546 Phil. 391; 104 OG No. 8, 1256 (February 25, 2008)
CHICO-NAZARIO, J.:
Petitioner Nelson Collantes (hereafter, Collantes) was conferred Career Executive Service Eligibility on 29 February 1996. Then President Fidel V. Ramos accorded him the rank of Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) II on 10 February 1997. More than a year later, he was appointed as Undersecretary for Peace and Order of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).On 18 July 2003, herein petitioner Collantes then filed a Petition for Certiorari with the Court of Appeals praying for the reversal of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Resolutions No. 021482 and No. 030542. Before the Court of Appeals can decide this case, however, petitioner was appointed as General Manager of the Philippine Retirement Authority on 5 August 2004. The Court of Appeals dismissed the Petition for Certiorari in the assailed 10 March 2005 Decision:
With the change of administration, Collantes allegedly received word from persons close to then President Ejercito Estrada to give up his position so that the President could unreservedly appoint his key officials. As such, Collantes relinquished his post at the DILG.
Thereafter, on 1 July 1998, President Estrada appointed Collantes to the controversial post - Undersecretary for Civilian Relations of the Department of National Defense (DND). As it happened, his stint in the DND was short lived. Collantes was supposedly ordered by then Secretary Orlando Mercado to renounce his post in favor of another presidential appointee, General Orlando Soriano. In deference to the President's prerogative, he resigned from office believing that he will soon be given a new assignment.
Unfortunately, Collantes was not given any other post in the government, as in fact, he received a letter from President Estrada terminating his services effective 8 February 1999. Consequently, on 24 March 1999, Collantes requested the assistance of the Career Executive Service Board relative to the termination of his services as Undersecretary for Civilian Relations of the DND invoking his right to security of tenure as a CESO.
The termination of Collantes' services, notwithstanding, President Estrada accorded Collantes the highest rank in the CES ranking structure, CESO Rank I, on 17 July 1999. But then, despite this promotion in rank, Collantes did not receive new appointment, and worse, the President appointed Mr. Edgardo Batenga to the much coveted position of Undersecretary for Civilian Relations of the DND.
Taking definite action on the matter, Collantes instituted a Petition for Quo Warranto and Mandamus before Us on 29 January 2001, docketed as C.A. G.R. SP NO. 62874. Collantes maintained that he was constructively dismissed from work, without any cause and due process of law, and thus, his position in the DND was never vacated at all. Accordingly, he prayed that the appointment of Mr. Edgardo Batenga be nullified, and that he be reinstated to his former position with full back salaries. Notably, Collantes also sought for appointment to a position of equivalent rank commensurate to his CESO Rank I if reinstatement to his former position is no longer legally feasible.
Meanwhile, on 13 August 2001, the CSC favorably acted on Collantes' letter-request issuing Resolution No. 011364, and thereby holding that Collantes' relief as Undersecretary of DND amounted to illegal dismissal as he was not given another post concomitant to his eligibility.
Then, on 30 August 2001, We rendered Our Decision in C.A. G.R. SP No. 62874 dismissing the Petition for Quo Warranto and Mandamus filed by Collantes. Significantly, We pronounced:"By such actuations of the petitioner, the Court finds that he has (sic) effectively resigned from his position as Undersecretary of the DND, and the public respondents are under no compulsion to reinstate him to his old position.The controversy reached the Supreme Court as G.R. No. 149883. Nevertheless, the case was considered closed and terminated when Collantes manifested his desire not to pursue his appeal and withdraw his Petition for Review on Certiorari. Thereafter, Collantes moved for the execution of CSC Resolution No. 011364, which was accordingly granted through CSC Resolution No. 020084 dated 15 January 2002 "directing the DND to give Collantes a position where his eligibility is appropriate and to pay his backwages and other benefits from the time of his termination up to his actual reinstatement."
x x x x
"In this case, petitioner has undoubtedly shown his intention to relinquish his public office, and has in fact surrendered such post to the Chief Executive, who, on the other hand, has shown his acceptance of the same by appointing a new person to the position relinquished by the petitioner.
x x x x
Quo warranto, it must be pointed out, is unavailing in the instatnt case, as the public office in question has not been usurped, intruded into or unlawfully held by the present occupant. Nor does the incumbent undersecretary appear to have done or suffered an act which forfeits his assumption. (Section 1, Rule 66, 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure). Furthermore, it appears that the action for quo warranto, assuming it is available, has already lapsed by prescription, pursuant to Section 11 of the pertinent Rule ...
x x x x
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant petition for Quo Warranto and Mandamus is hereby DISMISSED."
