G.R. No. L-30796, April 15, 1988
SILVERIANO ANTIPORDA, petitioner, vs. HON. REINERIO J. TICAO, Mayor of Iloilo City, ANLANO NARBONETA, treasurer of Iloilo City, and HON. RAMON BLANCO, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Iloilo, Branch V, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Silveriano Antiporda was a member of the Iloilo City Police Department from October 3, 1960, until his services were terminated by respondent City Mayor on January 23, 1968. The termination was based on the ground that his provisional appointment had expired. Antiporda contested his dismissal, claiming that at the time of his termination, he was already a civil service eligible and thus could not be dismissed without just cause. He filed an action for mandamus with damages to compel his reinstatement.
The Court of First Instance of Iloilo dismissed his petition. The trial court held that Antiporda was holding a provisional appointment under Section 24(c) of Republic Act 2260 and had not passed any civil service examination. It further ruled that while he had rendered more than five years of service by the time Republic Act No. 4864 (the Police Act of 1966) was approved, he failed to apply for eligibility pursuant to the Police Commission’s Memorandum Circular No. 6 dated April 1, 1968. Consequently, the lower court deemed him to have remained a provisional employee without tenure.

ISSUE

Whether or not petitioner Silveriano Antiporda had acquired civil service eligibility by operation of law under the Police Act of 1966, thereby entitling him to security of tenure and rendering his dismissal without cause invalid.

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the trial court and granted the petition. The legal logic centers on the automatic conferment of eligibility by statute. Section 9 of the Police Act of 1966, which took effect on September 8, 1966, expressly provides that persons who have rendered at least five years of satisfactory service in a police agency at the time of the Act’s approval are considered civil service eligibles for the purpose of the Act, even without having qualified in a civil service examination.
The Court held that Antiporda, having served in the Iloilo City police for over five years by September 1966, became a civil service eligible by direct operation of this law. The requirement under Memorandum Circular No. 6 to apply for a certificate of eligibility was a mere procedural formality that did not negate the substantive right conferred by the statute itself. His failure to apply was immaterial, especially since he was dismissed months before the circular was even issued. Therefore, at the time of his dismissal in January 1968, he was already a permanent employee protected by civil service tenure rules and could not be removed solely on the ground of an expired provisional appointment. As reinstatement was deemed no longer feasible, the Court awarded him backwages equivalent to five years’ pay without deduction.