ANORE, Ma.
Theresa F.
Re: Termination of Services;
Reassignment
The Municipal
Government of Binangonan, Rizal, appeals the Order of the Civil Service
Commission Regional Office (CSCRO) No. IV, Quezon City, which declared as
tantamount to constructive dismissal the reassignment of Ma. Theresa F. Anore,
Assessment Clerk II, Office of the Municipal Assessor, same municipality, and
the subsequent deletion of her name from the municipality’s payroll.
Pertinent portions of the assailed
decision read, as follows:
“x x x records show that Ma. Theresa Anore is actually a
permanent Assessment Clerk II employee assigned at the Municipal Assessor’s
Office of Binangonan, Rizal. She was
reassigned at the Binangonan Municipal Hall Annex at Barangay Gulod, Talim
Island, Binangonan, Rizal, by virtue of a Special Assignment issued by Mr.
Eusebio T. Vallestero, Human Resource Management Officer III attested by Ms.
Remedios Paralejas, Municipal Administrator.
Ms. Anore submitted a photocopy of her Daily Attendance per logbook
entry beginning July 2, 1998 to August 25, 1998. She also submitted Daily Time Record (Civil Service Form 48) for
the period August 1 to 31, 1998 and September 1 to 15, 1998, respectively. She likewise submitted a Weekly Attendance
Report corresponding for the period August 26, 1998 to September 2, 1998. It was also intimated by complainant that
the Municipal Hall Annex at Talim Island could hardly pass the qualities of a
government office because there are no adequate facilities to work on. She was also obliged to look for a boarding
house and spend for her provisions away from her family because it is impossible to commute to and from the
island as there is only one trip daily.
“Complainant submitted, among others, a document showing
that as early as May 20, 1998, Binangonan, Rizal Mayor – Elect Cesar Ynares
created a turn over committee chaired by Atty. Mendoza and Ms. Remy
Paralejas. Under item C, paragraph 1
(a) of the Turn Over Committee, there was really an unequivocal mandate issued
by Mayor Ynares, that is, ‘All employees to submit courtesy resignation’. x
x x.
“Another observation noted by this Office is the ‘Special
Assignment’ or reassignment order given to complainant Anore. It was the HRMO III who issued the same;
attested to by the Municipal Administrator and a copy was merely furnished the
Office of the Mayor. However, no evidence
was adduced by respondents’ counsel to show that indeed the Municipal Mayor as
the local chief executive has given full authority to the HRMO III to make
personnel movement such as the reassignment of Mrs. Anore. x
x x.
“The Special Assignment issued to Anore became effective on
August 26, 1998. There was no piece of
evidence adduced by respondents’ counsel the affected employee was given the
opportunity to be heard. Considering
that the Binangonan Municipal Hall Annex is located in an island, it is
understood that the reassignment order will cause an economic dislocation on
the employee concerned. Towards this
end, there was no evidence to show that Anore, prior to her reassignment, was
given the benefits due her as a reassigned employee pursuant to Section 341 and
342, Volume I of the Government Accounting and Auditing Manual x x x.
“Not even respondents allegations that complainant did not
give the administration the chance to prove her worth and value as an employee
even for once at Gulod (meaning the
Municipal Hall Annex) can be a valid defense.
In the first place, the HRMO III ought to understand that it is indeed
impossible for Anore to comply because she has not yet received her two months
salary. We are presently experiencing
economic difficulties, an almost hand to mouth existence, the absence of even a
months salary would spell out a great economic dislocation. The HRMO, therefore, has no right to demand
nor expect that his Order be followed without first causing the release of
complainant’s two months salary.
“Lastly, if indeed it were true that Anore has not been
reporting for work for quite sometime, respondents nor counsel failed to adduce
any piece of evidence to show that Anore was notified of her absence and that
her failure to report back to work could mean her dropping from the rolls. Such would have been the proper procedure
undertaken by the HRMO which was not present in the case at bar. All these, taken together could only mean
that complainant was indeed constructively terminated from the service without
just cause.
