December 2009 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions

Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence

G.R. No. 160367 - Evelyn S. Cabungcal, et al. v. Sonia R. Lorenzo, et al.

SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. NO. 160367 : December 18, 2009]

EVELYN S. CABUNGCAL, ELVIRA J. CANLAS, MARIANITA A. BULANAN, REMEDIOS S. DE JESUS, and NUNILON J. MABINI, Petitioners, v. SONIA R. LORENZO, in her capacity as Municipal Mayor of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, CECILIO DE GUZMAN, Vice Mayor, CESARIO LOPEZ, JR., EMILIO PACSON, BONIFACIO CACERES, JR., NAPOLEON OCAMPO, MARIO CRUZ, PRISCILA REYES, ROLANDO ESQUIVEL, and CRISENCIANO CABLAO in their capacity as members of the Sangguniang Bayan of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, and EDUARDO N. JOSON IV, Vice Governor, BELLA AURORA A. DULAY, BENJAMIN V. MORALES, CHRISTOPHER L. VILLAREAL, JOSE T. DEL MUNDO, SOLITA C. SANTOS, RENATO C. TOMAS, JOSE BERNARDO V. YANGO, IRENEO S. DE LEON, NATHANIEL B. BOTE, RUDY J. DE LEON, RODOLFO M. LOPEZ, MA. LOURDES C. LAHOM, and JOSE FRANCIS STEVEN M. DIZON, in their capacity as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Province of Nueva Ecija, Respondents.

D E C I S I O N

DEL CASTILLO, J.:

As a rule, judicial intervention is allowed only after exhaustion of administrative remedies. This principle goes hand-in-hand with the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, which precludes courts from resolving, in the first instance, controversies falling under the jurisdiction of administrative agencies. Courts recognize that administrative agencies are better equipped to settle factual issues within their specific field of expertise because of their special skills and technical knowledge. For this reason, a premature invocation of the court's judicial power is often struck down, unless it can be shown that the case falls under any of the applicable exceptions.

Assailed in this Petition for Review on Certiorari¹ under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court are the March 20, 2003 Decision² of the Court of Appeals (CA) dismissing petitioners' petition for lack of merit and its October 6, 2003 Resolution³ denying the motion for reconsideration.

Factual Antecedents

On July 9, 2001, the Sangguniang Bayan of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, issued Resolution No. 27 s. 2001⁴ declaring the reorganization of all offices of the municipal government. On July 23, 2001, the Resolution was approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan v. ia Resolution No. 154 s. 2001.⁵

Thereafter, on November 12, 2001, the Sangguniang Bayan passed Resolution No. 80 s. 2001,⁶ approving and adopting the proposed new staffing pattern of the municipal government. On November 26, 2001, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved the same through Resolution No. 299 s. 2001.⁷

On December 21, 2001, the Municipal Mayor of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, herein respondent Sonia R. Lorenzo, issued a memorandum⁸ informing all employees of the municipal government that, pursuant to the reorganization, all positions were deemed vacant and that all employees must file their respective applications for the newly created positions listed in the approved staffing pattern on or before January 10, 2002. Otherwise, they would not be considered for any of the newly created positions.

Proceedings before the Court of Appeals

Instead of submitting their respective applications, petitioners, on January 17, 2002, filed with the CA a Petition for Prohibition and Mandamus with application for issuance of Writ of Preliminary Injunction and Restraining Order.⁹ They alleged that they were permanent employees of the Rural Health Unit of the Municipality of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, with the corresponding salary grade and date of employment:¹⁰

Name	Position	Salary Grade	Date of employment
Evelyn S. Cabungcal	Dentist II	16	April 4, 1983
Elvira J. Canlas	Nurse III	16	December 19, 1978
Marianita A. Bulanan	Midwife III	11	May 21, 1981
Remedios S. De Jesus	Dental Aide	4	June 6, 1989
Nunilon J. Mabini	Sanitation Inspector I	6	January 2, 1990

