G.R. No. 222710 - Dissenting Opinion




G.R. No. 222710, July 24, 2018, ♦ Decision, Tijam, [J] ♦ Dissenting Opinion, Leonen, [J] ♦ Dissenting Opinion, Caguioa, [J] EN BANC [ G.R. No. 222710. July 24, 2018 ] PHILIPPINE HEALTH INSURANCE CORPORATION, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT, CHAIRPERSON MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO, DIRECTOR JOSEPH B. ANACAY AND SUPERVISING AUDITOR ELENA L. AGUSTIN, RESPONDENTS. DISSENTING OPINION LEONEN, J.: To fall under the coverage of Republic Act No. 7305 and its Revised Implementing Rules, the ponencia emphasized that one must be principally charged to provide health and health-related services.1 Construing from the nature of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) as the administrator of the National Health Insurance Program, through which covered personnel may obtain access to various health services,2 the ponencia concluded that PhilHealth employees cannot be deemed as public health workers under Republic Act No. 7305 and its Revised Implementing Rules.3 This is, notwithstanding, the clear definition provided for under the pertinent law to which PhilHealth employees undeniably belong. Comparing the functions of PhilHealth personnel with those of employees operating in health-related establishments like clinics, medical units of governmental corporations, and other definite health service departments of government agencies, the ponencia deduced that PhilHealth employees perform tasks not primarily related to health.4 Accordingly, it affirmed the assailed decisions of the Commission on Audit, which upheld the Notice of Disallowance relevant to the payment of longevity pay to PhilHealth personnel.5 I disagree. PhilHealth employees fall under the clear delineation of public health workers under Republic Act No. 7305 and its Revised Implementing Rules. In keeping with the words and intent of the law, they should be afforded longevity pay as an additional compensation warranted by law to public health workers.1âшphi1 I Republic Act No. 7305, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers, seeks: (a) [T]o promote and improve the social and economic well-being of the health workers, their living and working conditions and terms of employment; (b) to develop their skills and capabilities in order that they will be more responsive and better equipped to deliver health projects and programs; and (c) to encourage those with proper qualifications and excellent abilities to join and remain in government service.6 In furtherance of these purposes, Section 20 of the same law provides that public health workers shall, in addition to their basic salary, receive hazard, subsistence, laundry, and remote assignment allowances, as well as longevity pay.7 Accordingly, Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7305 defines health workers as: [A]ll persons who are engaged in health and health-related work, and all persons employed in all hospitals, sanitaria, health infirmaries, health centers, rural health units, barangay health stations, clinics and other health-related establishments owned and operated by the government or its political subdivisions with original charters and shall include medical, allied health professional, administrative and support personnel employed regardless of their employment status. (Emphasis supplied) The Secretary of Health, pursuant to the authority given under Section 358 of Republic Act No. 7305 and after proper consultation with other government agencies, issued the Implementing Rules and Regulations and the equivalent specific directives pertaining to the execution of the law.9 Hence, Rule III of the Revised Implementing Rules of Republic Act No. 7305 particularly refers to the following as Public Health Workers covered by the benefits provided for under the law: 1. Public Health Workers (PWH) - Persons engaged in health and health-related works. These cover employees in any of the following: a. Any government entity whose primary function according to its legal mandate is the delivery of health services and the operation of hospitals, sanitaria, health infirmaries, health centers, rural health units, barangay health stations, clinics or other institutional forms which similarly perform health delivery functions, like clinical laboratories, treatment and rehabilitation centers, x-ray facilities and other similar activities involving the rendering of health services to the public; and b. Offices attached to agencies whose primary function according to their legal mandates involves provision, financing or regulation of health services. Also covered are medical and allied health professionals, as well as administrative and support personnel, regardless of their employment status. 2. Health-Related Establishment - health service facility or unit which performs health service delivery functions within an agency whose legal mandate is not primarily the delivery of health services. This applies to, among others, clinics or medical departments of government corporations, medical corps and hospitals of the AFP, and specific health service section, division, bureau or any type of organizational subdivision of a government agency. In no case shall the law apply to the whole agency when the primary function of the agency is not the delivery of health services. (Emphasis supplied) From the foregoing definitions, a public health worker engaged in health and health-related work not only encompasses one who actually and directly delivers health services through hospitals and other similar institutions10 but also includes those involved on aspects of provision, financing, and regulation11 with which PhilHealth personnel are certainly engaged. Republic Act No. 7875, otherwise