G.R. No. 112745 – 345 Phil. 962 – 280 SCRA 713 – Political Law – Law on Public Officers – Career Service Appointees Must Be Removed for Valid Reasons
Aquilino Larin was an Assistant Commissioner in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). He was in charge of the office of the Excise Tax Service. In 1992, the Sandiganbayan convicted Larin of grave misconduct. His conviction was reported to the Office of the President, at the same time, an administrative complaint was filed with the same office. The President then, based on the Sandiganbayan conviction, created a committee to investigate Larin. Eventually, Larin’s removal was recommended. The President dismissed Larin.
ISSUE: Whether or not Larin was removed from office properly.
HELD: No. Larin is a presidential appointee who belongs to the career service of the Civil Service. Although it is a general rule that the power to remove is inherent in the power to appoint, such power to remove is with limitations. In the case at bar, the limitation can be found in the fact that Larin is a career service officer and under the Administrative Code of 1987, such officers who fall under career service are characterized by the existence of security of tenure, as contra-distinguished from non-career service whose tenure is co-terminus with that of the appointing authority or subject to his pleasure, or limited to a period specified by law or to the duration of a particular project for which purpose the employment was made. As a career service officer, Larin enjoys the right to security of tenure. He can only be removed from his office on grounds enumerated in the Administrative Code of 1987. In the case at bar, the basis for his removal was his conviction in the Sandiganbayan – this is not one of those grounds enumerated in the Administrative Code. Further, the Supreme Court notes that when Larin’s conviction was appealed to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court actually absolved Larin.