“WHEREFORE, from
the foregoing, this Office finds merit on the complaint of Maria Theresa Anore
for illegal termination and hereby resolves to Order her immediately
reinstatement including payment of back salaries and all benefits due her from
July 1998 up to her actual reinstatement.
The Municipal Mayor is likewise directed to provide better working
conditions and afford adequate economic assistance and benefits to all
displaced municipal employees of Binangonan, Rizal Municipal Hall Annex,
Barangay Gulod, Talim Islands. The
Head, Civil Service Field Office – Rizal is likewise directed to look in the
implementation of this Order and inform this Office of the extent of its
compliance fifteen (15) days from receipt hereof.”
The records show that many employees
of the Municipality of Binangonan tendered their courtesy resignations
immediately after Cesar Ynares assumed office as elected Mayor of Binangonan.
Anore did not tender her courtesy resignation. Pursuant to a Special Assignment
Order dated August 25, 1998 and signed by Eusebio T. Vallestero, Human Resource
Management Officer III, same municipality, Anore was reassigned from the
Municipal Hall of Binangonan to the Municipal Hall Annex at Barangay Gulod,
Talim Islands, Rizal. Although Talim Islands is more than 15 kilometers away
from Anore's former station, she was not provided with transportation fare,
neither was she given any allowance. On account of the alleged failure of Anore
to report to her new assignment, she was dropped from the payroll of the municipality.
Anore appealed her dropping from the rolls with CSCRO No. IV, which declared
that the Special Assignment Order issued by Vallestero is tantamount to
dismissal.
Hence,
the instant appeal, the pertinent portions of which read, as follows:
“It is very clear that nothing in the same complaint which
says that complainant was illegally dismissed but the complaint-affidavit only
says that she was reassigned to another work place which she perceived as a
measure to oust her from the service.
The complaint is only concentrated on her protest from being assigned to
the Municipal Hall Annex and not her dismissal from the service. This is so because her complaint-affidavit
was filed even before she was terminated from the service. Besides, a detail, reassignment, promotion,
demotion, etc., is a management prerogative specially given by law to employers
as an absolute right with regard to the management and operation of the office.
“It is premature for the Civil Service Commission Regional
Office No. IV to deal with the dismissal of the complaint by advancing a theory
that she was constructively dismissed because complainant-appellee did not even
present a document or evidence in this matter.
Even in her Formal Offer of Evidence, she failed to present an evidence
that she was dismissed from the service.
It cannot be concluded that complainant-appellee was constructively
dismissed because instead of resigning, she failed or refuse to report for work
which constrained respondents to drop her from the roll.
“In constructive dismissal, an employee must first quit his post
before he can sue for illegal dismissal as stated in the case of Del Rio vs.
Bonilla, Oct. 27, 1975 and Phil. Japan Active Corp., et. al. vs. NLRC, March 8,
1989:
`An employee who quits his work because of the employer’s
unreasonable, humiliating or demeaning actuations which render continued work
impossible is deemed to have been illegally dismissed.
`Constructive discharge is a quitting because continued
employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely.’”
The issues to be resolved in this
appeal are, as follows:
1. Whether the
Special Assignment Order issued by Vallestero reassigning Anore from the
Municipal Hall of Binangonan to the Municipal Hall Annex at Barangay Gulod,
Talim Island, is legal;
2. Whether Anore
was constructively removed from the service.
Rule III, Section 6 of CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40,
series of 1998, dated December 14, 1998, provides:
“Section 6. Other
Personnel Movements. The following
personnel movements which will not require issuance of an appointment shall
nevertheless require an office order by
duly authorized official:
`a. Reassignment –
Movement of an employee from one organizational unit to another in the same
department or agency which does not involve reduction in rank, status or salary. If reassignment is without the consent of the employee being
reassigned it shall be allowed only for a maximum period of one year. Reassignment is presumed to be regular and
made in the interest of public service unless proven otherwise or it constitute
constructive dismissal.’
x x x
“No reassignment shall be undertaken if done
indiscriminately or whimsically because the law is not intended as a convenient
shield for the appointing/disciplining authority to harass or oppress a
subordinate on the pretext of advancing and promoting public interest.
