G.R. No. 174929 ; June 27, 2008
Engr. Ranulfo C. Feliciano, petitioner, vs. Nestor P. Villasin, respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Ranulfo C. Feliciano was appointed General Manager (GM) of Leyte Metropolitan Water District (LMWD) in 1975. In 1990, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) took over LMWD’s management due to its financial default. The LWUA-appointed management filed administrative charges against Feliciano for authorizing payment of his backwages for a period he did not work. The Office of the Government Corporate Counsel found him guilty and recommended dismissal, which the Interim LMWD Board approved in 1991.
In 1998, LWUA lifted its takeover. The newly constituted regular LMWD Board passed a resolution for Feliciano to reassume the GM post, which he accepted. As GM, Feliciano made several personnel appointments. However, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Regional Office disapproved these appointments because Feliciano himself lacked a CSC-approved appointment, a requirement under pertinent CSC memoranda. The CSC affirmed, ruling Feliciano was merely a de facto officer without authority to appoint, citing that water districts are government-owned or controlled corporations under CSC jurisdiction.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether Feliciano, having reassumed the position of General Manager of LMWD by virtue of a Board Resolution after the LWUA takeover was lifted, was a de jure officer with the authority to make valid appointments.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled that Feliciano was not a de jure officer and thus lacked the authority to make the appointments. The legal logic rests on the nature of water districts and the requirements for a valid appointment. The Court affirmed the CSC’s position, reiterating the settled doctrine from Davao City Water District v. Civil Service Commission that water districts are government-owned and controlled corporations with original charters, and their employees are subject to civil service laws. Consequently, appointments to positions within a water district, including that of the General Manager, require approval by the Civil Service Commission to be considered complete and valid.
Feliciano’s reassumption of office was based solely on a resolution by the LMWD Board of Directors. This act did not constitute a new appointment that complied with the mandatory requirement of CSC approval. Without this attestation, his occupancy of the GM position was merely de facto. A de facto officer can perform routine or ministerial duties to prevent a hiatus in public service, but the power to make appointments is a substantive discretionary function that requires de jure status. Since Feliciano lacked the requisite CSC approval for his own position, any appointments he issued were invalid from the beginning. The Court emphasized that the purpose of the quo warranto proceeding he initiated was to try his own title to office, which was fundamentally flawed as he did not possess a valid appointment. Therefore, the Regional Trial Court correctly dismissed his petition.