In a Letter dated 7 February 2002, the Legal Affairs Division of the DND, through Atty. Leticia A. Gloria, urged the CSC to revisit its Resolutions which were entirely in conflict with Our 30 August 2001 Decision in C.A. G.R. SP NO. 62874, which has attained finality pursuant to the Supreme Court's Resolution in G.R. No. 149883.
Consequently, in complete turnabout from its previous stance, the CSC issued Resolution No. 021482 dated 12 November 2002 declaring that had it been properly informed that a Petition for Quo Warranto and Mandamus was then pending before Us, it would have refrained from ruling on Collantes' quandary, thus:"WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration of Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Leticia A. Gloria of the department of National Defense (DND) is hereby GRANTED and CSC Resolutions Nos. 01-1364 dated August 13, 2001 and 02-0084 dated January 15, 2002 are reversed. Accordingly, pursuant to the decision of the Court of Appeals, Nelson P. Collantes is deemed effectively resigned from his position as Undersecretary of the DND."Forthwith, Collantes moved for a reconsideration of this Resolution, but was denied by the CSC in the second assailed Resolution No. 030542 dated 5 May 2003.[4]
WHEREFORE, the Petition for Certiorari is hereby DISMISSED. No grave abuse of discretion may be imputed against the Civil Service Commission for rendering Resolution Nos. 021482 and 030542, dated 12 November 2002 and 5 May 2003, respectively. No pronouncement as to costs.[5]The Motion for Reconsideration filed by petitioner was denied in the assailed 31 August 2005 Resolution.[6]
Both petitioner and herein respondents CSC and Department of National Defense (DND) invoke the doctrine of immutability of final judgments.A.
WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS COMMITTED A GRAVE AND REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT HELD THAT THE DECISION IN CA-G.R. NO. 62874 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS IS A BAR TO IMPLEMENT THE FINAL AND EXECUTORY JUDGMENT OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION DATED AUGUST 14, 2001.B.
WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS COMMITTED A GRAVE AND REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT DID NOT FIND THAT THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OR EXCESS OF JURISDICTION WHEN IT REVERSED ITS VERY OWN DECISION WHICH HAS LONG BECOME FINAL AND EXECUTORY AND IN FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF PETITIONER'S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS.C.
WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS COMMITTED A GRAVE AND REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT UPHELD THE RESOLUTION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION WHICH HELD THAT PETITIONER MAY BE REMOVED FROM HIS POSITION AS UNDERSECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE WITHOUT THE CONCOMITANT TRANSFER TO A POSITION EQUIVALENT IN RANK OR BE REMOVED THEN, BE FLOATED PERPETUALLY, WHICH IS TANTAMOUNT TO A CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL, IN VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHT TO SECURITY OF TENURE AS A CAREER EXECUTIVE SERVICE ELIGIBLE.[7]
Section 5. Certification against forum shopping. - The plaintiff or principal party shall certify under oath in the complaint or other initiatory pleading asserting a claim for relief, or in a sworn certification annexed thereto and simultaneously filed therewith: (a) that he has not theretofore commenced any action or filed any claim involving the same issues in any court, tribunal or quasi-judicial agency and, to the best of his knowledge, no such other action or claim is pending therein; (b) if there is such other pending action or claim, a complete statement of the present status thereof; and (c) if he should thereafter learn that the same or has been filed or similar action or claimis pending, he shall report that fact within five (5) days therefrom to the court wherein his aforesaid complaint or initiatory pleading has been filed. (Emphases supplied.)Petitioner, however, further asserts that the issues brought in the Petition for Certiorari filed with the Court of Appeals on 18 July 2003 and the Petition for Quo Warranto and Mandamus filed on 29 January 2001 are distinct, and that the Decision of the Court of Appeals in the latter cannot constitute res judicata with respect to the former.[21] Petitioner claims that the issues, remedies and reliefs in the two cases are different, citing as basis the textbook definitions of quo warranto, certiorari and mandamus. Petitioner further claims that:
There is a clear distinction between the right of petitioner to the position of Undersecretary for Civilian Relations and his right to be re-appointed to another position of equivalent rank, in view of his CESO I status. The former issue may have been resolved by the Court of Appeals when it ruled that petitioner Collantes had "effectively resigned from his position as Undersecretary of the DND, and the public respondents are under no compulsion to reinstate him to his old position." The latter issue, or the right of petitioner Collantes to be given a new assignment fitting to his CESO I rank, arises from his right to security of tenure as a Career Executive Service Eligible, and not from his appointment to the DND.[22]This allegedly clear distinction springs from petitioner's claim that he resigned from his position, but not from his rank as a Career Executive Service Officer (CESO). Petitioner claims that, as a CESO, there is a "great difference between (1) resigning from one's position and (2) resigning or relinquishing one's rank, as position is different from one's rank. POSITION refers to the particular or specific office from which one may be appointed. RANK, on the other hand, refers not to a particular position but to the class to which one belongs in the hierarchy of authority in an organization or bureaucracy."[23] Petitioner cites Cuevas v. Bacal[24]:
[S]ecurity of tenure to members of the CES does not extend to the particular positions to which they may be appointed --- a concept which is applicable only to the first and second-level employees in the civil service --- but to the rank to which they are appointed by the President.and General v. Roco[25]:
x x x x
Mobility and flexibility in the assignment of personnel, the better to cope with the exigencies of public service, is thus the distinguishing feature of the Career Executive Service. x x x.
