G.R. No. 92299 April 19, 1991
REYNALDO R. SAN JUAN, petitioner,
vs.
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT and CECILIA ALMAJOSE, respondents.
Legal Services Division for petitioner.
Sumulong, Sumulong, Paras & Abano Law Offices for private respondent.
FACTS:
REYNALDO R. SAN JUAN, petitioner, is the Governor of province of Rizal.
The position of Provincial Budget Officer (PBO) for the province of Rizal was left vacant by its former holder.
Governor Reynaldo informed Director Reynaldo Abella of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Region IV that Ms. Dalisay Santos assumed office as Acting PBO pursuant to a Memorandum issued by him who further requested Director Abella to endorse the appointment of the said Ms. Dalisay Santos to the contested position of PBO of Rizal.
Ms. Dalisay Santos was then Municipal Budget Officer of Taytay, Rizal before she discharged the functions of acting PBO.
However, Director Abella of Region IV recommended the appointment of Cecilia Almajose as PBO of Rizal According to Abella, Cecilia was the most qualified since she was the only Certified Public Accountant among the contenders.
The DBM Undersecretary Nazario S. Cabuquit, Jr. signed the appointment papers of Cecilia as PBO of Rizal upon the aforestated recommendation of Abella.
Governor Reynaldo reiterated his request for the appointment of Dalisay Santos to the contested position.
DBM Regional Director Agripino G. Galvez wrote to Gov. Reynaldo that Dalisay Santos and his other recommendees did not meet the minimum requirements under Local Budget Circular No. 31 for the position of a local budget officer.
Gov. Reynaldo after having been informed of the Cecilia's appointment wrote Secretary Carague protesting against the said appointment on the grounds that Cabuquit as DBM Undersecretary is not legally authorized to appoint the PBO; that the private respondent lacks the required three years work experience as provided in Local Budget Circular No. 31; and that under Executive Order No. 112, it is the Provincial Governor, not the Regional Director or a Congressman, who has the power to recommend nominees for the position of PBO.
DBM, through its Director of the Bureau of Legal & Legislative Affairs (BLLA) Virgilio A. Afurung, issued a Memorandum ruling that the Gov. Reynaldo letter-protest is not meritorious.
Gov. Reynaldo moved for a reconsideration of the BLLA ruling but was denied.
Thus he wrote public respondent CSC protesting against the appointment of the private respondent and reiterating his position regarding the matter.
ISSUE:
WHETHER THE CSC ERRED IN UPHOLDING THE APPOINTMENT BY DBM ASSISTANT SECRETARY CABUQUIT OF CECILIA ALMAJOSE AS PBO OF RIZAL.
RULING:
YES.
The tug of war between the Secretary of Budget and Management and the Governor of the premier province of Rizal over a seemingly innocuous position involves the application of a most important constitutional policy and principle, that of local autonomy. We have to obey the clear mandate on local autonomy. Where a law is capable of two interpretations, one in favor of centralized power in Malacañang and the other beneficial to local autonomy, the scales must be weighed in favor of autonomy.
The 1935 Constitution had no specific article on local autonomy. However, in distinguishing between presidential control and supervision as follows:
The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, or offices, exercise general supervision over all local governments as may be provided by law, and take care that the laws be faithfully executed. (Sec. 11, Article VII, 1935 Constitution)
the Constitution clearly limited the executive power over local governments to "general supervision . . . as may be provided by law." The President controls the executive departments. He has no such power over local governments. He has only supervision and that supervision is both general and circumscribed by statute.
Supervision goes no further than "overseeing or the power or authority of an officer to see that subordinate officers perform their duties. If the latter fail or neglect to fulfill them the former may take such action or step as prescribed by law to make them perform their duties."
On the other hand, Control "means the power of an officer to alter or modify or nullify or set aside what a subordinate had done in the performance of their duties and to substitute the judgment of the former for that of the latter."
The exercise of greater local autonomy is even more marked in the present Constitution.
Article II, Section 25 on State Policies provides:
Sec. 25. The State shall ensure the autonomy of local governments
The 14 sections in Article X on Local Government not only reiterate earlier doctrines but give in greater detail the provisions making local autonomy more meaningful. Thus, Sections 2 and 3 of Article X provide:
Sec. 2. The territorial and political subdivisions shall enjoy local autonomy.
Sec. 3. The Congress shall enact a local government code which shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall, initiative, and referendum, allocate among the different local government units their powers, responsibilities, and resources, and provide for the qualifications, election, appointment and removal, term, salaries, powers and functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters relating to the organization and operation of the local units.
When the Civil Service Commission interpreted the recommending power of the Provincial Governor as purely directory, it went against the letter and spirit of the constitutional provisions on local autonomy.
WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby GRANTED. The questioned resolutions of the Civil Service Commission are SET ASIDE. The appointment of respondent Cecilia Almajose is nullified. The Department of Budget and Management is ordered to appoint the Provincial Budget Officer of Rizal from among qualified nominees submitted by the Provincial Governor.
The position of Provincial Budget Officer (PBO) for the province of Rizal was left vacant by its former holder.
Governor Reynaldo informed Director Reynaldo Abella of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Region IV that Ms. Dalisay Santos assumed office as Acting PBO pursuant to a Memorandum issued by him who further requested Director Abella to endorse the appointment of the said Ms. Dalisay Santos to the contested position of PBO of Rizal.
Ms. Dalisay Santos was then Municipal Budget Officer of Taytay, Rizal before she discharged the functions of acting PBO.
However, Director Abella of Region IV recommended the appointment of Cecilia Almajose as PBO of Rizal According to Abella, Cecilia was the most qualified since she was the only Certified Public Accountant among the contenders.
The DBM Undersecretary Nazario S. Cabuquit, Jr. signed the appointment papers of Cecilia as PBO of Rizal upon the aforestated recommendation of Abella.
Governor Reynaldo reiterated his request for the appointment of Dalisay Santos to the contested position.
DBM Regional Director Agripino G. Galvez wrote to Gov. Reynaldo that Dalisay Santos and his other recommendees did not meet the minimum requirements under Local Budget Circular No. 31 for the position of a local budget officer.
Gov. Reynaldo after having been informed of the Cecilia's appointment wrote Secretary Carague protesting against the said appointment on the grounds that Cabuquit as DBM Undersecretary is not legally authorized to appoint the PBO; that the private respondent lacks the required three years work experience as provided in Local Budget Circular No. 31; and that under Executive Order No. 112, it is the Provincial Governor, not the Regional Director or a Congressman, who has the power to recommend nominees for the position of PBO.
DBM, through its Director of the Bureau of Legal & Legislative Affairs (BLLA) Virgilio A. Afurung, issued a Memorandum ruling that the Gov. Reynaldo letter-protest is not meritorious.
Gov. Reynaldo moved for a reconsideration of the BLLA ruling but was denied.
Thus he wrote public respondent CSC protesting against the appointment of the private respondent and reiterating his position regarding the matter.
ISSUE:
WHETHER THE CSC ERRED IN UPHOLDING THE APPOINTMENT BY DBM ASSISTANT SECRETARY CABUQUIT OF CECILIA ALMAJOSE AS PBO OF RIZAL.
RULING:
YES.
The tug of war between the Secretary of Budget and Management and the Governor of the premier province of Rizal over a seemingly innocuous position involves the application of a most important constitutional policy and principle, that of local autonomy. We have to obey the clear mandate on local autonomy. Where a law is capable of two interpretations, one in favor of centralized power in Malacañang and the other beneficial to local autonomy, the scales must be weighed in favor of autonomy.
The 1935 Constitution had no specific article on local autonomy. However, in distinguishing between presidential control and supervision as follows:
The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, or offices, exercise general supervision over all local governments as may be provided by law, and take care that the laws be faithfully executed. (Sec. 11, Article VII, 1935 Constitution)
the Constitution clearly limited the executive power over local governments to "general supervision . . . as may be provided by law." The President controls the executive departments. He has no such power over local governments. He has only supervision and that supervision is both general and circumscribed by statute.
Supervision goes no further than "overseeing or the power or authority of an officer to see that subordinate officers perform their duties. If the latter fail or neglect to fulfill them the former may take such action or step as prescribed by law to make them perform their duties."
On the other hand, Control "means the power of an officer to alter or modify or nullify or set aside what a subordinate had done in the performance of their duties and to substitute the judgment of the former for that of the latter."
The exercise of greater local autonomy is even more marked in the present Constitution.
Article II, Section 25 on State Policies provides:
Sec. 25. The State shall ensure the autonomy of local governments
The 14 sections in Article X on Local Government not only reiterate earlier doctrines but give in greater detail the provisions making local autonomy more meaningful. Thus, Sections 2 and 3 of Article X provide:
Sec. 2. The territorial and political subdivisions shall enjoy local autonomy.
Sec. 3. The Congress shall enact a local government code which shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall, initiative, and referendum, allocate among the different local government units their powers, responsibilities, and resources, and provide for the qualifications, election, appointment and removal, term, salaries, powers and functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters relating to the organization and operation of the local units.
When the Civil Service Commission interpreted the recommending power of the Provincial Governor as purely directory, it went against the letter and spirit of the constitutional provisions on local autonomy.
WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby GRANTED. The questioned resolutions of the Civil Service Commission are SET ASIDE. The appointment of respondent Cecilia Almajose is nullified. The Department of Budget and Management is ordered to appoint the Provincial Budget Officer of Rizal from among qualified nominees submitted by the Provincial Governor.
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