Legaspi Vs CSC

2.
Whether or not the Civil Service Commission is obliged to produce

Legaspi vs. Civil Service Commission the information regarding the eligibilities of certain persons employed
150 SCRA 530 , as sanitarians in the Health Department of Cebu City?
May 29, 1987
RULING:
FACTS:
The fundamental right of the people to information on matters 1. YES. To be given due course, a Petition for mandamus must have
of public concern is invoked in this special civil action for been instituted by a party aggrieved by the alleged inaction of any
mandamus instituted by petitioner Valentin L. Legaspi against tribunal, corporation, board or person which unlawfully excludes said
the Civil Service Commission. party from the enjoyment of a legal right. The petitioner in every case
The respondent had earlier denied Legaspi's request for must therefore be an "aggrieved party" in the sense that he possesses
information on the civil service eligibilities of certain persons a clear legal right to be enforced and a direct interest in the duty or act
employed as sanitarians in the Health Department of Cebu to be performed.
City.
These government employees, Julian Sibonghanoy and In the case before Us, the respondent takes issue on the
Mariano Agas, had allegedly represented themselves as civil personality of the petitioner to bring this suit. It is asserted that, the
service eligibles who passed the civil service examinations for instant Petition is bereft of any allegation of Legaspi's actual interest
sanitarians. in the civil service eligibilities of Julian Sibonghanoy and Mariano
Petitioner prays for the issuance of the extraordinary writ of Agas, At most there is a vague reference to an unnamed client in
mandamus to compel the respondent Commission to disclose whose behalf he had allegedly acted when he made inquiries on the
said information. subject.
The Solicitor General interposes procedural objections to Our
giving due course to this Petition. But what is clear upon the face of the Petition is that the
o He challenges the petitioner's standing to sue petitioner has firmly anchored his case upon the right of the people to
upon the ground that the latter does not information on matters of public concern, which, by its very nature, is
possess any clear legal right to be informed a public right. It has been held that:
of the civil service eligibilities of the * * * when the question is one of public right and the object of
government employees concerned. the mandamus is to procure the enforcement of a public duty,
o He calls attention to the alleged failure of the the people are regarded as the real party in interest and the
petitioner to show his actual interest in relator at whose instigation the proceedings are instituted
securing this particular information. need not show that he has any legal or special interest in the
o He further argues that there is no ministerial result, it being sufficient to show that he is a citizen and as
duty on the part of the Commission to furnish such interested in the execution of the laws * * * (Tanada et.
the petitioner with the information he seeks. al. vs. Tuvera, et. al., G.R. No. L- 63915, April 24, 1985, 136
SCRA 27, 36).
ISSUES:
From the foregoing, it becomes apparent that when a
1. Whether or not the petitioner has a standing to assert the right to mandamus proceeding involves the assertion of a public right, the
information? requirement of personal interest is satisfied by the mere fact that the
petitioner is a citizen, and therefore, part of the general "public" which
possesses the right. The petitioner, being a citizen who, as such is The civil service eligibility of a sanitarian being of public
clothed with personality to seek redress for the alleged obstruction of concern, and in the absence of express limitations under the law upon
the exercise of the public right. We find no cogent reason to deny his access to the register of civil service eligibles for said position, the duty
standing to bring the present suit. of the respondent Commission to confirm or deny the civil service
eligibility of any person occupying the position becomes imperative.
2. YES. The information sought by the petitioner in this case is the Mandamus, therefore lies.
truth of the claim of certain government employees that they are civil
service eligibles for the positions to which they were appointed. The WHEREFORE, the Civil Service Commission is ordered to open its
Constitution expressly declares as a State policy that: register of eligibles for the position of sanitarian, and to confirm or
Appointments in the civil service shall be made only according deny, the civil service eligibility of Julian Sibonghanoy and Mariano
to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as practicable, Agas, for said position in the Health Department of Cebu City, as
and except as to positions which are policy determining, requested by the petitioner Valentin L. Legaspi.
primarily confidential or highly technical, by competitive
examination. (Art. IX, B, Sec. 2.[2]).
Public office being a public trust, [Const. Art. XI, Sec. 1] it is

the legitimate concern of citizens to ensure that government positions
requiring civil service eligibility are occupied only by persons who are
eligibles. Public officers are at all times accountable to the people even
as to their eligibilities for their respective positions.
But then, it is not enough that the information sought is of

public interest. For mandamus to lie in a given case, the information
must not be among the species exempted by law from the operation
of the constitutional guarantee.
In the instant case, while refusing to confirm or deny the

claims of eligibility, the respondent has failed to cite any provision in
the Civil Service Law which would limit the petitioner's right to know
who are, and who are not, civil service eligibles. We take judicial notice
of the fact that the names of those who pass the civil service
examinations, as in bar examinations and licensure examinations for
various professions, are released to the public. Hence, there is nothing
secret about one's civil service eligibility, if actually possessed.
Petitioner's request is, therefore, neither unusual nor unreasonable.
And when, as in this case, the government employees concerned
claim to be civil service eligibles, the public, through any citizen, has a
right to verify their professed eligibilities from the Civil Service
Commission.

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2.

Whether or not the Civil Service Commission is obliged to produce

Public office being a public trust, [Const. Art. XI, Sec. 1] it is

But then, it is not enough that the information sought is of

In the instant case, while refusing to confirm or deny the

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