CAPIÑA, Marilyn S.
Re: Appointment; Qualification
Standards; Appeal
x------------------------------------------x
RESOLUTION NO. 02-0113
Marilyn S. Capiña, Secondary School Principal I, Caraga
National High School (CNHS), Caraga, Davao Oriental, appeals the Order dated
September 12, 2000 of the Civil Service Commission Regional Office (CSCRO) No.
XI, Davao City, directing the recall of the previous approval of her
appointment.
Said Order reads, in part, as follows:
"In Our
(sic) order dated April 27, 2000, We (sic) ruled that Protestee Marilyn S.
Capiña meets the minimum requirements set under the Qualification Standards
Manual to qualify her to the position of Secondary School Principal I, in that
she is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Education and has been appointed to
the position of Teacher II for more than two (2) years (sic) prior to her
appointment to the contested position; has undergone more than eight (8) hours
of training relevant to the job; and is a holder of a PBET eligibility.
"However,
We (sic) failed to note that the appointee's job experience as Teacher II,
although it is within the same level of position as that of the Secondary
School Principal I, cannot be considered relevant to qualify her to hold the
position of the latter (sic). Teaching of pupils or students is not within the
contemplation of 'relevant experience' for the appointee to qualify to hold a
position whose function is primarily the administration and supervision of the
school.
"Furthermore,
the penultimate paragraph of Section 99 of Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as
the Local Government Code of 1991 requires that the Department of Education,
Culture and Sports shall consult the local school board on the appointment of
division superintendents, district supervisors, school principals, and
other school officials. Record reveals that this requirement has not been
satisfied by the concerned agency.
"IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the
instant motion for reconsideration is GRANTED. Accordingly, The (sic) Civil
Service Field Officer of Davao Oriental, Dir. Juanito Gamalong is hereby
ordered to recall the approval of Ms. Marilyn S. Capiña's appointment as
Secondary School Principal I of Caraga National High School. Caraga, Davao
Oriental, foqr (sic) failure to comply with the requirements set under the
Revised Qualification Standards Manual and Republic Act No. 7160. . .”
The material allegations in the appeal are, as follows:
"1. THAT THE HONORABLE REGIONAL DIRECTOR
COMMIT-TED ERRORS OF FACTS AND OF LAW WHICH ARE PREJUDICIAL TO THE INTEREST OF
APPELLANT.
"2. THAT THE HONORABLE REGIONAL DIRECTOR'S
ORDER DENYING APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION AND RECALLING HER
APPOINTMENT IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE ON RECORD.
"3. THAT THE HONORABLE REGIONAL DIRECTOR ERRED
IN ALLOWING AND ENTERTAINING A NEW PROTEST INSPITE OF THE FACT THAT HIS ORDER
OF DISMISSAL HAD BECOME FINAL AND EXECUTORY, AND HAS ALSO ERRED IN NOT RULING
THAT THE SECOND PROTEST WAS FILED OUT OF TIME.
"4. THAT THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR ERRED IN NOT
UPHOLDING APPELLANT'S APPOINTMENT AS SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL I OF CARAGA
NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL.”
The records disclose that on December
6, 1999, appellant Capiña was issued an appointment as Secondary School
Principal I of the CNHS under regular permanent status. Prior to the issuance
of her appointment, appellant held the position of Teacher II from January 1,
1996 up to the issuance of her appointment as Secondary School Principal I. On
December 20, 1999, said appointment was approved by the Civil Service
Commission-Davao Oriental Field Office. On January 4, 2000, appellant took her
oath of office as Secondary School Principal I.
Prior to the approval of said
appointment by the CSC Field Office, however, Segundo S. Bugtay, Head Teacher
III of CNHS, filed a protest against the appointment of appellant but the CSCRO
No. XI dismissed the same in an Order dated January 6, 2000 for failure of
Bugtay to comply with the procedural requirements in filing a protest.
On January 10, 2000, Bugtay protested
the appointment of appellant before the Office of the Schools Division
Superintendent, Davao Oriental, but the protest was dismissed by said Office in
a decision dated February 1, 2000.
Thereafter, Bugtay filed another
protest before the CSCRO No. XI but the
latter again dismissed the protest in an Order dated April 27, 2000, the
material portion of which reads, as follows:
"Since
Ms. Capiña meets the minimum qualification requirements for the position of
Secondary School Principal I, then the approval of her appointment by the Civil
Service Field Office, Mati, Davao Oriental, is hereby upheld. The instant
protest is therefore DISMISSED for lack of merit.”
Bugtay subsequently moved for the
reconsideration of the aforementioned Order which the CSCRO XI granted in its
Order now subject of this appeal and directed the recall of the approval of
appellant's appointment. Appellant moved for a reconsideration but the same was
denied in an Order dated December 4, 2000.
Hence, this appeal.
At this juncture, it must be noted that the CSCRO XI granted
the motion for reconsideration of Bugtay on two grounds: 1) appellant did not
meet the relevant experience requirement for appointment to the position of
Secondary School Principal I; and 2) the municipal school board was not
consulted before the appointment of appellant to the contested position. Hence,
the main issues to be resolved are: 1) whether appellant meets the relevant
experience requirement for appointment to the position of Secondary School
Principal I; and 2) whether the statutory requirement of prior consultation
with the municipal school board was complied with when the appointment of
appellant was issued.