In addition, it must be stressed that the security of tenure of employees in the career executive service (except first and second-level employees in the civil service), pertains only to rank and not to the office or to the position to which they may be appointed. Thus, a career executive service officer may be transferred or reassigned from one position to another without losing his rank which follows him wherever he is transferred or reassigned. In fact, a CESO suffers no diminution of salary even if assigned to a CES position with lower salary grade, as he is compensated according to his CES rank and not on the basis of the position or office he occupies.While there is indeed a distinction between position and rank, such that a CESO may be transferred or reassigned from one position to another without losing his rank, there can be no distinction between resigning from a position and resigning from a rank. The rank of a CESO is deactivated upon separation from the government service, which includes the resignation of a CESO from his position. The CESB has clarified this concept of being in the inactive status in its Resolution No. 554, series of 2002:
Likewise, it would be absurd for us to rule that a civil servant who resigns from his position can compel the President to appoint him to another position. Such a ruling would effectively derogate the discretion of the appointing authority,[26] as it will give the CESO the option to choose which position he or she wants, by the simple expediency of resigning from the position he or she does not want.Rule II
x x x x
7. CESO in Inactive Status - is a CESO who no longer occupies a position in the CES as a result of any of the modes of separation from the government service, provided that such separation is not due to dismissal from the service for cause.
x x x xRule IV
Section 1. Modes of Deactivating a CES Rank. - There are three (3) modes by which the CES Rank of a CESO may be deactivated from the CES:
1. Acceptance of a position by virtue of an appointment outside the coverage of the CES;
2. Dropping from the rolls of government officials and employees; and
3. Other modes of separation from the CES, provided that separation from the CES resulting from dismissal from the service for cause and after due process shall result in the loss of CES rank and shall not be considered as a mode of deactivation.
x x x x
Sec. 2. Effect of Deactivation of CES Rank. - A CESO whose CES rank has been deactivated by the Board loses all the rights and privileges accorded to him/her by law on account of his/her CES rank.
Where there have been two former actions in which the claim or demand, fact or matter sought to be religated has been decided contrarily, the rule that, where there is an estoppel against an estoppel, it "setteth the matter at large" has been applied by some authorities, and in such case both parties may assert their claims anew. Other authorities have held that, of two conflicting judgments on the same rights of the same parties, the one which is later in time will prevail, although it has also been held that the judgment prior in time will prevail. It has been held that a decision of a court of last resort is binding on the parties, although afterward, in another cause, a different principle was declared.[27]There are thus three solutions which we can adopt in resolving the case at bar: the first is for the parties to assert their claims anew, the second is to determine which judgment came first, and the third is to determine which of the judgments had been rendered by a court of last resort.
In the first place, petitioner has not established by any quantum of certainty the veracity of his claim that he was promised an equivalent position in the government. Assuming, however, that such promise was true, petitioner, as a ranking member of the bureaucracy, ought to have known that such promise offers no assurance in law that the same would be complied with. The time-honored rule is that public office is a public trust, and as such, the same is governed by law, and cannot be made the subject of personal promises or negotiations by private persons.[32]WHEREFORE, the present Petition for Review on Certiorari is DENIED. No costs.
(a) NOTE the manifestation of petitioner that he decided not to pursue anymore his appeal, thus he is withdrawing the motion for extension to file a petition for review on certiorari; and
(b) NOTE WITHOUT ACTION the motion for an extension of thirty (30) days from September 21, 2001 within which to file a petition for review on certiorari in view of the manifestation for the withdrawal of the motion.