Manila Public School Teachers' Association v. Garcia

DOCTRINE: all statutes, including those of local application and private laws, shall be published as a condition for their effectivity, which shall begin fifteen days after publication unless a different effectivity date is fixed by the legislature.

FACTS: Under the GSIS Act, the employee-member and the employer-agency are required by law to pay monthly contributions to the system. The share of the employer ("GS," or government share) is sourced from the national budget, while that of the employee ("PS," or personal share) is automatically deducted by the former from the employee's salary. The employer is mandated to remit the GS and PS directly to the GSIS within the first 10 days of the calendar month following the month to which the contributions apply. 

One of the changes made in R.A. 8291 was the increase in the employer's contribution from 9.5% to 12%. However, there was no concomitant increase in the budget appropriation. As a result, DepEd was unable to pay GSIS the equivalent of the 2.5% increase in the employer's share. 

In the meantime, GSIS issued the assailed Resolutions, to wit: GSIS Resolutions Nos. 238, 90, and 179, which respectively embody the Claims and Loans Interdependency Policy, Premium-Based Policy, and Automatic Policy Loan and Policy Lapse.

These Resolutions were not published in a newspaper of general circulation and were enforced before they were even filed with the Office of the National Administrative Register. 

ISSUE: Whether or not the resolutions are valid.

RULING: The policies are invalid due to lack of publication.

As early as 1986, the Court in Tanada v. Tuvera already laid down a definitive interpretation of Article 2 of the Civil Code:

We hold therefore that all statutes, including those of local application and private laws, shall be published as a condition for their effectivity, which shall begin fifteen days after publication unless a different effectivity date is fixed by the legislature.

Covered by this rule are presidential decrees and executive orders promulgated by the President in the exercise of legislative powers whenever the same are validly delegated by the legislature or, at present, directly conferred by the Constitution. Administrative rules and regulations must also be published if their purpose is to enforce or implement existing law pursuant also to a valid delegation.

Interpretative regulations and those merely internal in nature, that is, regulating only the personnel of the administrative agency and not the public, need not be published. Neither is publication required of the so-called letters of instructions issued by administrative superiors concerning the rules or guidelines to be followed by their subordinates in the performance of their duties. 

DISPOSITIVE PORTION:

WHEREFORE, the Petition is PARTIALLY GRANTED. GSIS Resolutions Nos. 238, 90, and 179, which respectively embody the Claims and Loans Interdependency Policy, Premium-Based Policy, and Automatic Policy Loan and Policy Lapse, are declared INVALID and OF NO FORCE AND EFFECT.