Under the Revised Qualification
Standards Manual, the appointee to the position of Secondary School Principal I
must have at least two (2) years of relevant experience to his/her credit. In
the present case, her being a Teacher II under permanent status since January
1, 1996 can be considered as relevant experience. This being the case, it would
now appear that she has acquired and fully meets the minimum experience
requirement for appointment as Secondary School Principal I as early as January
01, 1998.
In resolving the issue of whether
there was prior consultation with the municipal school board
when the appellant
was issued her
appointment as Secondary
School Principal I, the relevant portions of Sections 98 and 99 of the Local Government Code of 1991 must be
cited, to wit:
"SEC.
98. Creation, Composition, and Compensation. – (a) There shall be established in every province, city, or
municipality a provincial, city, or municipal school board, respectively.
x x x
"(3) The municipal school board shall be composed
of the municipal mayor and the district supervisor of schools as co-chairmen;
the chairman of the education committee of the sangguniang bayan, the
municipal treasurer, the
representative of the
pederasyon ng mga sangguniang kabataan in the sangguniang
bayan, the duly elected president of the municipal federation of parent-teacher
association, the duly elected representative of the teachers' organizations in
the municipality, and the duly elected representative of the non-academic
personnel of public schools in the municipality, as members.
x x x
"SEC.
99. Functions of Local School Boards. –
The provincial, city or municipal
school board shall:
x x x
"The
Department of Education, Culture and Sports shall consult the local school
board on the appointment of division superintended, district supervisors,
school principals, and other school officials.”
As will be noted above, the co-chairman of the municipal
school board is the district supervisor of schools. And among its members are
the chairman of the committee on education of the sangguniang bayan and the
representative of the pederasyon ng mga
sangguniang kabataan in the sangguniang bayan. The records disclose that
all of these persons were consulted prior to the issuance of appellant's
appointment. In fact, all the members of the Sangguniang Bayan of Caraga, Davao
Oriental, in a letter dated October 21, 1999, strongly endorsed the appointment
of appellant, as follows:
"In
pursuance with the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991,
particularly Rule XXIII, Article 184, Item C thereof on consultation purposes,
this office endorsed (sic) and recommend (sic) the promotion and appointment of
Mrs. Marilyn S. Capino for the Secondary Principal I of Caraga National High
School, Caraga, Davao Oriental which was vacated by Mr. Villanueva P. Olea who
retired on April 1, 1997.”
Of course, it cannot be denied that
the Schools Division Superintendent as co-chairman of the municipal school
board was consulted prior to the issuance of appellant's appointment as it was
she who appointed the appellant. This was reiterated in a letter dated October
27, 2000 of Schools Division
Superintendent Juan E. Taloma addressed to CSCRO XI Director IV Elmer R.
Bartolata which partly reads, as follows:
"This
division hereby reiterates its appointment of Marily (sic) S. Capiña as
Secondary School Principal I of the Caraga National High School on grounds
already stated in Annex 'B’ hereof.
. .
"Hence,
we strongly recommend that the appointment of Mrs. Capiña remains undisturbed
and be upheld as valid, lawful, binding, and duly effective.”
On the strength of all of the
foregoing facts duly established by the evidence on record, the Commission is
fully convinced that there was substantial compliance with the statutory
requirement of prior consultation with the municipal school board before the
issuance of the appointment of appellant as Secondary School Principal I. In an
analogous case, the Commission approved the appointment of an appointee to the
position of Schools Division Superintendent despite the fact that only the
Provincial Governor, in his capacity of co-chairman of the provincial school
board, was consulted before the issuance of the said appointment. This ruling
is found in CSC Resolution No. 98-2058
dated August 3, 1998 where the Commission held that:
"Granting arguendo that prior
consultation with the Local School Board is necessary in reassignments made by
the DECS, the Commission, nonetheless, finds substantial compliance with said
rule when DECS Undersecretary Antonio E.B. Nachura was informed by Camarines
Sur Governor Luis Villafuerte during a
telephone conversation that the Provincial School Board which he heads as
Chairman, 'has no objection to Mrs. Malaya's re-assignment to the Division of
Camarines Sur, and that the DECS can now proceed with said assignment.
x x x
"Finally,
the Commission finds no merit in Dr. Osea's allegation that Resolution No.
98-0699 'is in total revolt with the Alanis case.' It should be noted that the
factual milieu of the present case is not exactly the same as that of the
Alanis case. For in the Alanis case, there was absolutely no prior consultation
with the Local School Board before the issuance of her appointment as Schools
Division Superintendent. In the present case, however, and as earlier discussed,
there was substantial compliance with the requirement of Section 99 of the
Local Government Code of 1991 before Dr. Malaya was reassigned by the DECS to
the Division of Camarines Sur. It is thus evident that the Alanis case finds no
parallelism in the present case.”
WHEREFORE,
the appeal of Marilyn S. Capiña is hereby GRANTED. Accordingly, the appealed Orders dated September 12, 2000
and December 4, 2000 of the Civil Service Commission Regional Office No. XI are
REVERSED and SET ASIDE.
Quezon City, January 24, 2002
(Signed)
Chairman
(Signed)
JOSE F.
ERESTAIN, JR.
Commissioner
(Signed)
Commissioner
Attested by:
(Signed)
ARIEL
G. RONQUILLO
Director III
Capiña/vog
NDC 01-0079