G.R. No. L-44928 October 30, 1981
JOSE M. ALEJANDRINO, petitioner, vs. THE HONORABLE FRANCISCO S. TANTUICO, JR., as Acting Chairman, Commission on Audit, and THE HONORABLE CARLOS P. ROMULO, as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Jose M. Alejandrino, a career ambassador who retired from the Philippine Foreign Service, applied for the commutation of his terminal leave. His service included periods in the Home Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and extensive assignments abroad. Under Republic Act No. 708 (the Foreign Service Act of 1952), officers in the Foreign Service earn 30 days each of vacation and sick leave annually, with accumulation limits of 120 days for vacation leave and 240 days for sick leave, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and Philippine holidays. The implementing regulations prescribed the same.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, through its Assistant Secretary for Administration, certified that petitioner was entitled to the maximum 360 days of terminal leave (combining the 120-day vacation and 240-day sick leave limits), all earned during his foreign service. However, the Auditing Unit in the Department, relying on a General Auditing Office Memorandum Circular, computed his terminal leave at only 302 days. This computation improperly included some leave credits earned in the Home Office (governed by a different, less favorable leave law) and applied inconsistent rules regarding the exclusion of non-working days. The Acting Chairman of the Commission on Audit sustained this lower computation.

ISSUE

Whether the Commission on Audit correctly computed the petitioner’s terminal leave credits by not granting the full 360-day maximum allowable under Republic Act No. 708 for his foreign service.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioner and granted the petition. The legal logic is anchored on the unambiguous application of the specific law governing foreign service personnel. Republic Act No. 708 is a special law that exclusively governs the leave privileges of members of the Foreign Service. The Court emphasized that the petitioner, as a foreign service officer, was entitled to the leave benefits prescribed therein, which are distinct and more liberal than those applicable to other government employees under the Revised Administrative Code.
The Court found that the petitioner’s own undisputed calculations, which respondents accepted, demonstrated that even after deducting all leave he had actually used throughout his entire career, his accumulated leave credits earned solely during his foreign service assignments far exceeded the statutory maximums of 120 days of vacation leave and 240 days of sick leave. Therefore, he was clearly entitled to the full 360 days of commutable terminal leave as provided by R.A. No. 708 . The Commission on Audit’s alternative computation, which attempted to integrate Home Office service under a different regime and applied an inconsistent administrative circular, was erroneous as it contravened the specific provisions of the special law. The Court ordered respondents to pay the money value of 360 days of terminal leave.