MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
[ Memorandum Circular No. 599, October 3, 1972 ]
MAKING CERTAIN CLARIFICATION CONCERNING LETTERS OF INSTRUCTIONS NOS. 11 AND 14 DATED SEPTEMBER 26 AND JULY 29, 1972, RESPECTIVELY.
In view of inquiries regarding supposed conflicts between the provisions of Letters of Instruction Nos. 11 and 14 dated September 26 and 29, 1972, respectively, the following clarifications are hereby made for the benefits of all concerned. The Letters of Instructions pertinently read:
“In order to facilitate the reorganization of the Executive Branch of the national government as directed in Presidential Decree No. 1, dated September 24, 1972, and in order that the Judicial Branch may also be reorganized so as to meet the necessities of the present national emergency, make the government machinery more responsive to the needs of the people and effect economy, I hereby direct, pursuant to General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, that all officers of the national government whose appointments are vested in the President of the Philippines submit their resignations from office, thru their Department Heads, not later than October 15, 1972.” (Letter of Instruction No. 11.)
“In order to facilitate the reorganization of the Government and to speed up the current intensified effort to weed out undesirable government officials and employees, you are hereby directed to require all officials and employees in your department, office, or agency who are facing charges or are notoriously undesirable on the ground of dishonestly, incompetence or other kinds of misconduct defined in the Civil Service law or rules to tender their resignations immediately or else face charges and immediate suspension, the suspension to last until the promulgation by proper authority of the decision on the charges.
“These officials and employees shall tender their resignations within one week after the publication of this Order in your department (which should be done immediately), and immediately after such period proper charges shall be filed against those who refuse to tender their resignations, and those officials and employees shall be suspended immediately.” (Letter of Instruction No. 14)
From these excerpts, it is to be observed that Letter of Instructions No. 11 refers to presidential appointees in general, that is, those whose appointments are expressly vested in the President of the Philippines, whether subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments or not, and those whose appointments, though not expressly vested in the President, are, by sense that they are appointed upon indication or through instructions of the President, like chairman, presidents and general managers of certain government boards or corporations, institutions, agencies or instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, and state universities, schools, and colleges.
Letter of Instruction No. 14, on the other hand, refers to non-presidential appointees, that is, those subordinate officers and employees whose appointments are ordinarily vested in department heads and governing boards or managers of government corporations, institutions and instrumentalities, etc.
Pursuant to Letter of Instructions No. 11, presidential appointees and those deemed as presidential are required to tender their resignations on or before October 15, 1972, irrespective of whether there is any pending case against them or not. Pursuant to Letter of Instructions No. 14, two categories of non-presidential appointees are required to tender their resignations: (1) those who are actually facing administrative charges and (2) those who, though not having any charges against them, are notoriously undesirable for being dishonest, incompetent or otherwise liable for certain kinds of misconduct as defined under the civil service law and rules, upon the advice of the respective heads of bureau, office, or agency. Both groups are required to tender their resignation within one week after the promulgation of said Letter of Instruction No. 14 in their respective departments. If they fail or refuse to do so within the period given, they shall be charged (for those without administrative cases against them) and suspended immediately, the suspension to continue until the final disposition of their cases.
These clarifications are to be disseminated among the several departments immediately.1âшphi1
By authority of the President:
(SGD.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA
Assistant Executive Secretary
Manila, October 3, 1972
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