GR 99391; (December, 1991) (Digest)
G.R. No. 99391 December 2, 1991
PENDATUN ALIM, petitioner, vs. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, SALVADOR MISON, COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF CUSTOMS and JESUSA TAGUINOD, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Pendatum Alim, originally a Customs Examiner, was promoted to the permanent position of Principal Customs Examiner in 1988, a position that was then vacant. His appointment was made “subject to the final outcome of the appeal of the adversely affected employees, if any.” In a separate action, the Supreme Court, in Dario v. Mison, ordered the reinstatement of employees illegally separated during a Bureau of Customs reorganization. Among those reinstated was Efigenia Cruz, who was restored to her position of Principal Customs Appraiser. This position had been filled by private respondent Jesusa Taguinod following the reorganization. To comply with the Court’s reinstatement order for Cruz, the Commissioner of Customs did not return Taguinod to her original position. Instead, Taguinod was promoted to the position of Principal Customs Examiner, and Alim was demoted back to his former position of Customs Examiner in 1989.
ISSUE
Whether the demotion of Pendatum Alim from his permanent position as Principal Customs Examiner, to accommodate the promotion of Jesusa Taguinod, constitutes an illegal removal in violation of his security of tenure.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court granted the petition and reinstated Alim. The Court ruled that Alim had acquired a vested right to the position of Principal Customs Examiner through his valid and permanent promotional appointment to a vacant post. The conditional clause in his appointment, referring to appeals by adversely affected employees, did not materialize as no protest was ever filed against his promotion. That condition could not last indefinitely, and upon its non-occurrence, his appointment became absolute. Consequently, Alim gained security of tenure in the promoted position.
The demotion was an invalid removal without cause. The Court clarified that the Dario v. Mison decision mandated the reinstatement of illegally separated employees to their former positions. The proper implementation should have been to reinstate Cruz as Principal Customs Appraiser and to return Taguinod to her original post as Valuation and Classification Officer. The Commissioner’s act of instead promoting Taguinod by displacing Alim was a misinterpretation of the Court’s directive. The appointing authority’s discretion in filling a vacant position does not apply where, as here, the position is already permanently occupied. Alim’s demotion to accommodate a preferred candidate, absent any finding of cause for his removal, violated constitutional guarantees on security of tenure.