G.R. No. 107841 November 14, 1996
REINO R. ROSETE, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, RICHARD J. GORDON, LORETA P. AZORES and ARTURO MENDOZA, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Reino R. Rosete was the Chief of Hospital of Olongapo City General Hospital. On November 20, 1985, then Mayor Richard J. Gordon filed formal administrative charges against him and, invoking Section 40 of P.D. No. 807 (Civil Service Law), summarily dismissed him on January 2, 1986, for being “notoriously undesirable.” Rosete challenged this dismissal directly before the Supreme Court (G.R. No. 73449), alleging lack of due process. The case was rendered moot when, after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the new OIC Mayor, Teddy C. Macapagal, reinstated Rosete, finding the summary dismissal irregular and illegal. The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed G.R. No. 73449 as moot and academic.
Rosete continued in his position. However, on November 11, 1987, a new OIC Mayor, Ildefonso Arriola, issued an order dismissing Rosete again, based on the very same charges and the 1986 dismissal order by Gordon. Rosete filed a complaint for damages with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) against the city officials. The RTC ruled in his favor, declaring the 1987 dismissal void. The Court of Appeals reversed the RTC, holding that the 1987 dismissal was valid as it was merely a reiteration of the final 1986 order.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in ruling that the 1987 dismissal order issued by OIC Mayor Arriola was valid and enforceable.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the RTC’s decision. The legal logic is anchored on the principle that the 1986 summary dismissal by Mayor Gordon never attained finality and was effectively nullified. The successor OIC Mayor, Macapagal, expressly reversed Gordon’s order and reinstated Rosete, an act within his authority as the new head of the local government. This reinstatement, coupled with the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the prior case as moot, meant there was no final, executory dismissal order to “reiterate” in 1987.
The 1987 order by OIC Mayor Arriolo was not a mere enforcement of a final judgment but a new dismissal act. For it to be valid, it required a new administrative proceeding with due process. Since Arriola simply relied on the defunct 1986 order without conducting a new hearing or investigation, the 1987 dismissal was void for violating Rosete’s right to due process. An invalid order cannot be the source of any right, and the city officials who implemented it acted without lawful basis. Consequently, Rosete was entitled to damages for the illegal deprivation of his office following his valid reinstatement in 1986.