|
PATRICIO
E. SALES, ROGER R. SARIMOS, AL B. BUSICO, MARIMEL S. SAGARIO, CAMILA B.
BAGCOR, JONAS C. SALON, LILIBETH O. OBERES, NOEL E. MAWILI, MARIO C. PAUSAL,
JAMES D. TUGAHAN, MARIBETH C. DANGCALAN, CAMILO P. RECAMARA, ANDRO H. AGDA,
GERALDINE S. CARIN, MYRNA G. SAGARIO, OSCAR E. MONCOPA, LOURDIRICO E.
GUDMALIN, EUFEMIO A. MONTEDERAMOS,
JR., CORNELIO E. JUMAWAN, JR., ELBA R. CASALANG, MERLA E. CAIDIC, RESTY C.
SOCOBOS, JOSE DARRY O. SAGARION, MARIA LUZ S. SIENES, BOB C. HAYAG, RONIE L.
LABISIG, FRANNIE M. ANTIVO, RONILO B. RUIZ, ANASTACIA A. PAILAGA, LERNIE S.
FREJOLES, ROMILO D. BAJAS, ISIDRA T. GALLEPOSO, LEAH S. AUSTER, JOIEVELYNN E.
HERRERA, JOELYALLUZ C. DOSIDOS, GLADYS M. ADAZA, NICARATA A. GALLEPOSO, MARIA
LIEZEL S. CUARESMA, ARLO B. CAGATAN, JOSEPHINE S. CABILIN, LEA C. ALAG, PILAR
A. JAMOLOD, and BENJAMIN M. SUMALPONG, Petitioners, - versus - HON.
RODOLFO H. CARREON, JR., and THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF DAPITAN CITY, represented by its Mayor,
Hon. RODOLFO H. CARREON, JR., Respondents. |
G.R. No. 160791
Present:
Puno, C.J.,
QUISUMBING, Ynares-Santiago,
Sandoval-Gutierrez, CARPIO, AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ, * CARPIO MORALES, CALLEJO, SR., AZCUNA, TINGA, CHICO-nazario, garcia, VELASCO,
JR., and *NACHURA, JJ. Promulgated: |
x-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
|
|
|
|
|
D E C I S I O N
|
|
|
|
|
SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ,
J.:
|
|
For
our resolution is the instant Petition for Review on Certiorari assailing the
Decision[1] of
the Court of Appeals dated
During
the May 2001 elections, then Mayor Joseph Cedrick O. Ruiz of
On
June 1, 18 and 27, 2001, his last month in office, then Dapitan City Mayor Ruiz
issued 83 appointments, including those of herein petitioners.
On
On
On
On
July 16 and
On
WHEREFORE,
all premises considered:
1. The eighty-three (83) appointments issued by then Mayor Joseph Cedrick O. Ruiz, including those issued by the herein requesting parties, are, therefore not considered “mass appointments,” as defined under CSC Resolution No. 01-0988 and are thus, VALID and EFFECTIVE.
2. Memorandum Orders Nos. 1 and 2, Series of 2001, issued by Mayor Rodolfo H. Carreon, Jr., are hereby declared NULL and VOID, and accordingly,
3. The LGU-Dapitan is hereby directed to pay the salaries and other emoluments to which the 83 appointments are entitled to pursuant to the appointments issued to them.
On
appeal by respondent, the CSC En Banc, on
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Omnibus Order dated August 17, 2001of the Civil Service Commission Regional Office No. IX is
REVERSED and
SET ASIDE. The Commission hereby rules, as follows:
1. The approval of all 83 appointments issued by then Mayor J. Cedrick O. Ruiz is revoked for being violative of Republic Act No. 7041, CSC Memorandum Circular No. 18 s. 1988, as amended, CSC Resolution No. 963332 on its accreditation and CSC Resolution No. 01-0988.
2. All promoted employees are reverted to their previous position; and
3. Memorandum Order No. 1 and Memorandum Order No. 2 issued by incumbent Mayor Rodolfo H. Carreon, Jr. are hereby declared null and void.
The
CSC En Banc held that the positions in question were published and
declared vacant prior to the existence of any vacancy.
Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration
but it was denied in Resolution No. 030049 dated
On
Petitioners
filed a motion for reconsideration, but this was denied by the Court of Appeals
in its Resolution dated
Hence,
the instant petition.
This
case is a typical example of the practice of outgoing local chief executives to
issue “
It
is State policy that “opportunities for government employment shall be open to
all qualified citizens” and “employees shall be selected on the basis of
fitness to perform the duties and assume the responsibilities of the
positions.”[6] It was precisely in order to ensure
transparency and equal opportunity in the recruitment and hiring of government
personnel, that Republic Act No. 7041 was enacted. Section 2 provides:
SEC. 2. Duty of Personnel Officers. – It shall be the duty of all Chief Personnel or Administrative Officers of all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters, and local government units, to post in three (3) conspicuous places of their offices for a period ten (10) days a complete list of all existing vacant positions in their respective offices which are authorized to be filled, and to transmit a copy of such list and the corresponding qualification standards to the Civil Service Commission not later than the tenth day of every month. Vacant positions shall not be filled until after publication: Provided, however, that vacant and unfilled positions that are:
a)
primarily confidential;
b)
policy-determining;
c)
highly technical;
d)
co-terminous with that of the
appointing authority; or
e) limited
to the duration of a particular project,
shall be excluded from the list required by law.
