843 Phil. 252
CARPIO, J.:
That on or about January 10, 2005 at the Municipality of Borongan, Province of Eastern Samar, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, above-named accused, a public officer, being a Municipal Mayor of Borongan, Eastern Samar, and as such, has the power and authority to appoint officials and employees of the Local Water District of Borongan, Eastern Samar, in such capacity and committing the offense in relation to office, with deliberate intent, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously appoint Arty. Reynaldo A. Alconaba, as Director of the Borongan Water District, Eastern Samar despite the fact that there was a prohibition for his appointment as said Atty. Reynaldo A. Alconaba, was a candidate for the Sangguniang Bayan of Borongan, Eastern Samar during the May 2004 election[s] and lost, and said appointment was made within one-year from the said election[s], thus in utter disregard of the one-year prohibition under Sec. 94 of RA 7160 in relation to Sec, 6, Art. IX-B of the Philippine Constitution and Article 244 of the Revised Penal Code, to the detriment of public interest.
CONTRARY TO LAW.[5]
RPC, Article 244
Art. 244. Unlawful appointments. – Any public officer who shall knowingly nominate or appoint to any public office any person lacking the legal qualifications therefor, shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding 1,000 pesos.
Constitution, Section 6, Article IX-B
Sec. 6. No candidate who has lost in any election shall, within one year after such election, be appointed to any office in the Government or any government-owned or controlled corporations or in any of their subsidiaries.
R.A. No. 7160
Sec. 94. Appointment of Elective and Appointive Local Officials: Candidates Who Lost in an Election. – (a) No elective or appointive local official shall be eligible for appointment or designation in any capacity to any public office or position during his tenure.
Unless otherwise allowed by law or by the primary functions of his position, no elective or appointive local official shall hold any other office or employment in the Government or any subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof including government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries.
(b) Except for losing candidates in barangay elections, no candidate who lost in any election shall, within one (1) year after such election, be appointed to any office in the Government or any government-owned or controlled corporations or in any of their subsidiaries.
(1) The offender is a public officer; (2) He or she nominates or appoints a person to a public office; (3) Such person lacks the legal qualifications therefor; and (4) The offender knows that his or her nominee or appointee lacks the qualifications at the time he or she made the nomination or appointment.[6]
ATTY. ESCOTO Q What prompted you to appoint Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba? A Because I relied on the recommendation from the IBP and Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba was frequently going to my office and he told me, "Mayor you appoint me as Director, I am willing to serve as Director of the Borongan Water District." Q After you received the letter from LWUA informing you that the appointment of Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba was invalid, what did you do, if any? A I immediately told my utility clerk to inform Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba to go to my office so that I could tell him that he was disqualified for the position of Director of Borongan Water District. ATTY. ESCOTO That will be all, Your Honor. JUSTICE GESMUNDO Q How soon after you were informed that the appointment of Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba was invalid that you tried to contact Atty. Alconaba? A Immediately, Your Honor. Q How many days? A That same day that I received the letter. Q When did you make the appointment? A I cannot recall, Your Honor. Q How soon after the appointment was made were you informed by LWUA that the appointment was invalid? A More than six (6) months, I think, Your Honor. Q Which LWUA Office informed you that the appointment is invalid? A The Central Office, Your Honor. Q Why, was his appointment transmitted to the Central Office? A Yes, Your Honor. JUSTICE GESMUNDO Q You were saying earlier that there was a process undertaken with regard to the appointment of Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba, is that correct? A Yes, Your Honor. Q Do you have a document to show that it was the IBP who nominated Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba? ATTY. ESCOTO Your Honor, we intend to produce the document when we present Atty. ... who was the one who made the recommendation. JUSTICE GESMUNDO Q How about the letter, you mentioned about a letter, is that correct? A Yes, Your Honor, the letter from the national LWUA, we have it. JUSTICE GESMUNDO Q Did you inform Atty. Alconaba in writing or formally that you were recalling his appointment? A No, Your Honor, verbal only. Q Why did you not put that in writing to make it official? A I only talked to him. Q Did Atty. Alconaba stop performing the functions as Director of the Local Water District? A Yes, Your Honor he stopped performing his functions. Q What about the other Directors of the Borongan Water District, were you also the one who appointed them? A Yes, Your Honor, I was the one who appointed them. Q How many Directors are there? A Five (5), Your Honor. JUSTICE GESMUNDO Q You appointed them all? A Yes, Your Honor. Q All at the same time? A No. Not at the same time because their office[s] are different. Q Did Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba run for public office? A Yes, Your Honor. Q Which ticket did he join? A In my ticket, Your Honor. x x x x PROS. ZALES Q Mr. Witness, how long have you been running for public office? ATTY. ESCOTO Objection, Your Honor, I think it is immaterial. JUSTICE GESMUNDO Witness may answer. WITNESS A I have been a Vice Mayor in 1998 for one term. In 2001, I ran for Mayor. I have been a Mayor for three (3) consecutive terms and now I am the incumbent Vice Mayor. Q Having run for several times for public office, can you confirm that you are aware that if you run for public office, you are disqualified to be appointed in any government position for one (1) year from the time that you r[a]n? ATTY. ESCOTO Objection, Your Honor ... JUSTICE GESMUNDO Answer, if he knows. WITNESS A Yes. PROS. ZALES Q So you are aware that when you appointed Atty. Reynaldo Alconaba in January 2005 after he ran for Councilor of Borongan in May 2004, he was not qualified to be appointed as Director of the Borongan Water District? A I am not aware because I relied on the recommendation of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Q But you are aware that he ran in May 2004 election[s]? A Yes, ma'am. Q And you appointed him in January 2005? WITNESS A Yes, ma'am.[7] (Emphasis supplied)
The Sandiganbayan, Fourth Division held that the qualifications for a position are provided by law and that it may well be that one who possesses the required legal qualification for a position may be temporarily disqualified for appointment to a public position by reason of the one-year prohibition imposed on losing candidates. However, there is no violation of Article 244 of the Revised Penal Code should a person suffering from temporary disqualification be appointed so long as the appointee possesses all the qualifications stated in the law.
There is no basis in law or jurisprudence for this interpretation. On the contrary, legal disqualification in Article 244 of the Revised Penal Code simply means disqualification under the law. Clearly, Section 6, Article IX of the 1987 Constitution and Section 94(b) of the Local Government Code of 1991 prohibit losing candidates within one year after such election to be appointed to any office in the government or any government-owned or controlled corporations or in any of their subsidiaries.
x x x x
Villapando's contention and the Sandiganbayan, Fourth Division's interpretation of the term legal disqualification lack cogency. Article 244 of the Revised Penal Code cannot be circumscribed lexically. Legal disqualification cannot be read as excluding temporary disqualification in order to exempt therefrom the legal prohibitions under Section 6, Article IX of the 1987 Constitution and Section 94 (b) of the Local Government Code of 1991.[9] (Emphasis supplied)