G.R. No. 98093 October 8, 1992
Prima K. Gobantes, petitioner, vs. Civil Service Commission, Hon. Patricia Sto. Tomas, Hon. Samilo Barlongay, and Hon. Mario D. Yango, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Prima K. Gobantes entered government service as a public school teacher on October 19, 1975, at the age of fifty-five. Her service prior to her permanent appointment on June 14, 1979, was as a Provisional Substitute Teacher from October 19, 1975, to March 31, 1979, which was not continuous but broken, with periods ranging from seven days to nine months. Upon reaching the compulsory retirement age of sixty-five on June 9, 1985, she had not completed the required fifteen years of service. In July 1990, she was verbally advised to retire. She contested this and sought an extension of her service under Section 11(b) of Presidential Decree No. 1146 to complete the fifteen-year requirement. Her request was denied by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Regional Director, and this denial was affirmed by the CSC in its Resolution No. 90-1035 dated November 15, 1990. The CSC based its denial on its Memorandum Circular No. 27, series of 1990, which limited such extensions to permanent appointees and to a period not exceeding one year. Gobantes appealed to the Office of the President, which expressed the view that the statutory right under P.D. 1146 could not be diminished by an administrative circular. The CSC treated her furnished copy of the appeal as a motion for reconsideration and denied it via Resolution No. 91-239 dated February 20, 1991. Gobantes then filed this certiorari action.

ISSUE

Whether the Civil Service Commission’s Memorandum Circular No. 27, s. 1990, which limits the extension of service to complete the fifteen-year requirement to permanent appointees and to a period not exceeding one year, is valid in light of Section 11(b) of P.D. 1146.

RULING

The petition is GRANTED. The Supreme Court annulled and set aside CSC Resolution No. 90-1035. Memorandum Circular No. 27, s. 1990, was declared invalid. The Court ruled that Section 11(b) of P.D. 1146 mandates that an employee who reaches age sixty-five with less than fifteen years of service “shall be allowed to continue in the service to complete the fifteen years.” This statutory right cannot be restricted or taken away by an administrative regulation. The CSC’s authority is limited to implementing the law, not to adding restrictions not found therein. The Circular, by imposing a one-year limit and limiting eligibility to permanent appointees, went beyond the provisions of the law and was therefore null and void. Consequently, Prima K. Gobantes was declared entitled to continue in service as a public school teacher for the time necessary to complete fifteen years of government service to qualify for full retirement benefits.