CONSTI I

SARMIENTO III VS. MISON (GR. No. 79974; December 17, 1987)

Petitioner: ULPIANO P. SARMIENTO III AND JUANITO G. ARCILLA

Respondents: SALVADOR MISON, in his capacity as COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS,
AND GUILLERMO CARAGUE, in his capacity as SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET
Ponente: J. Padilla

FACTS:
 Under the 1987 Constitution, there are four (4) groups of officers whom the President shall appoint.
(1) the heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, officers of the armed
forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other officers whose appointments are vested in him in
this Constitution;
(2) all other officers of the Government whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law;
(3) those whom the President may be authorized by law to appoint;
(4) officers lower in rank whose appointments the Congress may by law vest in the President alone.
 The first group of officers is clearly appointed with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. Appointments
of such officers are initiated by nomination and, if the nomination is confirmed by the Commission on
Appointments, the President appoints. The second, third and fourth groups of officers are the present bone of
contention.

PETITIONERS:
 The petitioners, who are taxpayers, lawyers, members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and professors of
Constitutional Law.
 Petitioners seek to enjoin the respondent Salvador Mison from performing the functions of the Office of
Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and the respondent Guillermo Carague, as Secretary of the Department of
Budget, from effecting disbursements in payment of Mison's salaries and emoluments, on the ground that Mison's
appointment as Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs is unconstitutional by reason of its not having been
confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.
 By following the accepted rule in constitutional and statutory construction, it would follow that only those
appointments to positions expressly stated in the first group require the consent (confirmation) of the Commission
on Appointments.

RESPONDENTS:
 The respondents, maintain the constitutionality of respondent Mison's appointment without the confirmation of the
Commission on Appointments.
 The respondents, submit that the third sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII, merely declares that, as to lower-ranked
officers, the Congress may by law vest their appointment in the President, in the courts, or in the heads of the
various departments, agencies, commissions, or boards in the government. No reason however is submitted for the
use of the word "alone" in said third sentence.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the appointmentis valid

SC RULING:

“WHEREFORE, the petition and petition in intervention should be, as they are, hereby DISMISSED. Without
costs.SO ORDERED.”

The President of the Philippines acted within her constitutional authority and power in appointing respondent
Salvador Mison, Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, without submitting his nomination to the
Commission on Appointments for confirmation. He is thus entitled to exercise the full authority and functions of
the office and to receive all the salaries and emoluments pertaining thereto.
CONSTI I

It is evident that the position of Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs (a bureau head) is not one of those
within the first group of appointments where the consent of the Commission on Appointments is required.In
the 1987 Constitution, it deliberately excluded the position of "heads of bureaus" from appointments that need the
consent (confirmation) of the Commission on Appointments.

The President is expressly authorized by law to appoint the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs. The original
text of Sec. 601 of Republic Act No. 1937, otherwise known as the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines,
which was enacted by the Congress of the Philippines on 22 June 1957, was amended on 27 October 1972 by
Presidential Decree No. 34. It now reads as follows:

Sec. 601.Chief Officials of the Bureau of Customs.-The Bureau of Customs shall have one chief and
one assistant chief, to be known respectively as the Commissioner (hereinafter known as
Commissioner) and Deputy Commissioner of Customs, who shall each receive an annual
compensation in accordance with the rates prescribed by existing law. The Commissioner and the
Deputy Commissioner of Customs shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines

After the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution, however, Rep. Act No. 1937 and PD No. 34 have to be read in
harmony with Sec. 16, Art. VII, with the result that, while the appointment of the Commissioner of the Bureau
of Customs is one that devolves on the President, as an appointment he is authorizedby law to make, such
appointment, however, no longer needs the confirmation of the Commission on Appointments.