Respondents Sonia R. Lorenzo, Cecilio De Guzman, Cesario Lopez, Jr., Emilio Pacson, Bonifacio Caceres, Jr., Napoleon Ocampo, Mario Cruz, Priscila Reyes, Rolando Esquivel, and Crisenciano Cablao were sued in their capacity as Mayor, as Vice Mayor, and as members of the Sangguniang Bayan respectively, of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. On the other hand, respondents Eduardo N. Joson IV, Bella Aurora A. Dulay, Benjamin V. Morales, Christopher L. Villareal, Jose T. Del Mundo, Solita C. Santos, Renato C. Tomas, Jose Bernardo V. Yango, Ireneo S. De Leon, Nathaniel B. Bote, Rudy J. De Leon, Rodolfo M. Lopez, Ma. Lourdes C. Lahom, and Jose Francis Steven M. Dizon were sued in their capacity as Vice Governor and as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, respectively.

Petitioners sought to prohibit respondents from implementing the reorganization of the municipal government of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, under Resolution Nos. 27 and 80 s. 2001 of the Sangguniang Bayan. They likewise prayed for the nullification of said Resolutions.

While the case was pending, respondent Mayor Sonia R. Lorenzo issued a letter terminating the services of those who did not re-apply as well as those who were not selected for the new positions effective April 21, 2002.¹¹

On March 20, 2003, the CA rendered a Decision dismissing the petition for lack of merit. It ruled:

Going through the arguments of the parties, we find respondents' contentions to be more in line with existing laws and jurisprudence. It cannot be denied that indeed, petitioners' severance from employment is a sad tale to tell; however, petitioners' allegation of grave abuse of discretion on the part of public respondents particularly Mayor Lorenzo, can hardly be justified. The assailed acts of respondents are clearly authorized under Section 76 of the Local Government Code of 1991 as quoted above.

x x x

Culled from the records of the case, the reorganization of the municipal government of San Isidro yielded an organization structure suitable for a 4th class municipality, which created savings in an estimated amount of more or less Four Million pesos (P4,000,000.00), which can be used for implementation of other local projects for delivery of basic services and additional benefits for its employees. As shown by the respondents, the original plantilla x x x of one hundred and thirty one (131) [positions] has been trimmed down to eighty-eight (88) [positions] under the new staffing pattern. Thus, We find plausible the [claim] of respondents about budgetary [savings], comparing the old with new staffing pattern, in that:

Prior to the reorganization, this LGU had a budget appropriation of P18,322,933.00 for personal services [including enterprise workers] leaving a measly sum of [sic] P4,127,703.00 as revolving fund for the whole year. With the advent of the new staffing pattern, more tha[n] P7,000,000.00 can be channeled by this LGU for its plans and programs. Under Section 325 of the Local Government Code, LGU's are limited by law to appropriate only forty five percent [45%] in case of first to third class LGU's or fifty five percent [55%] in case of fourth to fifth class municipalities of their annual income for personal services. The LGU of San Isidro being a fourth class municipality has certainly exceeded the 55% appropriation limit under the Local Government Code because for the year 2000 alone, [P16,787,961.00, or roughly 78% of its annual income of P22,450,636.00, have already been allocated to personal services. That certainly is] way above the ceiling allowed by Section 325 of the Local Government Code.

x x x

Verily, there was no bad faith on the part of respondents when they chose to follow the recommendations of the management committee, [to create] a new staffing pattern [thereby generating savings] to provide more basic services [and] livelihood projects x x x.

x x x

Valid reasons had been shown by respondents which support the reorganization of the municipal government of San Isidro. No personal or political motives having been shown to be involved in this strongly assailed reorganization of the Municipality of San Isidro, petitioners, therefore, had miserably failed to show and prove to this Court that respondents violated R.A. No. 7305 (Magna Carta of Health Workers).???�r?bl?�

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