Salvacion Asor, Myrna Macuja, Ma.

Christina Mendoza and Mina Natalia Vargas to

MAYOR MARCEL S. PAN, REPRESENTING THE MUNICIPALITY OF GOA, fill up the ranks.
CAMARINES SUR AS MAYOR, vs. YOLANDA O. PEñA, MARIVIC P. ENCISO,  A total of 31 employees, including Rs, were separated from the service
MELINDA S. CANTOR, ROMEO ASOR AND EDGAR A. ENCISO
Abolition of Office | G.R. No. 174244 February 13, 2009| Carpio-Morales Rs filed an appeal with CSC, which it granted, noting that the separated employees had long
government service while the newly appointment ones only had little government service/less
Nature of Case: Appeal from decision of Mayor not to appoint Rs to new positions after qualifications, and even if the reason of the Mayor for non-appointment was lack of civil
reorganization service eligibility, the replacements didn’t have eligibility either. (See Notes for details in case
Digest maker: SZE Sir asks) Thus the separation was in violation of RA 6656 1 and it ordered reinstatement and
SUMMARY: Pursuant to a reorganization in the Municipality of Goa, Camarines Sur, Pena backwages.
et al were separated from service. They applied for the new positions, however, their
applications were denied and the Mayor appointed people with less qualifications/less CA affirmed.
years in the government service. The issue was whether they were separated from service
pursuant to a valid reorganization. Arguments of Mayor:

DOCTRINE: A reorganization "involves the reduction of personnel, consolidation of offices, All those retained in the reorganization are permanent employees holding permanent
or abolition thereof by reason of economy or redundancy of functions." It could result in the positions who are equally, if not better, qualified compared with Rs.
loss of one’s position through removal or abolition of an office. For a reorganization for the
purpose of economy or to make the bureaucracy more efficient to be valid, however, it must He questions the conflicting actions of the CSC when it still ordered the reinstatement despite
pass the test of good faith, otherwise it is void ab initio. its approval of the appointment of the new appointees.

Section 2 of R.A. No. 6656 cites certain circumstances showing bad faith in the removal of ISSUE/S & RATIO:
employees as a result of any reorganization, one of which is “Where an office is abolished
and another performing substantially the same functions is created”. 1. W/N Mayor complied with the provisions of R.A. 6656 in effecting Rs separation from the
service? NO.
In this case, there was a recreation of 6 casual positions for clerk II and utility worker I,
which positions were previously held by Marivic, Cantor, Asor and Enciso. The A reorganization "involves the reduction of personnel, consolidation of offices, or abolition
appointment of casuals to these recreated positions violates R.A. 6656 which states thereof by reason of economy or redundancy of functions." It alters the existing structure of
“Officers and employees holding permanent appointments shall be given preference for government offices or units therein, including the lines of control, authority and responsibility
appointment to the new positions”. between them to make the bureaucracy more responsive to the needs of the public clientele as
authorized by law. It could result in the loss of one’s position through removal or abolition of
FACTS: an office. For a reorganization for the purpose of economy or to make the bureaucracy more
efficient to be valid, however, it must pass the test of good faith, otherwise it is void ab initio.
Marcel Pan (the mayor), after winning the mayoralty post in the Municipality of Goa,
Camarines Sur in the 1998 Elections, initiated a reorganization of the local government, As a general rule, a reorganization is carried out in "good faith" if it is for the purpose
allegedly due to the large budgetary deficit of the municipality brought about by a bloated of economy or to make bureaucracy more efficient.
bureaucracy.  no dismissal (in case of a dismissal) or separation actually occurs because
the position itself ceases to exist.
 To start, the Sangguniang Bayan passed a Resolution to give the mayor full authority  Security of Tenure would not be a Chinese wall.
to restructure the LGU
 Affected by this reorganization were Rs Peña, et al, who were permanent employees Be that as it may, if the "abolition," which is nothing else but a separation or removal,
assigned at the various departments of the LGU but whose positions were abolished. is done for political reasons or purposely to defeat security of tenure, or otherwise
o Pena: local revenue collection officer I (waterworks supervisor) not in good faith, no valid "abolition" takes place and whatever "abolition" is done, is
o Marivic: utility worker II void ab initio.
o Cantor: revenue collection clerk II
o Asor: utility worker II for There is an invalid "abolition" as where there is merely a change of nomenclature of
o Enciso: utility worker I positions, or where claims of economy are belied by the existence of ample funds.

