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CSC V Yu

The document discusses a case regarding the devolution of government positions from national to local agencies. It describes how two doctors, Dr. Castillo and Dr. Yu, held provincial health officer positions that were devolved to a local government, but Dr. Castillo was retained by the national agency. Years later, the positions were reverted to the national agency, but Dr. Yu claimed the higher reclassified position, which was denied.

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78 views

CSC V Yu

The document discusses a case regarding the devolution of government positions from national to local agencies. It describes how two doctors, Dr. Castillo and Dr. Yu, held provincial health officer positions that were devolved to a local government, but Dr. Castillo was retained by the national agency. Years later, the positions were reverted to the national agency, but Dr. Yu claimed the higher reclassified position, which was denied.

Uploaded by

jeth sagana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CASE DIGEST: CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION v. DR.

AGNES
OUIDA P. YU (G.R. No. 189041; July 31, 2012)

FACTS: In 1992, the national government implemented a devolution program


pursuant to R.A. No. 7160, (The Local Government Code of 1991), which
affected the Department of Health (DOH) along with other government
agencies.

Prior to the devolution, Dr. Fortunata Castillo (hereinafter Dr. Castillo) held
the position of Provincial Health Officer II (PHO II) of the DOH Regional
Office No. IX in Zamboanga City. Respondent Dr. Agnes Ouida P. Yu (Dr. Yu),
on the other hand, held the position of Provincial Health Officer I (PHO I).

Upon the implementation of the devolution program, then Basilan Governor


Gerry Salapuddin (Governor Salapuddin) refused to accept Dr. Castillo as the
incumbent of the PHO II position that was to be devolved to the local
government unit of Basilan, prompting the DOH to retain Dr. Castillo at the
Regional Office No. IX in Zamboanga City. She retired in 1996.

Meanwhile, in 1994, or two years after the implementation of the devolution


program, Governor Salapuddin appointed Dr. Yu to the PHO II position.

On February 23, 1998, Republic Act No. 8543, otherwise known as ―An Act
Converting the Basilan Provincial Hospital in the Municipality of Isabela,
Province of Basilan, into a Tertiary Hospital Under the Full Administrative
and Technical Supervision of the Department of Health, Increasing the
Capacity to One Hundred Beds and Appropriating Funds Therefor,‖ was
passed into law whereby the hospital positions previously devolved to the local
government unit of Basilan were re-nationalized and reverted to the DOH. The
Basilan Provincial Health Hospital was later renamed the Basilan General
Hospital, and the position of PHO II was then re-classified to Chief of Hospital
II.

While Dr. Yu was among the personnel reverted to the DOH with the re-
nationalization of the Basilan General Hospital, she was made to retain her
original item of PHO II instead of being given the re-classified position of
Chief of Hospital II.

Aggrieved, filed a letter protest before the CSC claiming that she has a vested
right to the position of Chief of Hospital II. The CSC denied the protest. On
appeal, the CA reversed the CSC.
ISSUES: Is the PHO II position previously occupied by Yu a
devolved position?

May Dr. Castillo be considered to have abandoned her position for


consistently failing to assert her rights thereto?
HELD: As defined, “devolution is the act by which the national government
confers power and authority upon the various local government units to
perform specific functions and responsibilities.” ADVERTISEMENT: Work
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To ensure the proper implementation of the devolution process, then


President Corazon C. Aquino issued Executive Order (E.O.) No. 503, otherwise
known as the ―Rules and Regulations Implementing the Transfer of
Personnel and Assets, Liabilities and Records of National Government
Agencies Whose Functions Are To Be Devolved To The Local Government
Units And For Other Related Purposes, which laid down the following
pertinent guidelines with respect to the transfer of personnel: “The absorption
of the NGA personnel by the LGU shall be mandatory, in which case, the LGUs
shall create the equivalent positions of the affected personnel except when it is
not administratively viable.”

On the basis of the foregoing, it was mandatory for Governor Salapuddin to


absorb the position of PHO II, as well as its incumbent, Dr. Fortunata Castillo.
Highlighting the absence of discretion is the use of the word “shall” both in
Section 17 (i) of R.A. No. 7160 and in Section 2(a)(2) of E.O. No. 503, which
connotes a mandatory order. The only instance that the LGU concerned may
choose not to absorb the NGA personnel is when absorption is not
administratively viable, meaning, it would result to duplication of functions, in
which case, the NGA personnel shall be retained by the national government.

Had Dr. Castillo felt aggrieved by her detail to the DOH Regional Office, she
was not without recourse. The law afforded her the right to appeal her case to
the CSC, but she had not seen fit to question the justification for her detail.
Hence, the appointment of Dr. Yu to the position PHO II.

***

Abandonment of an office is the voluntary relinquishment of an office by the


holder with the intention of terminating his possession and control thereof. In
order to constitute abandonment of office, it must be total and under such
circumstance as clearly to indicate an absolute relinquishment. There must be
a complete abandonment of duties of such continuance that the law will infer a
relinquishment. Abandonment of duties is a voluntary act; it springs from and
is accompanied by deliberation and freedom of choice. There are, therefore,
two essential elements of abandonment: first, an intention to abandon and,
second, an overt or 'external' act by which the intention is carried into effect.

By no stretch of the imagination can Dr. Castillo's seeming lackadaisical


attitude towards protecting her rights be construed as an abandonment of her
position resulting in her having intentionally and voluntarily vacated the
same.
We rule, therefore, under the attendant circumstances of the case, that with
Dr. Castillo's re-absorption by the DOH which appears to bear the former's
approval, her devolved position with the LGU of Basilan was left vacant. Thus,
we hold that Dr. Yu was validly appointed to the position of PHO II in 1994
and, consequently, acquired a vested right to its re-classified designation –
Chief of Hospital II.

DENIED

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