“Reassignment of small salaried employees is not
permissible if it causes significant financial dislocation.” (Emphasis supplied)
It
is explicit from the aforementioned rule that reassignment, to be valid,
requires an office order issued by a duly authorized official, i. e., the
appointing authority. It must be underscored that the authority to reassign
personnel is inherent in the exercise of the appointing authority’s power to
appoint. Hence, unless the appointing
authority delegates to other officials the power to transfer or reassign
personnel, a transfer or reassignment order issued without his authority is
unauthorized, hence, illegal.
In
the instant case, it appears that Vallestero’s Special Assignment Order was
issued without the approval of Mayor Ynares. Apparently, Vallestero took it
upon himself to issue an order reassigning Anore, thereby usurping the powers
of the Municipal Mayor. Vallestero's action is contemptible and should be dealt
with accordingly.
It
must also be underscored that reassignment of lowly salaried employees is
abhorred especially if it causes significant financial dislocation. In other
words, “the protection against invalid
transfer is especially needed by lower ranking employees. The Court emphasized this need when it ruled
that if officials in the unclassified service, presidential appointees, men who
in the government set-up occupy positions in the higher echelon should be
entitled to security of tenure, unquestionable a lesser solicitude cannot be
meant for the little men, that great mass of Common underprivileged employees -
thousand there are of them in the lower bracket, who generally are without
connections and who pin their hopes of advancement on the merit system
instituted by our civil service law” (Transfers
and Assignments in the Civil Service : SCRA Annotations 31 SCRA 701 ; citing
Alzate vs. Mabutas, 51 O.G. 2452).
Anore,
a lowly salaried employee, was reassigned to an isolated island 15 kilometers
away from her original place of assignment. She has to travel by boat with only
one trip a day to report to her new place of assignment in an office without
any facilities, except its bare structure. Worse, the municipality did not
provide her with transportation allowance. She was forced to be separated from
her family, look for a boarding house where she can stay while in the island,
and spend for her board and lodging. The circumstances surrounding Anore’s
reassignment is exactly the kind of reassignment that is being frowned upon by
law.
On the second issue, the Commission
finds no merit in appellant’s contention that an employee must first quit his
work before he can be considered constructively removed from office. To
reiterate, “there is constructive removal
from office when the facts disclosed that the transfer or reassignment is
resorted to as a scheme to lure the employee away from his permanent position,
such attitude is improper, as it would in effect result in the circumvention of
the prohibition which safeguards the tenure of office of those who are in the
civil service” (Cruz vs. Navarro, 66
SCRA 79).
In sum, the Commission finds that
Anore’s reassignment was part of the scheme to systematically lure her away
from her permanent position, a constructive dismissal from the service.
WHEREFORE,
the instant appeal of the Municipality of Binangonan, Rizal, is hereby DISMISSED. Accordingly, the appealed
Order of the Civil Service Commission Regional Office No. IV is affirmed.
CSCRO No. IV and the Head, Civil
Service Commission Field Office – Rizal, are hereby directed to monitor the
implementation of this Resolution and institute appropriate administrative
action against Eusebio Vallestero, Human Resource Management Officer III,
Municipality of Binangonan, Rizal, if necessary.
Quezon
City, August 20, 2001
(Signed)
JOSE F. ERESTAIN, JR.
Commissioner
(Signed)
KARINA CONSTANTINO-DAVID
Chairperson
(Signed)
J.
WALDEMAR V. VALMORES
Commissioner
Attested
by:
(Signed)
ARIEL
G. RONQUILLO
Director
III
CPS/AGR/pvp/cm23-2001
Jfe/rad77
FPG/RTM/X1/Y13/jca149
D-00-0224
20000629-007
/anore’r