 Rs applied for the newly created positions in the LGU’s new organization , ─ Peña Section 2 of R.A. No. 6656 cites certain circumstances showing bad faith in the removal of
as cashier II; Marivic as local legislative staff or bookbinder; Cantor as revenue employees as a result of any reorganization, thus:
collection clerk; Asor as local legislative staff; and Enciso as bookbinder.
 The Placement Committee overseeing the LGU reorganization did not approve their
applications. Instead, it recommended, and the mayor appointed Evelyn Granadino, 1 Act to Protect the Security of Tenure of Civil Service Officers and Employees in the
Implementation of Government Reorganization of 1988
 Sec. 2. xxx The existence of any or some of the following circumstances may be 3. W/N CSC contradicted itself when it still ordered the reinstatement despite its approval of
considered as evidence of bad faith in the removals made as a result of the the appointment of the new appointees? NO.
reorganization, giving rise to a claim for reinstatement or reappointment by an
aggrieved party: While the CSC never found the new appointees to be unqualified, and never disapproved nor
recalled their appointments as they presumably met all the minimum requirements therefor,
a) Where there is a significant increase in the number of positions in the new staffing pattern of the there is nothing contradictory in the CSC’s course of action as it is limited only to the non-
department or agency concerned;
discretionary authority of determining whether the personnel appointed meet all the required
b) Where an office is abolished and another performing substantially the same functions is created; conditions laid down by law.
c) Where incumbents are replaced by those less qualified in terms of status of appointment,
performance and merit;
Congruently, the CSC can very well order Mayor to reinstate Rs (as these were never actually
abolished) or to appoint them to comparable positions in the new staffing pattern. In fine, the
d) Where there is a reclassification of offices in the department or agency concerned and the reclassified reorganization was not entirely undertaken in the interest of efficiency and austerity but
offices perform substantially the same functions as the original offices; appears to have been made to circumvent the security of tenure of civil service employees like
e) Where the removal violates the order of separation provided in Section 3 hereof. respondents.

And Section 3 of the same law provides for the order of removal of employees as follows: WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The challenged July 14, 2005 Decision of the Court of
Appeals is AFFIRMED.
(a) Casual employees with less than five (5) years of government service;
(b) Casual employees with five (5) years or more of government service; NOTE:
(c) Employees holding temporary appointments; and
(d) Employees holding permanent appointments: Provided, That those in the same category as enumerated
Romeo Asor, 14 years in government service and with 112 training hours, applied for local
above, who are least qualified in terms of performance and merit shall be laid first, length of service
notwithstanding. legislative staff, denied. Instead, Myrna Macuja, who has 3 years service was appointed. Mayor
Pan’s only justification was that Asor has no civil service eligibility. Records, [sic] show that
The CSC highlighted the recreation of 6 casual positions for clerk II and utility worker I, Macuja also has no civil service eligibility. He likewise did not dispute Asor’s allegation.
which positions were previously held by Marivic, Cantor, Asor and Enciso.
 Mayor never disputed this finding nor proferred any proof that the new positions do Edgardo Enciso, a college level who has 6 years government service and with 16 training
not perform the same or substantially the same functions as those of the abolished. hours, applied for Bookbinder position, but was denied. In his stead, C[h]ristina Mendoza, a
 And nowhere in the records does it appear that these recreated positions were first graduate of midwifery[,] was appointed.
offered to R.s
Again, Mayor Pan justified that Edgardo Enciso is non-eligible. However, records reveal that
The appointment of casuals to these recreated positions violates R.A. 6656, as Section 4 thereof Mendoza is likewise a non-civil service eligible. Under the Qualification Standard (QS), civil
instructs that: service eligibility is not required for the said position. Enciso’s allegation was also uncontested.

Sec. 4. Officers and employees holding permanent appointments shall be given Yolanda Peña, an Accounting graduate with Civil Service Eligibility (Professional) and has
preference for appointment to the new positions in the approved staffing pattern been in the government service for 25 years and 289 hours of training [sic], applied for Cashier
comparable to their former positions or in case there are not enough comparable II position. She was not appointed to said position and neither to any position and, instead
positions, to positions next lower in rank. Evelyn Granadino who has only 11 years in the service was preferred and appointed to
Cashier II.
No new employees shall be taken until all permanent officers and employees have
been appointed, including temporary and casual employees who possess the The justification for not appointing Peña to Cashier II is self-serving. There was no proof
necessary qualification requirement, among which is the appropriate civil service shown to support his allegation that the Municipality incurred losses of P400,000.00 during
eligibility, for permanent appointment to positions in the approved staffing pattern, Peña’s incumbency as Supervisor of Waterworks System.
in case there are still positions to be filled, unless such positions are policy-
determining, primarily confidential or highly technical in nature. Marivic Enciso, who has been in service for 10 years & 8 months and with 119 hours of
training, applied for Local Legislative Staff and in the alternative for Bookbinder but her
2. In the case of Peña, W/N the position of waterworks supervisor had been abolished during application was denied. Instead, Myrna Macuja, who is new in the service[,] was appointed.
the reorganization as Mayor Pan claims? NO. Natalia Vargas, who has seven years in service[,] was appointed as Bookbinder. The only
justification Mayor Pan gave for not appointing [Marivic] was that the latter has no civil
Mayor appointed an officer-in-charge in 1999 for its waterworks operations even after a service eligibility. BUT Macuja and Vargas also have no civil service eligibilities.
supposed new staffing pattern had been effected in 1998. Notably, this position of
waterworks supervisor does not appear in the new staffing pattern of the LGU. Apparently, Melinda Cantor, civil service eligible (Subprofessional) and who has 7 years government
the Municipality never intended to do away with such position wholly and permanently as it service and 104 hours training, likewise applied for Clerk II position. Denied. Salvacion Asor,
appointed another person to act as officer-in-charge vested with similar functions. with only 4 months government service, and Fernando Pardinas and Leticia Parpan, both High
School graduates were appointed.