G.R. No. L-20272, December 27, 1963
GUILLERMO BA. SOREÑO, petitioner, vs. THE SECRETARY OF JUSTICE, et al., respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Guillermo Ba. Soreño was appointed as Justice of the Peace of Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental, by then President Carlos P. Garcia on December 13, 1961. The appointment was transmitted through official channels, reaching Soreño on December 26, 1961, on which date he promptly took his oath of office before the Executive Judge. His ad interim appointment was later confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on April 27, 1962. However, the succeeding administration of President Diosdado Macapagal, through Administrative Order No. 2 dated December 31, 1961, withdrew and recalled numerous appointments made by the outgoing president. Relying on this order, the Secretary of Justice refused to authorize the payment of Soreño’s salaries and sought to prevent him from discharging his duties, contending his appointment was a “midnight appointment” voided by the administrative order and the precedent in Aytona vs. Castillo.
An intervenor, Marcelo Z. Culi, claimed title to the same office by virtue of a subsequent appointment dated December 4, 1962, having taken his oath and assumed office in 1963. The core dispute centered on whether Soreño’s appointment was validly perfected before the cut-off established by Administrative Order No. 2, or whether it was among the mass of last-minute appointments deemed withdrawn.

ISSUE

Whether the writs of mandamus and prohibition should be granted, compelling respondents to allow petitioner to perform his duties as Justice of the Peace and to pay his corresponding salaries, by determining the validity of his appointment against the challenge posed by Administrative Order No. 2.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the writs, ruling in favor of petitioner Soreño. The legal logic hinges on distinguishing his appointment from the irregular “midnight appointments” nullified in Aytona vs. Castillo. The Court meticulously examined the timeline and found that Soreño’s appointment was signed on December 13 and transmitted through regular official business, reaching him and being sworn in on December 26. Crucially, his papers were forwarded to the Commission on Appointments on December 26, not December 29, 1961—the date associated with the rushed, mass submissions of the so-called “midnight appointees.” This sequence demonstrated regularity and an absence of the haste and irregularities that characterized the appointments targeted by Administrative Order No. 2.
Therefore, the presumption of regularity attached to Soreño’s appointment. Since he had fully qualified—having received, accepted, and taken his oath for the office—prior to the issuance of Administrative Order No. 2 on December 31, 1961, his vested right to the office could not be validly withdrawn by that subsequent administrative act. His appointment was valid and effective, obligating the respondents to recognize his authority and pay his accrued salaries from the date he assumed duty. The appointment of the intervenor, being subsequent, could not supersede Soreño’s valid and prior title to the office.