known as the National Health Insurance Act of 1995,12 established a National Health Insurance Program, "which shall provide health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available and accessible health care services" for all Filipino citizens.13 To administer the program,14 PhilHealth was created.15 The following functions of PhilHealth, among others, substantiate that its employees perform tasks pertinent to the provisions and regulations of health services. Article IV, Section 16 of Republic Act No. 7875, as amended, provides: a) To administer the National Health Insurance Program; b) To formulate and promulgate policies for the sound administration of the Program; c) To supervise the provision of health benefits and to set standards, rules, and regulations necessary to ensure quality of care, appropriate utilization of services, fund viability, member satisfaction, and overall accomplishment of Program objectives; d) To formulate and implement guidelines on contributions and benefits; portability of benefits, cost containment and quality assurance; and health care provider arrangements, payment methods, and referral systems; .... j) To negotiate and enter into contracts with health care institutions, professionals, and other persons, juridical or natural, regarding the pricing, payment mechanisms, design and implementation of administrative and operating systems and procedures, financing, and delivery of health services in behalf of its members; .... l) To determine requirements and issue guidelines for the accreditation of health care providers for the Program in accordance with this Act; m) To visit, enter and inspect facilities of health care providers and employers during office hours ... s) To conduct an information campaign on the principles of the [National Health Insurance Program] to the public and to accredited health care providers.... t) To conduct post-audit on the quality of services rendered by health care providers; .... w) To endeavor to support the use of technology in the delivery of health care services especially in farflung areas such as, but not limited to, telemedicine, electronic health record, and the establishment of a comprehensive health database; x) To monitor compliance by the regulatory agencies with the requirements of this Act and to carry out necessary actions to enforce compliance; .... z) To accredit independent pharmacies and retail drug outlets[.] (Emphasis supplied) Apart from being engaged in health and health-related work as provided for under Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7305, PhilHealth personnel are similarly employees of an office attached to another government agency. Article IV, Section 14 of Republic Act No. 7875, as amended, provides: Section 14. Creation and Nature of the Corporation. - There is hereby created a Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, which shall have the status of a tax-exempt government corporation attached to the Department of Health for Policy coordination and guidance. (Emphasis supplied) Among the principal functions of the Department of Health are the provision, financing, and regulation of health services.16 The Department of Health is mainly responsible "for the formulation, planning, implementation, and coordination of policies and programs in the field of health."17 Pursuant to its mandate, its primary task involves the "promotion, protection, preservation or restoration of the health of the people through the provision and delivery of health services and through the regulation and encouragement of providers of health goods and services."18 Thus: Section 3. Powers and Functions. - The Department shall: .... (2) Provide for health programs, services, facilities and other requirements as may be needed, subject to availability of funds and administrative rules and regulations; (3) Coordinate or collaborate with, and assist local communities, agencies and interested groups including international organizations in activities related to health; (4) Administer all laws, rules and regulations in the field of health, including quarantine laws and food and drug safety laws; (5) Collect, analyze and disseminate statistical and other relevant information on the country's health situation, and require the reporting of such information from appropriate sources; (6) Propagate health information and educate the population on important health, medical and environmental matters which have health implications; .... (8) Regulate the operation of and issue licenses and permits to government and private hospitals, clinics and dispensaries, laboratories, blood banks, drugstores and such other establishments which by the nature of their functions are required to be regulated by the Department; (9) Issue orders and regulations concerning the implementation of established health policies;...19 (Emphasis supplied) Republic Act No. 7305 and its Revised Implementing Rules clearly define who public health workers are. Accordingly, PhilHealth personnel fall within the definition provided for under Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7305 as they are engaged in both health and health-related work. Particularly, they are employees of an office attached to the Department of Health, which has an explicit mandate to be involved in both the provision and regulation of health services. To limit the characterization of public health workers as only to those who are actually involved in the delivery of health services, through hospitals and health-related establishments, as what the ponencia did, disregards the law and its purpose. II Then Secretary of Health Alberto Romualdez's prior Certification that PhilHealth employees are public health workers,20 as similarly