Reynaldo San Juan v. Civil Service Commission, Department and Management Region IV that Ms.
Dalisay Santos assumed
of Budget and Management and Cecilia Almajose office as Acting PBO since March 22, 1988 pursuant to a April 19, 1991 | Gutierrez, Jr., J. | Memorandum issued by petitioner who further requested Director Digester: Villafuerte, Beatriz C. Abella to endorse the appointment of the said Ms. Dalisay Santos to the contested position of PBO Rizal. SUMMARY: The Governor of Rizal asked DBM Region IV to Ms. Dalisay Santos was the Municipal Budget Officer of Taytay, endorse Ms. Dalisay Santos to be the Provincial Budget Officer Rizal before she discharged the functions of acting PBO. (PBO) of Rizal. In a Memorandum dated July 26, 1988 addressed to the DBM Secretary, then Director Abella of Region IV recommended the In a Memorandum addressed to the DBM Secretary, the Director appointment of the private respondent, Cecilia Almajose, as PBO of DBM Region IV instead recommended the appointment of of Rizal Cecilia Almajose as PBO of Rizal. o Basis: a comparative study of all Municipal Budget Officers of the province who included 3 nominees of the petitioner. DBM Undersecretary Cabuquit signed the appointment papers of o According to Abella, the private respondent was the most Almajose as PBO of Rizal upon the aforestated recommendation of qualified since she was the only Certified Public Accountant Abella. among the contenders. On August 1, 1988, DBM Undersecretary Nazario S. Cabuquit, Jr. signed the appointment papers of the private respondent as PBO The Governor protested such appointment of Almajose as PBO of of Rizal upon the aforestated recommendation of Abella. Rizal arguing that under EO 112, he has the sole right and privilege to recommend the nominees to the position of PBO and In a letter dated Agusut 3, 1988 addressed to Secretary Carague, that the appointee should come only from his nominees. the petitioner reiterated his request for the appointment of Dalisay Santos to the contested position unaware of the earlier appointment made by Undersecretary Cabuquit. The case was brought to the CSC which upheld the appointment of On August 31, 1988, DBM Regional Director Agripino G. Galve Almajose. It issued resolutions which ruled that the wrote the petitioner that Dalisay Santos and his other recommendation of the local chief executive is merely directory recommendees did not meet the minimum requirements under and not a condition sine qua non to the exercise by the Secretary Local Budget Circular No. 31 for the position of a local budget of DBM of his appointing prerogative. officer. He further required the petitioner to submit at least 3 other qualified nominees who are qualified for the position of PBO The Supreme Court set aside the questioned resolutions of the of Rizal for evaluation and processing. CSC, nullified the appointment of Almajose and ordered the DBM On November 2, 1988, the petitioner after having been informed to appoint the PBO of Rizal from among qualified nominees of private respondents appointment wrote Secretary Carague submitted by the Provincial Governor. protesting against the said appointment on the grounds DOCTRINE: o that Cabuquit as DBM Undersecretary is not legally Where a law is capable of two interpretations, one in favor of authorized to appoint the PBO centralized power in Malacaang and the other beneficial to local o that the private respondent lacks the required 3 years work autonomy, the scales must be weighed in favor of autonomy. experience as provided in Local Budget Circular No. 31 o that under EO No. 112, it is the Provincial Governor, not the FACTS: Regional Director or a Congressman, who was the power to On March 22, 1988, the position of Provincial Budget Officer recommend nominees for the position of PBO. (PBO) for the Province of Rizal was left vacant by its former On January 9, 1989, respondent DBM, through its Director of the holder, a certain Henedina del Rosario. Bureau of Legal & Legislative Affairs (BLLA) Virgilio A. Afurung, In a letter dated April 18, 1988, Governor of Rizal (petitioner) issued a Memorandum ruling that petitioners letter-protest is not informed Director Reynaldo Abella of the Department of Budget meritorious considering that public respondent DBM validly exercised its prerogative in filling-up the contested position since in the event that the recommendations made by the petitioner fall none of the petitioners nominees met the prescribed short of the required standards, the appointing authority, the requirements. Minister of public respondent CBM is expected to reject the same. o Petitioners moved for the for a consideration of the BLLA In the event that the Governor recommends an unqualified ruling person, is the Department Head free to appoint anyone he o The DBM Secretary denied the petitioners motion for fancies? NO. reconsideration. Before the promulgation of EO No. 112 on December 24, 1986, BP Petitioner wrote CSC protesting against the appoint of the private 337, otherwise known as the Local Government Code vested upon respondent and reiterating his position regarding the matter. the Governor, subject to civil service rules and regulations the CSC issued resolutions dismissing the appeal made by the power to appoint the PBO. The code further enumerated Governor of Rizal and accordingly upholding the appointment qualifications for the position of PBO. 1 Cecilia Almajose as PBO of Rizal. Arguments of petitioner: since the appointing authority with The questioned resolutions of the CSC prompted the petitioner to respect to the Provincial Budget Officer of Rizal was vested in him file the present petition for certiorari pursuant to Sec. 7, Article IX before, then, the real intent behind EO 112 in empowering him to (A) of the present Constitution. Assignment of errors recommend nominees to the position of Provincial Budget Officer o The CSC erred in upholding the appointment by DBM is to make his recommendation part and parcel of the appointment Assistant Secretary Cabuquit of Cecilia Almajose as PBO of process. Rizal o upon recommendation of the local chief executive o The CSC erred in holding that Cecilia Almajose possesses all concerned must be given mandatory application in the required qualification consonance with the state policy of local autonomy as o The CSC erred in declaring that petitioners nominees are guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution under Art. 11, not qualified to the subject position Sec. 25 and Art. X, Sec. 2. o The CSC and the DBM gravely abused their discretion in not o His power to recommend cannot validly be defeated by a allowing petitioner to submit new nominees who could meet mere administrative issuance of public respondent DBM the required qualification. reserving to itself the right to fill-up any existing vacancy in case the petitioners nominees do not meet the qualification Whether or not the private respondent is lawfully entitled to requirements as embodied in public respondent DBMs Local discharge the functions of PBO Rizal pursuant to the Budget Circular No. 31 dated February 9, 1988 appointment made by public respondent DBMs Ratio of CSC ruling: As required by EO 112, the DBM Secretary Undersecretary upon the recommendation of then Director may choose among the recommendees of the Provincial Governor Abella of DBM Region IV. NO. who are thus qualified and eligible for appointment to the position Arguments of petitioner: he has the sole right and privilege to of the PBO of Rizal. Notwithstanding, the recommendation of the recommend the nominees to the position of PBO and that the local chief executive is merely directory and not a condition sine appointee should come only from his nominees. o Sec. 1, EO No. 112: All budget officers of provinces, cities and municipalities shall be appointed henceforth by the Minister of 1 Thus, Section 216, subparagraph (2) of the same code states Budget and Management upon recommendation of the that: (2) No person shall be appointed provincial budget officer local chief executive concerned, subject to civil service law, unless he is a citizen of the Philippines, of good moral character, a rules and regulations, and they shall be placed under the holder of a degree preferably in law, commerce, public administrative control and technical supervision of the administration or any related course from a recognized college or Ministry of Budget and Management. university, a first grade civil service eligibility or its equivalent, There is no question that under Sec. 1 of EO No. 112 the and has acquired at least five years experience in budgeting or in petitioners power to recommend is subject to the qualifications any related field. prescribed by existing laws for the position of PBO. Consequently, qua non to the exercise by the Secretary of DBM of his appointing When the Civil Service Commission interpreted the prerogative. recommending power of the Provincial Governor as purely o To rule otherwise would in effect give the law or E.O. No. 112 directory, it went against the letter and spirit of the a different interpretation or construction not intended constitutional provisions on local autonomy. If the DBM therein, taking into consideration that said officer has been Secretary jealously hoards the entirety of budgetary powers and nationalized and is directly under the control and supervision ignores the right of local governments to develop self-reliance and of the DBM Secretary or through his duly authorized resoluteness in the handling of their own funds, the goal of representative. It cannot be gainsaid that said national meaningful local autonomy is frustrated and set back. officer has a similar role in the local government unit, only The right given by Local Budget Circular No. 31 which states: on another area or concern, to that of a Commission on Audit Sec. 6.0 The DBM reserves the right to fill up any resident auditor. existing vacancy where none of the nominees of the local o Hence, to preserve and maintain the independence of said chief executive meet the prescribed requirements. officer from the local government unit, he must be primarily is ultra vires and is, accordingly, set aside. The DBM may appoint the choice of the national appointing official, and the only from the list of qualified recommendees nominated by the exercise thereof must not be unduly hampered or interfered Governor. If none is qualified, he must return the list of nominees with, provided the appointee finally selected meets the to the Governor explaining why no one meets the legal requirements for the position in accordance with prescribed requirements and ask for new recommendees who have the Civil Service Law, Rules and Regulations. necessary eligibilities and qualifications. o In other words, the appointing official is not restricted or Reason behind the law: More important is the proper circumscribed to the list submitted or recommended by the administration of fiscal affairs at the local level. local chief executive in the final selection of an appointee for Provincial and municipal budgets are prepared at the local the position. He may consider other nominees for the position level and after completion are forwarded to the national vis a vis the nominees of the local chief executive. officials for review. They are prepared by the local officials who must work within the constraints of those budgets. COURT: In favor of Governor of Province of Rizal They are not formulated in the inner sanctums of an all- The issue before the Court is not limited to the validity of the knowing DBM and unilaterally imposed on local governments appointment of one PBO. The tug of war between