SEC. 3. Publication
of Vacancies. – The Chairman and members of the Civil Service Commission
shall publish once every quarter a complete list of all the existing vacant
positions in the Government throughout the country, including the qualification
standards required for each position and, thereafter, certify under oath to the
completion of publication. Copies of such publication shall be sold at cost to
the public and distributed free of charge to the various personnel office of
the government where they shall be available for inspection by the public: Provided,
That said publication shall be posted by the Chief Personnel or Administrative
Officer of all local government units in at least three (3) public and
conspicuous places in their respective municipalities and provinces: Provided,
further, That any vacant position published therein shall be open to any
qualified person who does not necessarily belong to the same office with the
vacancy or who occupies a position next-in-rank to the vacancy: Provided,
finally, That the Civil Service Commission shall not act on any
appointment to fill up a vacant position unless the same has been reported to
and published by the Commission.
The
foregoing provisions are clear and need no interpretation. The CSC is required to publish the lists of
vacant positions and such publication shall be posted by the chief personnel or
administrative officer of all local government units in the designated places. The vacant positions may only be filled by the
appointing authority after they have been reported to the CSC as vacant and
only after publication.
Here,
the publication of vacancies was made even before the positions involved actually
became vacant. Clearly, respondent’s action violated Section 2 of R.A. No. 7041
cited earlier.
Moreover,
the CSC found that there was no first-level representative appointed to the
Personnel Selection Board, which deliberated on the appointments to first-level
positions.
CSC
Memorandum Circular No. 18, series of 1988, as amended, provides that the Personnel
Selection Board shall be composed of the following:
a. Official of department/agency directly responsible for personnel management;
b. Representative of management;
c. Representative of organizational unit which may be an office, department, or division where the vacancy is;
d. Representative of rank-and-file employees, one (1) for the first-level and one (1) for the second-level, who shall both be chosen by duly registered/accredited employees’ association in the department or agency. The former shall sit during the screening of candidates for vacancy in the first-level, while the latter shall participate in the screening of candidates for vacancy in the second level. In case where there is no employees’ association in the department or agency, the representative shall be chosen at large by the employees through a general election to be called for the purpose.
Petitioners
admitted that after the retirement on
Petitioners’ contention lacks merit.
Section 20, Rule VI of the Omnibus
Rules Implementing Book V-A of the Administrative Code of 1987 (also known as
the Civil Service Law), provides:
SEC. 20. Notwithstanding the initial approval of an appointment, the same may be recalled on any of the following grounds:
a) non-compliance with the procedures/criteria provided in the agency’s Merit Promotion Plan;
b) failure to pass through the agency’s Selection/Promotion Board;
c) violation of the existing collective bargaining agreement between management and employees relative to promotion; or
d) violation
of other existing civil service laws, rules and regulations.
Verily,
in deliberating and recommending to former Mayor Ruiz the appointments of
herein petitioners to the vacant positions sans the required
representation, the Board violated the above CSC Rules. Hence, the appointments he issued are not
valid. They may be recalled. In Mathay,
Jr. v. Civil Service Commission,[7]
this Court upheld the authority of the CSC to take appropriate action on all
appointments, including its authority to recall appointments made in
disregard of the applicable provisions of Civil Service Law and regulations.
In
sum, for being in violation of Section 2, R.A. No. 7041, CSC Memorandum
Circular No. 18, as amended, and Section 20, Rule VI of the Omnibus Rules
Implementing Book V-A of the Administrative Code of 1987, the appointments of
the above-named petitioners are declared void.
WHEREFORE,
the Court DENIES the petition and AFFIRMS the assailed Decision
of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 755151.
SO
ORDERED.
ANGELINA
SANDOVAL GUTIERREZ
Associate
Justice
WE
CONCUR:
REYNATO S. PUNO
Chief Justice
|
|
|
LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING Associate Justice ANTONIO T. CARPIO Associate Justice RENATO C. CORONA Associate Justice ROMEO J. CALLEJO, SR. Associate Justice MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIO Associate Justice CANCIO C. GARCIA Associate Justice |
CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGO Associate Justice MA. ALICIA AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ Associate Justice CONCHITA CARPIO MORALES Associate Justice ADOLFO S. AZCUNA Associate Justice DANTE O. TINGA Associate Justice PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR. Associate Justice |
(On leave)
ANTONIO EDUARDO B. NACHURA
Associate Justice
REYNATO
S. PUNO
Chief Justice
* On leave.
[1] Rollo, pp. 37-42. Per Associate Justice Roberto A. Barrios with Associate Justice Juan O. Enriquez, Jr. and Associate Justice Hakim S. Abdulwahid, concurring.
[2] Entitled “Act Requiring Regular
Publication of Existing Vacant Positions In Government Offices, Appropriating
Funds Therefor, And For Other Purposes,” which took effect on
[3] Quisumbing v. Tajanglangit,
G.R. No. 19981,
[4] Davide v. Roces, G.R. No.
21754,
[5] Aytona v. Castillo, G.R.
No. 19315,
[6] Sec. 2, Chapter 5, Subtitle A. Title I, Book V, Administrative Code of 1987.
[7] G.R. No. 130214,