GR L 78973; (January, 1988) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-78973 January 29, 1988
SULTAN MAMINTA M. RADIA, petitioner, vs. REVIEW COMMITTEE UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 17, HADJI ABBAS M. BASMAN, and ENGINEER LACSASA H. PANGADAPUN, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Sultan Maminta M. Radia was appointed City Engineer of Marawi City on May 1, 1985. On April 30, 1986, respondent Hadji Abbas M. Basman, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) City Mayor, terminated Radia’s appointment. The termination memorandum cited Radia’s alleged continuous failure to report to office, insubordination, abandonment of duty, and failure to protect city engineering equipment from loss and damage. Simultaneously, Basman designated respondent Engineer Lacsasa H. Pangadapun as OIC of the City Engineer’s Office.
Radia protested his termination to the Civil Service Commission Regional Director, who initially withdrew approval of Pangadapun’s designation but later reconsidered and approved it, subject to the final resolution by the Review Committee under Executive Order No. 17. The Review Committee, and subsequently the Office of the President, dismissed Radia’s appeal. The Office of the President held that decisions of the Review Committee were final and unappealable under Section 8 of Executive Order No. 17, prompting Radia to file this Petition for Certiorari.
ISSUE
Whether the termination of petitioner Radia from his position as City Engineer was valid.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, upholding the validity of the termination. The legal foundation for the dismissal was Article III (2) of the Provisional Constitution (Proclamation No. 3), which was in effect at the time. This provision stated that all appointive officials under the 1973 Constitution “shall continue in office until otherwise provided by proclamation or executive order or upon the designation or appointment and qualification of their successors.” Crucially, this constitutional clause did not require any specific cause for removal. Therefore, Radia’s tenure lawfully ended upon the designation and qualification of his successor, Pangadapun, on April 30, 1986.
The Court further addressed the applicability of Executive Order No. 17, issued on May 28, 1986, which enumerated specific grounds for separation to prevent indiscriminate dismissals. Radia argued it could not apply retroactively to his April 30 termination. The Court rejected this, noting that E.O. No. 17 was a self-limiting act more favorable to employees than the broad constitutional power of removal. Section 6 of the Order expressly applied it to those “already separated from the service on the issuance of this Order.” The Review Committee’s affirmation of the dismissal, after finding grounds under E.O. No. 17, constituted substantial compliance. Thus, the termination was valid under both the Provisional Constitution and, retrospectively, under the standards of Executive Order No. 17.