the Secretary of whether or not they are relevant to local needs and resources. Budget and Management and the Governor of the premier It is for this reason that there should be a genuine interplay, a province of Rizal over a seemingly innocuous position involves the balancing of viewpoints, and a harmonization of proposals from application of a most important constitutional policy and principle, both the local and national officials. It is for this reason that that of local autonomy. the nomination and appointment process involves a Where a law is capable of two interpretations, one in favor sharing of power between the two levels of government. of centralized power in Malacaang and the other beneficial o It may not be amiss to give by way of analogy the to local autonomy, the scales must be weighed in favor of procedure followed in the appointments of Justices and autonomy. Judges. Under Article VIII of the Constitution, The exercise by local governments of meaningful power has been a nominations for judicial positions are made by the national goal since the turn of the century. And yet, inspite of Judicial and Bar Council. The President makes the constitutional provisions and, as in this case, legislation mandating appointments from the list of nominees submitted to greater autonomy for local officials, national officers cannot seem her by the Council. She cannot apply the DBM to let go of centralized powers. They deny or water down what procedure, reject all the Council nominees, and appoint little grants of autonomy have so far been given to municipal another person whom she feels is better qualified. There corporation. (see notes for history of local governance in the can be no reservation of the right to fill up a position with Philippines) a person of the appointing power's personal choice. The public respondent's grave abuse of discretion is aggravated by the fact that Director Galvez required the Provincial governments as may be provided by law, and take Governor to submit at least three other names of nominees care that the laws be faithfully executed. (Sec. 11, better qualified than his earlier recommendation. It was a Article VII, 1935 Constitution) meaningless exercise. The appointment of the private respondent Clearly limited the executive power over local was formalized before the Governor was extended the courtesy of governments to general supervision as may be being informed that his nominee had been rejected. The complete provided by law disregard of the local government's prerogative and the smug The President controls the executive departments. belief that the DBM has absolute wisdom, authority, and discretion He has no such power over local governments. are manifest. Tecson v. Salas (1970): Presidential competence is "Philippine Political Law" by Dean Vicente G. Sinco : the value of not even supervision in general but general local governments as institutions of democracy is measured by the supervision as may be provided by law. He could not degree of autonomy that theyenjoy. Citing Tocqueville, he stated thus go beyond the applicable statutory provisions, that "local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free which bind and fetter his discretion on the matter. nations. . . . A people may establish a system of free government Supervision goes no further than overseeing or the but without the spirit of municipal institutions, it cannot have the power or authority of an officer to see that spirit of liberty." subordinate officers perform their duties. Our national officials should not only comply with the 3. RA 2264 An Act Amending the Law Governing Local constitutional provisions on local autonomy but should also Governments by Increasing Their Autonomy and appreciate the spirit of liberty upon which these provisions Reorganizing Local Governments are based. Passed in 1959 pursuant to the principle under the 1935 Constitution NOTES: 4. RA 5185, Decentralization Law Passed in 1967 History of the Law on Local Governance in the Philippines Gave further autonomous powers to local governments 1. President McKinleys Instructions dated April 7, 1900 5. 1973 Constitution Ordered the new government to devote their Greater autonomy attention in the first instance to the establishment of Article II, Sec. 10: The State shall guarantee and municipal governments in which natives of the promote the autonomy of local government units, Islands, both in the cities and rural communities, especially the barangay to ensure their fullest shall be afforded the opportunity to manage their development as self-reliant communities. own local officers to the fullest extent of which they Entire article on Local Government was are capable and subject to the least degree of incorporated into the Constitution. supervision and control which a careful study of their capacities and observation of the workings of It called for a local government code defining more native control show to be consistent with the responsive and accountable local government maintenance of law, order and loyalty. structures. Any creation, merger, abolition, or substantial 2. 1935 Constitution boundary alteration cannot be done except in No specific article on local autonomy accordance with the local government code and Distinguished between presidential control and upon approval by a plebiscite. supervision: The President shall have control of all The power to create sources of revenue and to levy the executive departments, bureaus, or offices, taxes was specifically settled upon local exercise general supervision over all local governments. 6. 1987 Constitution doctrines but give in greater detail the provisions Article II, Sec. 25: The State shall ensure the making local autonomy more meaningful. autonomy of local governments. The 14 Sections in Article X not only reiterate earlier