NPC Drivers and Mechanics Association (NPC-DAMA) vs.

National Power Corporation (NPC)

Administrative Law; Delegation of Powers; The department secretaries composing the National Power
Board of Directors (NPB) cannot delegate their duties as members of the NPB, much less their power to
vote and approve board resolutions, because it is their personal judgment that must be exercised in the
fulfillment of such responsibility.—We agree with petitioners. In enumerating under Section 48 those who
shall compose the National Power Board of Directors, the legislature has vested upon these persons the
power to exercise their judgment and discretion in running the affairs of the NPC. Discretion may be
defined as “the act or the liberty to decide according to the principles of justice and one’s ideas of what is
right and proper under the circumstances, without willfulness or favor. Discretion, when applied to public
functionaries, means a power or right conferred upon them by law of acting officially in certain
circumstances, according to the dictates of their own judgment and conscience, uncontrolled by the
judgment or conscience of others. It is to be presumed that in naming the respective department heads as
members of the board of directors, the legislature chose these secretaries of the various executive
departments on the basis of their personal qualifications and acumen which made them eligible to occupy
their present positions as department heads. Thus, the department secretaries cannot delegate their duties
as members of the NPB, much less their power to vote and approve board resolutions, because it is their
personal judgment that must be exercised in the fulfillment of such responsibility.

Same; Same; The rule that requires an administrative officer to exercise his own judgment and discretion
does not preclude him from utilizing, as a matter of practical administrative procedure, the aid of
subordinates, so long as it is the legally authorized official who makes the final decision through the use of
his own personal judgment.—Respondents’ assertion to the contrary is not tenable. The ruling in the case
cited by respondents to support their contention is not applicable in the case at bar. While it is true that the
Court has determined in the case of American Tobacco Company v. Director of Patents, 67 SCRA 287
(1975), that a delegate may exercise his authority through persons he appoints to assist him in his
functions, it must be stressed that the Court explicitly stated in the same case that said practice is
permissible only when the judgment and discretion finally exercised are those of the officer authorized by
law. According to the Court, the rule that requires an administrative officer to exercise his own judgment
and discretion does not preclude him from utilizing, as a matter of practical administrative procedure, the
aid of subordinates, so long as it is the legally authorized official who makes the final decision through the
use of his own personal judgment.

Same; Same; Where it is the representatives of the secretaries of the different executive departments and
not the secretaries themselves who exercised judgment in passing the assailed Resolution, this violated
the duty imposed upon the specifically enumerated department heads to employ their own sound discretion
in exercising the corporate powers of the National Power Corporation.—In the case at bar, it is not difficult
to comprehend that in approving NPB Resolutions No. 2002-124 and No. 2002-125, it is the
representatives of the secretaries of the different executive departments and not the secretaries
themselves who exercised judgment in passing the assailed Resolution, as shown by the fact that it is the
signatures of the respective representatives that are affixed to the questioned Resolutions. This, to our
mind, violates the duty imposed upon the specifically enumerated department heads to employ their own
sound discretion in exercising the corporate powers of the NPC. Evidently, the votes cast by these mere
representatives in favor of the adoption of the said Resolutions must not be considered in determining
whether or not the necessary number of votes was garnered in order that the assailed