G.R. No. L-19131 December 27, 1963
PATROCINIO BUENTIPO, petitioner-appellant, vs. COMMISSIONER, CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, respondent-appellee.

FACTS

Petitioner Patrocinio Buentipo, a civil service eligible, was appointed Chief of Police of Pozorrubio, Pangasinan in 1956. He was subsequently suspended due to a criminal case, which was later dismissed. Upon seeking reinstatement, the Municipal Mayor refused, contending Buentipo was not an eligible. The Civil Service Commissioner informed Buentipo that his eligibility had been cancelled because he was dismissed as a patrolman in Bangued, Abra, in 1941 for violation of regulations and gross misconduct. Buentipo filed an action for declaratory relief, asserting he was never administratively charged or dismissed and that the Commissioner’s records were erroneous. He sought a declaration of his eligibility and correction of his civil service records.
The respondent Commissioner moved to dismiss, arguing Buentipo lost his eligibility due to a dismissal for cause. The Court of First Instance ruled against Buentipo, finding the documentary evidence from the Civil Service Commission—specifically examination, service, and docket cards containing entries about the administrative case and dismissal—to be reliable. The court held these entries were made in the regular course of official business and were admissible as evidence, notwithstanding Buentipo’s denial and the loss of the original administrative case records during the war.

ISSUE

Whether the Civil Service Commission’s index and service cards are admissible as evidence to prove Buentipo’s dismissal from service, thereby affecting his civil service eligibility.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision, holding the cards admissible. The Court applied Section 41, Rule 123 of the Rules of Court, governing secondary evidence when an original document is lost or destroyed. The original records of the administrative proceedings against Buentipo were destroyed during the war. The cards (Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 3-B, and 3-C) were public records, containing entries made by Civil Service officers in their official capacity and in the ordinary course of business. These entries, which noted the administrative case number and the dismissal for cause, constituted competent secondary evidence of the contents of the lost original decision. The Court found no error in the trial court’s reliance on these documents to establish the fact of dismissal. Consequently, Buentipo’s dismissal for cause resulted in the loss of his civil service eligibility for reinstatement purposes. His bare denial, unsupported by evidence of improper motive in the record-keeping, could not overcome the presumption of regularity accorded to official acts and the admissible secondary evidence.