Trade and Investment Development Corp. of the Philippines v. CSC

Facts:

De Guzman was appointed on a permanent status as Financial Management Specialist IV of TIDCORP but it was disallowed by Dir. Leticia Bugtong because the position of Financial Management Specialist IV was not included in the DBMs Index of Occupational Service. TIDCORPs Executive Vice President Jane U. Tambanillo appealed the invalidation of De Guzmans appointment to Director IV Agnes Padilla of the CSC-National Capital Region (NCR). According to Tambanillo, Republic Act No. (RA) 8494, which amended TIDCORPs charter, empowers its Board of Directors to create its own organizational structure and staffing pattern, and to approve its own compensation and position classification system and qualification standards.

All positions in TIDCORP shall be governed by a compensation and position classification system and qualification standards approved by TIDCORP's Board of Directors based on a comprehensive job analysis and audit of actual duties and responsibilities. The compensation plan shall be comparable with the prevailing compensation plans in the private sector and shall be subject to periodic review by the Board no more than once every four (4) years without prejudice to yearly merit reviews or increases based on productivity and profitability. TIDCORP shall be exempt from existing laws, rules and regulations on compensation, position classification and qualification standards. It shall, however, endeavor to make the system to conform as closely as possible to the principles and modes provided in Republic Act No. 6758.

TIDCORP argued that the CSCs interpretation of the last sentence of Section 7 of RA 8494 (which mandates it to endeavor to make the system conform as closely as possible with the principles provided in RA 6758) is misplaced.

TIDCORP emphasizes that the provisions of RA 6758, which the CSC applied to TIDCORP, is a general law, while TIDCORPs charter, RA 8494, is a special law. In interpreting conflicting provisions of a general law and a special law, the provisions of the two laws should be harmonized to give effect to both. But if these provisions cannot be reconciled, then the special law should prevail because it is a qualification to the general rule.

Further, RA 8494 is a later expression of Congress intent as it was enacted nine years after RA 6758 was approved, and should therefore be construed in this light in its relation with the latter. A new statute should be interpreted in connection with those already existing in relation to the same subject matter and all should be made to harmonize and stand together interpretare et concordare legibus est optimus interpretandi.

Issues:

1) Whether the Constitution empowers the CSC to prescribe and enforce civil service rules and regulations contrary to laws passed by Congress;

2) Whether the requirement in Section 1(c), Rule III of CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40, s. 1998, as amended by CSC Memorandum Circular No. 15, s. 1999, applies to appointments in TIDCORP; and

3) Whether De Guzmans appointment as Financial Management Specialist IV in TIDCORP is valid.

Held:

Petition is meritorious.

Directly at issue is the application of Section 1(c), Rule III of CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40, s. 1998, to appointments in TIDCORP. TIDCORP claims that its exemption, embodied in Section 7 of its charter, precludes the application of this requirement. The CSC, on the other hand, maintains its stance that appointments in a GOCC should follow the civil service laws on appointments, regardless of its exemption from the civil service rules on compensation, position classification and qualification standards.

While the CSC has authority over personnel actions in GOCCs, the rules it formulates pursuant to this mandate should not contradict or amend the civil service laws it implements.

The CSCs rule-making power, albeit constitutionally granted, is still limited to the implementation and interpretation of the laws it is tasked to enforce.

the CSCs rule-making power is subsumed under its designation as the governments "central personnel agency" in Section 3, Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution. The original draft of Section 3 empowered the CSC to "promulgate and enforce policies on personnel actions, classify positions, prescribe conditions of employment except as to compensation and other monetary benefits which shall be provided by law." This, however, was deleted during the constitutional commissions deliberations because it was redundant to the CSCs nature as an administrative agency:

MR. REGALADO. This is more for clarification. The original Section 3 states, among others, the functions of the Civil Service Commission to promulgate and enforce policies on personnel actions. Will Commissioner Aquino kindly indicate to us the corresponding provisions and her proposed amendment which would encompass the powers to promulgate and enforce policies on personnel actions?

MS. AQUINO. It is my submission that the same functions are already subsumed under the concept of a central personnel agency.

MR. REGALADO. In other words, all those functions enumerated from line 35 on page 2 to line 1 of page 3, inclusive, are understood to be encompassed in the phrase "central personnel agency of the government."

MS. AQUINO. Yes, Mr. Presiding Officer, except that on line 40 of page 2 and line 1 of the subsequent page, it was only subjected to a little modification.

MR. REGALADO. May we, therefore, make it of record that the phrase ". . . promulgate and enforce policies on personnel actions, classify positions, prescribe conditions of employment except as to compensation and other monetary benefits which shall be provided by law" is understood to be subsumed under and included in the concept of a central personnel agency.

MS. AQUINO. I would have no objection to that.

The 1987 Administrative Code then spelled out the CSCs rule-making power in concrete terms in Section 12, Book V, Title I-A, which empowered the CSC to implement the civil service law and other pertinent laws, and to promulgate policies, standards and guidelines for the civil service.

The CSCs rule-making power as a constitutional grant is an aspect of its independence as a constitutional commission. It places the grant of this power outside the reach of Congress, which cannot withdraw the power at any time.

Hence, the present Constitution upgraded to a constitutional status the aforesaid statutory authority to grant the Commission broader and more flexible powers to effectively perform its duties and to insulate it further from legislative intrusions. Doubtless, if its rule-making power is made to depend on statutes, Congress may withdraw the same at any time. Indeed, the present Constitution envisions a truly independent Commission on Elections committed to ensure free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible elections, and to serve as the guardian of the people's sacred right of suffrage the citizenry's vital weapon in effecting a peaceful change of government and in achieving and promoting political stability.

But while the grant of the CSCs rule-making power is untouchable by Congress, the laws that the CSC interprets and enforces fall within the prerogative of Congress. As an administrative agency, the CSCs quasi- legislative power is subject to the same limitations applicable to other administrative bodies. The rules that the CSC formulates must not override, but must be in harmony with, the law it seeks to apply and implement.

"Under the principles of statutory construction, if a statute is clear, plain and free from ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning and applied without attempted interpretation. This plain-meaning rule or verba legis is derived from the maxim index animi sermo est (speech is the index of intention) and rests on the valid presumption that the words employed by the legislature in a statute correctly express its intent and preclude the court from construing it differently. The legislature is presumed to know the meaning of the words, to have used words advisedly, and to have expressed its intent by the use of such words as are found in the statute. Verba legis non est recedendum, or from the words of a statute there should be no departure."

De Guzman's appointment as Financial Management Specialist IV is valid.