Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-26082 July 31, 1968
NORBERTO DE LA REA, petitioner-appellee,
vs.
HON. ABELARDO SUBIDO, in his capacity as Civil Service Commissioner,
and HON. JOSE D. CALDERON, General Manager, National Marketing Corporation, respondents-appellants.
-----------------------------
G.R. No. L-27246 July 31, 1968 .
ISMAEL MATHAY, SR., in his capacity as Auditor General,
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS and GENERAL MANAGER, NATIONAL MARKETING CORPORATION, ABELARDO SUBIDO, in his capacity as Civil Service Commissioner,
THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, and PAULINO T. DEL MUNDO, petitioners,
vs.
HON. FRANCISCO ARCA, in his capacity as Judge of the Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch I,
JOSE SAN AGUSTIN, in his capacity as Clerk of Court and Sheriff of Manila,
NORBERTO DE LA REA and AMANDO CUADERNO, respondents.
-----------------------------
G.R. No. L-27248 July 31, 1968
NORBERTO DE LA REA and AMANDO CUADERNO, petitioners and appellees,
vs.
ISMAEL MATHAY, SR., in his capacity as Auditor General,
BOARD OF DIRECTORS and GENERAL MANAGER, NATIONAL MARKETING CORPORATION, respondents and appellants.
R E S O L U T I O N
DIZON, J.:
Before Us now are the following: (1) A MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION filed by Norberto de la Rea concerning: (a) the length of his service as Auditor and Corporate Auditor of NAMARCO; (b) the basis to be used in the computation of the amount he has been sentenced to refund; (c) his status in the service from the date of his ouster therefrom and immediately prior to his reinstatement to his original position as Pasay City Auditor; (d) the six months suspension imposed upon him by the Commissioner of Civil Service; and (2) A MOTION FOR PARTIAL RECONSIDERATION filed by the Auditor General and the Commissioner of Civil Service, claiming that, as De la Rea had waived his right to return to his former position as City Auditor of Pasay, our decision of March 1, 1968 in the above-entitled cases should be modified accordingly.
The Auditor General and the Commissioner of Civil Service also filed an opposition to de la Rea's motion for clarification.
In connection with the above matters, it is pertinent to bear in mind and consider the following portion of our decision: .1äwphï1.ñët
In accordance with the foregoing, it is clear that the promotional appointments extended to De la Rea by the Auditor General involved in the cases before Us were not final nor complete, and as both were disapproved by the Commissioner of Civil Service, they ceased to exist in law upon said disapproval becoming final and executory. Consequently, it is also clear that De la Rea should be deemed to have reverted to his position of Auditor of Pasay City; that he would be entitled to collect and receive the salary of Auditor or Corporate Auditor of NAMARCO during the period he acted as such, but only at the rate of P15,600 per year, this being the annual salary for the position of Assistant General Manager of the NAMARCO. This is in accordance with Republic Act No. 2260 which provides that the salary of corporate auditors shall be equal to the salary authorized for the first assistant or next ranking managing head of the Corporation.
The dispositive part of our decision related to the abovequoted portion is as follows:
(1) In G.R. No. L-26082, the decision appealed from (Civil Case No. 63551) is hereby reversed and set aside, and judgment is rendered declaring valid the decisions of the respondent Commissioner of Civil Service Subido (1) finding De la Rea guilty of misconduct in office in Administrative Case No. 28684, and (2) disapproving the promotional appointments extended by Auditor General Jimenez in favor of petitioner Norberto de la Rea, first as Auditor and subsequently as Corporate Auditor of National Marketing Corporation.
(2) In G.R. No. L-27248, the decision from its likewise reversed and set aside together with the order and writ of execution pending appeal issued on February 6, 1967.