confirmed in the Opinion issued by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel,21 should not be discounted. The Commission on Audit, as the guardian of public funds, has vast powers on accounts relevant to government proceeds and disbursements, and to the utilization of public funds and property.22 While this Court recognizes that the Commission on Audit's "general audit power is among the constitutional mechanisms that [give] life to the check and balance system inherent in our form of govemment,"23 this does not, in any way, empower it to overrule a reasonable interpretation of an executive body pursuant to the latter's statutory mandate. The construction adopted by the Department of Health as the one tasked to carry out the provisions of Republic Act No. 7305 should be given credence.24 The reason behind this includes not only the advent of the "modern or modernizing society['s]" diverse demands and the institution of varied administrative units dealing with those necessities, but also the "accumulation of experience and growth of specialized capabilities by the administrative agency charged with implementing a particular statute"25 which, accordingly, the Department of Health possesses. Therefore, the Commission on Audit should have acknowledged the Department of Health's authority especially considering that often, the representatives of government agencies charged with the execution of the law, are the ones who prepared the rules they interpret.26 "Fundamental is the precept in administrative law that the rulemaking power delegated to an administrative agency is limited and defined by the statute conferring the power."27 The Department of Health, as the executive branch unit mandated to oversee laws and rules in the field of health and the one particularly tasked under Republic Act No. 7305 to prepare the law's implementing rules, determines who are especially covered by the benefits of Republic Act No. 7305.28 Considering that the Department of Health's determination is in consonance with the law and its purpose, the Commission on Audit cannot completely ignore the Department of Health's statutory authority and readily substitute the Department of Health's resolution with its own determination. Accordingly, I vote to grant the Petition. The Commission on Audit April 1, 2015 Decision No. 2015-09429 and November 9, 2015 Resolution,30 which affirmed Notice of Disallowance No. H.O. 12-005(11) relevant to the payment of longevity pay as provided for under Republic Act No. 7305 to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation officers and employees for the period of January 2011 to September 2011,31 should be reversed and set aside. Footnotes 1 Ponencia, p. 9. 2 Id. at 1. 3 Id. at 11. 4 Id. at 11-12. 5 Id. at 14. 6 Rep. Act No. 7305, sec. 2. 7See Rep. Act No. 7305, secs. 20 and 23 provide: Section 20. Additional Compensation. - Notwithstanding Section 12 of Republic Act No. 6758, public health workers shall receive the following allowances: hazard allowance, subsistence allowance, longevity pay, laundry allowance and remote assignment allowance. Section 23. Longevity Pay. - A monthly longevity pay equivalent to five percent (5%) of the monthly basic pay shall be paid to a health worker for every five (5) years of continuous, efficient and meritorious services rendered as certified by the chief of office concerned, commencing with the service after the approval of this Act. 8 Rep. Act No. 7305, sec. 35 provides: Section 35. Rules and Regulations. - The Secretary of Health after consultation with appropriate agencies of the government as well as professional and health workers' organizations or unions, shall formulate and prepare the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act. Rules and regulations issued pursuant to this Section shall take effect thirty (30) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation. 9 REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS ON THE MAGNA CARTA OF PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS (1999). 10 See REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES OF REP. ACT NO. 7305, Rule III, 1 (a). 11 See REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES OF REP. ACT NO. 7305, Rule III, 1 (b). 12 Rep. Act No. 7875 was amended by Rep. Act No. 9241 (2004) and Rep. Act No. 10606 (2013). 13 See Rep. Act No. 7875, art. III, sec. 5, as amended. 14 See Rep. Act No. 7875, sec. 16, as amended. 15 See PhilHealth History, available at . (Last accessed on February 13, 2018) 16 See Rule III, 1(b) of the Revised Implementing Rules of Republic Act No. 7305. 17 See ADM. CODE, Title IX, chap. I, sec. 2. 18 See ADM. CODE, Title IX, chap. I, sec. 2. 19 See ADM. CODE, Title IX, chap. I, sec. 3. 20 Ponencia, p. 2, Certification dated February 20, 2000. 21 Id. OGCC Opinion. Series of2001 dated April 26, 2001. 22 Veloso v. Commission on Audit, 672 Phil. 419 (2011) [Per J. Peralta, En Banc]. 23 Id. at 431. 24 See Asturias Sugar Central, Inc. v. Commissioner of Customs, 140 Phil. 20 (1969) [Per J. Castro, En Banc]. 25 Pest Management Association of the Philippines v. Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, 545 Phil. 258, 265 (2007) [Per J. Austria-Martinez, En Banc]. 26 Id. 27 See Re: Entitlement to Hazard Pay of SC Medical and Dental Clinic Personnel, 592 Phil. 389, 398 (2008) [Per J. Tinga, En Banc]. 28 See Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawa sa GSIS v. COA, 480 Phil. 861 (2004) [Per J. Tinga, En Banc]. 29 Rollo, pp. 55-58. The Decision was signed by Commissioners Heidi L. Mendoza and Jose A. Fabia and attested by Director IV Nilda B. Plaras. 30 Id. at 129. 31 See Ponencia p. 20, see rollo, pp. 55-58 and 129. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation