omission to take such action. But could the same act be the basis for
administrative action against an erring public official? Logically since such an omission is not a
criminal offense per se, it could be the basis of an
administrative action only if there is a positive duty to take legal action
clearly imposed upon the petitioner.
In
the instant case, insofar as the criminal aspect of the case is concerned, the
office of the Ombudsman already ruled that the accused x x x “cannot be faulted if she instituted no
action to collect royalty fee from the publishing house. In fact, if she instituted such action, the
same would be unauthorized and without legal basis as there was no contract
between the KWF and the publisher.” It is for this reason that the Motion to
Withdraw Information in Criminal Case No. 26918 entitled People vs. Nita P.
Buenaobra was granted by the Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan.
This
lack of positive duty to take legal action on the part of the petitioner is
bolstered by the fact that KWF Board Resolution No. 2002-2 specifically disauthorized her to enter into a
contract with Merylvin Publishing House, thus, Buenaobra’s inaction to collect
the 15% royalty fee from said publisher was only in accord with the KWF Board
of Commissioners’ decision. KWF is a
collegial body and as such it acts only in accordance with the Board’s
directives. In fact, much earlier, the
offer to pay fifteen percent (15%) royalty fee was referred by the KWF Board to
the State Auditor for his comment and recommendations under Resolution No.
2000-1 passed and approved on
Petitioner Buenaobra was dismissed from the service as a result of an illogical conclusion of an unreasonable mind. Buenaobra was charged for her omission to collect from Merylvin Publishing House but the KWF Board of Commissioners, of which the private complainant is a member, disauthorized Buenaobra from entering into a contract with Merylvin Publishing House (which offered the 15% royalty fee), which would have been the basis for collection. Clearly then, as pointed out by the Office of the Ombudsman, without such contract, there was no basis for collection. If We have to pinpoint responsibility for non-collection, it is not because of the inaction of Buenaobra but because of the KWF Board Resolution No. 2000-2 disauthorizing Buenaobra from entering into a contract with Merylvin Publishing House. The sad thing is that one of the signatories of said resolution is the private complainant KWF Commissioner Fe Aldave-Yap, who is herself the cause of the non-collection. The filing of this complaint resulting in the resolution of the administrative body dismissing petitioner Buenaobra from government service is a sad commentary of the mentality of public functionaries who file cases and those who cursorily give them due course even though the factual bases clearly show a comedy of errors. It escapes logic and clear thinking why this complaint against petitioner was filed and entertained in the first place. x x x.
x x
x x
Buenaobra
did not give any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to the publisher
nor had she acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross
inexcusable negligence. Such being the
case, it necessarily follows that the charge/complaint against petitioner must
be dismissed.[18]
(Italics and emphasis in the original)
WHEREFORE, based
on the foregoing, the petition is DENIED. The Decision of the Court of Appeals dated
May 27, 2005 in CA-G.R. SP No. 78279, which reversed and set aside the Resolutions
dated April 11, 2003 and June 26, 2003 of the Office of the President
dismissing respondent Nita P. Buenaobra from the service, and its Resolution
dated October 3, 2005 denying petitioner’s Motion for Reconsideration, are AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGO
Associate Justice
WE
CONCUR:
ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN
Chief Justice
Chairperson
MA. ALICIA AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ
ROMEO J. CALLEJO, SR.
Associate Justice Associate Justice
MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIO
Associate Justice
CERTIFICATION
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII
of the Constitution, it is hereby certified that the conclusions in the above
Decision were reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer
of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
ARTEMIO
V. PANGANIBAN
Chief Justice
[1] Rollo, pp. 39-74. Penned by Associate
Justice Regalado E. Maambong and concurred in by Associate Justices Martin S.
Villarama, Jr. and Lucenito N. Tagle.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5] CA
rollo, p. 650.
[6]
[7]
[8] Id. at 288.
[9] Id. at
21-24.
[10]
[11]
[12] Rollo, p. 73.
[13]
Commission on the Filipino Language Act.
[14]
Secs. 5 and 6, id.
[15]
G.R. No. 77373,
[16]
CA rollo, p. 338.
[17]
Adopted under PAGC Resolution No. 05, S. 2002, approved on
[18] Rollo, pp. 143-147.