Furthermore, in consonance with the findings and conclusions set forth above with respect to G.R. No. L-26082 and G.R. No. L-27248, We hereby declare that upon the disapproval of De la Rea's appointments as Auditor and later as Corporate Auditor of NAMARCO, he reverted to his original position as Auditor of Pasay City. As a result, he is hereby sentenced to pay to the National Marketing Corporation whatever may be the difference between his salary as Auditor of Pasay City, on the one hand, and the salary that he had collected and received as Auditor or Corporate Auditor of NAMARCO from the time the decision disapproving his appointments for such positions became final. In this connection, the case (Civil Case No. 67663) is remanded below for further proceedings in connection with the accounting to be made.
Due to the peculiar facts involved in the cases at bar — particularly the circumstances that De la Rea, a government Auditor, appears to have become enmeshed in the dispute between the Auditor General and the Commissioner of Civil Service regarding their respective powers over the appointment of auditors assigned to different governmental agencies — We endeavored to decide the issues raised by the parties on the basis of broad considerations of fairness and equity. Thus We held that upon the finality of the disapproval by the Commissioner of Civil Service of the promotional appointments extended by the Auditor General in favor of De la Rea, first as Auditor and later as Corporate Auditor of NAMARCO, he should be deemed to have reverted to his original position as Auditor of Pasay City.
We held, however, that during the period he acted as Auditor of NAMARCO in accordance with said promotional appointments, he was entitled to collect and receive the salary appertaining to said positions, but only at the rate of P15,600 per annum.
Upon the other hand, it is not disputed that De la Rea's salary as Auditor of Pasay City was P11,400 per annum.
Considering the foregoing, the reimbursement to be made in accordance with our original decision must be on this basis:.
(a) No reimbursement need be made by De la Rea in relation to the period he had actually served as Auditor or Corporate Auditor of NAMARCO, unless at any time during the said period he collected monthly salaries in excess of P15,600 per annum, or he continued to act as Auditor and to collect the corresponding salary even after the disapproval of his appointments had become final;.
(b) After the finality of said disapproval, De la Rea shall reimburse NAMARCO the excess of whatever salaries he had collected from the latter as its Auditor or Corporate Auditor, over the salary corresponding to the position of Auditor of Pasay City, namely P11,400 per annum.
The dates when De la Rea started collecting salary from NAMARCO under his aforesaid two promotional appointments; the date when the decision of the Commissioner of Civil Service disapproving said appointments became final and executory, the date when he actually stopped collecting and receiving salary from NAMARCO are matters to be threshed out in the proceedings to be had below.
Going now to the motion for partial reconsideration filed by the Auditor General and the Commissioner of Civil Service, We find the same to be without merit for the reasons stated in our original decision.
In connection with the penalty of six months suspension without pay imposed upon De la Rea by the Commissioner of Civil Service effective upon notice of the latter's decision, De la Rea says the following in this motion for clarification —
IV. On de la Rea's suspension for six (6) months (L-26082). —
In G.R. No. L-26082 this Honorable Court sustained the authority of the Commissioner of Civil Service to suspend de la Rea from office. Since March 8, 1967 and up to the present, a period of over one (1) year, de la Rea is actually out of the service. In justice and equity, de la Rea should be deemed to have fully satisfied the penalty of suspension from office imposed upon him. His suspension from office for six months can be compensated with the first six months starting March 8, 1967 that de la Rea has been out of the service illegally.
It is, therefore, manifest that, as the Solicitor General says in his motion for partial reconsideration, De la Rea has not served the sentence thus imposed upon him but instead brought suit questioning its legality. But, as he avers in his motion for clarification, he has already been out of the service for a period of over one year as a consequence of all these litigations in which he had become involved, We deem it reasonable to have the six months suspension from office imposed by the Commissioner of Civil Service as compensable with the first six months of the period during which de la Rea has actually been kept out of the service by reason of pertinent decision and orders of the Commissioner of Civil Service.
THUS MODIFIED, the decision rendered heretofore in the above-entitled cases is affirmed in all other respects.
Reyes, J.B.L., Makalintal, Zaldivar, Sanchez, Castro, Angeles and Fernando, JJ., concur.
Concepcion, C.J., took no part.
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