GR 28952; ; (December, 1971) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-28952 December 29, 1971
BENITO C. MANUEL, petitioner, vs. GENERAL AUDITING OFFICE, respondent.
FACTS
Petitioner Benito C. Manuel, after serving four successive terms as Mayor of Lingayen, Pangasinan from 1952 to 1967, applied for voluntary retirement effective December 31, 1967, which was duly approved. He also sought the commutation of his accumulated vacation and sick leave earned during his tenure. The Municipal Treasurer referred the claim to the General Auditing Office (GAO). The GAO, upon the opinion of the Civil Service Commission, denied the claim. The Commission based its denial on Section 2187 of the Revised Administrative Code, which it interpreted to mean that leave must be enjoyed within the year earned and was not cumulative, and on Section 9 of Civil Service Rule XVI, which explicitly stated such leave for municipal mayors was “not accumulative.”
ISSUE
Whether an elective official, upon voluntary retirement, is entitled to the commutation of his accumulated vacation and sick leave credits.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the GAO. The Court held that the applicable and controlling laws are Section 286 of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 1081 , and Commonwealth Act No. 186 , as amended by Republic Act No. 4968 . Section 286 explicitly provides that vacation and sick leave “shall be cumulative” and that any officer or employee who voluntarily retires or is separated through no fault of his own “shall be entitled to the commutation of all accumulated vacation and/or sick leave.” Republic Act No. 4968 is even more specific, stating that retirement benefits, including commutation of unused leave, are allowed to “any official or employee, appointive or elective.” The statutory language is clear and includes elective officials like municipal mayors. The GAO and the Civil Service Commission erred in relying on Section 2187 of the Revised Administrative Code, as that provision merely governs the grant of salary during a mayor’s absence due to illness and does not address the separate issue of commutation upon retirement. Furthermore, Section 9 of Civil Service Rule XVI, being an administrative rule, cannot supplant or diminish the unequivocal rights granted by statute. The law must be obeyed as written, and petitioner’s entitlement to commutation is unequivocal under the plain terms of the governing statutes.