763 PHIL. 32
PERALTA,* J.:
Petitioner asked for an extension of thirty (30) days' time to file his reply. In a Memorandum dated April 23, 2001, respondents granted petitioner a ten (10)-day extension and placed petitioner under preventive suspension for thirty (30) days to have an impartial and objective investigation. Petitioner, however, failed to file his Answer.x x x x x x x x x
Specifically, you caused the preparation of and received from the FSC on March 25, 1999 the amount of One hundred Twenty-Seven Thousand Two Hundred Pesos (P127,200.00) under Disbursement Voucher #04308 for the payment of Security Guard licenses, NBI clearance, Psychiatric Test, and Drug Test for FSC Physical Security personnel's compliance with the requirements of PNP SOSIA. To date, after two (2) years, you have not produced the clearance nor the licenses, nor have you shown any proof that the funds that you received were applied to the payment of the corresponding and appropriate fees therefore.[6]
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered declaring complainant Segifredo Vilchez to have been ILLEGALLY DISMISSED. Accordingly, respondents are hereby ordered to reinstate the complainant to his former position without loss of seniority rights or at the option of the respondents to merely reinstate the complainant in the payroll and to pay complainant full backwages from the time he was illegally dismissed up to his actual reinstatement which now amounts to Five Hundred Sixty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (P562,500.00).Respondents appealed to the NLRC. In the meantime, respondents reinstated petitioner.
All other claims are hereby dismissed for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.[9]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Decision dated 30 May 2003 is hereby reversed and set aside and a new one is entered dismissing the complaint for lack of merit.Petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration, which the NLRC denied in its Resolution[12] dated March 9, 2006.
SO ORDERED.[11]
WHEREFORE, the instant Petition is hereby DENIED. The Decision dated 27 September 2005 and the Resolution dated 09 March 2006 of the public respondent in NLRC RAB 111-01-3768-02 is hereby AFFIRMED in toto. No pronouncement as to costs.Petitioner's motion for reconsideration was denied by the CA in a Resolution dated July 7, 2008.
SO ORDERED.[13]
PETITIONER WAS ILLEGALLY DISMISSED BECAUSE HIS DISMISSAL WAS BASED ON THE ACT OR OMISSION OF ANOTHER PERSON.Petitioner contends that he was dismissed on the ground of serious misconduct resulting to loss of trust and confidence, but unfortunately the basis of which was the act or omission of another person. He claims that the amount of P127,200.00 intended for the payment of the security guards' licenses under Disbursement Voucher No. 04308 was not given to him but the check was made payable to Col. Gerangco who received and encashed the same; and that he had sent a letter dated April 17, 2001 to Gerangco asking him to liquidate the remaining security licenses; and, that he should not be held accountable for the non-compliance of Gerangco to complete the licenses.
THE SUPERVENING EVENT OF PETITIONER'S RETIREMENT FROM SERVICE AS EMPLOYEE OF PRIVATE RESPONDENTS BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION MODIFIED THE DECISION OF LABOR ARBITER RENDERS MOOT AND ACADEMIC THE PETITIONER'S DISMISSAL FROM SERVICE BECAUSE, IN EFFECT, PETITIONER WAS ABSOLVED OF ANY INFRACTIONS WHICH THE PETITIONER ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED DURING HIS EMPLOYMENT.[14]
It must be borne in mind that as early as 20 August 1999, petitioner already knew of the COA's notice of suspension regarding the deficiency in the issuance of the P127,200.00 check to Col. Angelito Gerangco who was not a designated disbursing officer and in that notice of suspension, petitioner was found to be the payee or person responsible. Moreover, a Memorandum dated 29 November 2000 was issued by private respondent Kabigting's predecessor, then FSC President Manuel Aurelio Jr., for all concerned administrative personnel including herein petitioner, to settle not later than 05 December 2000 the COA notice of suspension. In fact, he failed to account and produce the licenses of the FSC Security personnel after two (2) years from the date of issuance of the check. This act alone by the petitioner constitutes gross misconduct and disobedience which is already a sufficient ground for his dismissal.Petitioner's claim that respondents' loss of trust and confidence on him was based on the act or omission of a certain Col. Gerangco who failed to release all the licenses is not meritorious. Col. Gerangco is not an employee of the respondents and it was petitioner who advised respondents of the need to secure the licenses. As the NLRC found, petitioner, as head of the security personnel, did not dispute that he was primarily responsible for recommending and choosing contractor Col. Gerangco to undertake the procurement of licenses of the security guards. Notably, in the disbursement voucher where Col. Gerangco's name was written, petitioner had affixed his signature certifying that the expenses/cash advance was necessary, lawful and incurred under his direct supervision and also signed his name therein as the one who received the check. Thus, he could not just place the blame on Col. Gerangco when it was petitioner who had the obligation to secure the licenses as represented.
Furthermore, the loss of confidence was justified in the light of petitioner's continued refusal to comply with the Memoranda issued to him. The evidence presented by the private respondents were overwhelming to justify his dismissal. Petitioner insists that the subject amount of P127,200.00 was duly approved by the former President of the private respondent corporation, without informing him of the rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit to first secure their approval /clearance before the issuance of the said check. However, it is the very same reason why petitioner was given the chance to account for the expenses incurred. If only he did not defy the orders of the private respondent and immediately upon receipt of the Memorandum directing him to do so, he undertook to prepare the same, maybe he would not have been dismissed. Besides, the two years that has elapsed was already more than enough for him to explain his side.[17]
As early as 1975, we have upheld the rule that the jurisdiction that was Ours at the time of the filing of the administrative complaint was not lost by the mere fact that the respondent public official had ceased to be in office during the pendency of his case. The Court retains its jurisdiction either to pronounce the respondent official innocent of the charges or declare him guilty thereof. A contrary rule would be fraught with injustices and pregnant with dreadful and dangerous implications."WHEREFORE, the petition for review is DENIED. The Decision dated June 15, 2007 and the Resolution dated July 7, 2008 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 94627 are hereby AFFIRMED.x x x x x x x x x
Recently, we emphasized that in a case that a public official's cessation from service does not render moot an administrative case that was filed prior to the official's resignation. In the 2011 case of Office of the Ombudsman v. Andutan Jr. we reiterated the doctrine and laid down the line of cases supporting this principle when we ruled:To recall, we have held in the past that a public official's resignation does not render moot an administrative case that was filed prior to the official's resignation. In Pagano v. Nazarro, Jr., we held that:In Office of the Court Administrator v. Juan [A.M. No. P-03-1726, 22 July 2004, 434 SCRA 654, 658], this Court categorically ruled that the precipitate resignation of a government employee charged with an offense punishable by dismissal from the service does not render moot the administrative case against him. Resignation is not a way out to evade administrative liability when facing administrative sanction. The resignation of a public servant does not preclude the finding of any administrative liability to which he or she shall still be answerable-[Baquerfo v. Sanchez, A.M. No. P-05-1974. 6 April 2005, 455 SCRA 13, 19-20].Likewise, in Baquerfo v. Sanchez, we held:Cessation from office of respondent by resignation or retirement neither warrants the dismissal of the administrative complaint filed against him while he was still in the service nor does it render said administrative case moot and academic. The jurisdiction that was this Court's at the time of the filing of the administrative complaint was not lost by the mere fact that the respondent public official had ceased in office during the pendency of his case. Respondent's resignation does not preclude the finding of any administrative liability to which he shall still be answerable.Thus, from the strictly legal point of view and as we have held in a long line of cases, jurisdiction, once it attaches, cannot be defeated by the acts of the respondent, save only where death intervenes and the action does not survive.[22]