G.R. No. 90780 ; February 6, 1991
RAYMUNDO ACENA, petitioner, vs. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION and JOSEFINA ESTOLAS, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Raymundo Acena was permanently appointed as Administrative Officer of Rizal Technological Colleges (RTC) in 1982. In December 1985, RTC President Dr. Lydia Profeta extended to him a promotional appointment as Associate Professor, effective November 1, 1985, while simultaneously designating him as Acting Administrative Officer. By letters dated January 9 and 13, 1986, Acena manifested his desire to remain as Administrative Officer, and Dr. Profeta withdrew the Associate Professor appointment. In March 1986, Dr. Josefina Estolas was designated as RTC Officer-in-Charge. She revoked Acena’s designation as Acting Administrative Officer and replaced him with Ricardo Salvador.
Acena challenged this revocation before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and secured a preliminary injunction from the Regional Trial Court. The MSPB initially dismissed his complaint but later reversed itself, recognizing him as the legitimate Administrative Officer based on a Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairman opinion that his Associate Professor appointment had been withdrawn. However, the CSC, in Resolution No. 89748, ultimately set aside the MSPB order, ruling that Estolas’s revocation of Acena’s designation was valid.

ISSUE

Whether the Civil Service Commission committed grave abuse of discretion in ruling that the revocation of Acena’s designation as Acting Administrative Officer was valid, thereby disregarding the withdrawal of his subsequent appointment as Associate Professor.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition, annulling the CSC resolution. The legal logic centers on the principle of security of tenure and the validity of the withdrawn appointment. Acena’s permanent appointment as Administrative Officer vested in him a property right protected by law. The subsequent promotional appointment as Associate Professor was effectively rejected by Acena in his January 9, 1986 letter and formally withdrawn by the appointing authority, Dr. Profeta, on January 13, 1986. This withdrawal was received by the CSC on April 8, 1986. Consequently, the Associate Professor appointment never became effective, and Acena rightfully remained the permanent Administrative Officer.
Therefore, Estolas’s subsequent revocation of a mere “designation” was invalid, as it sought to remove Acena from a permanent position he never validly vacated. The CSC committed grave abuse of discretion by ignoring the perfected withdrawal and the due process violations in its proceedings, which relied on one-sided evidence without affording Acena an opportunity to refute it. Acena’s security of tenure was unlawfully violated.