Luis Manalang vs Aurelio Quitoriano

G.R. No. L-6898 – 94 Phil. 903 – Political Law – Law on Public Officers – Abolition of a Public Office – Appointing Power Vested in the Executive

Luis Manalang was the Director of the Placement Bureau. However in 1952, a law was passed by Congress abolishing the Placement Bureau (PB). The said bureau was replaced by the National Employment Service (NES). Aurelio Quitoriano, then acting Secretary of Labor, recommended Manalang to be the Commissioner of NES. But then it was Quitoriano who was appointed by the President as the Commissioner of NES. Manalang then filed a quo warranto case against Quitoriano and the two others who succeeded Quitoriano in the said post.

Manalang contended that the law creating the NES provided for the automatic absorption of qualified personnel from the PB to the NES; that as Director of PB, he should automatically be the Commissioner of NES; that he if he won’t be appointed as such, he is in effect being ousted from his position and such violates his security of tenure.

ISSUE: Whether or not Manalang is correct.

HELD: No. The Placement Bureau was abolished by a valid law. Consequently, Manalang’s former office as Director of PB is likewise abolished. There is no termination to speak of and his right to security of tenure is not violated. He was not removed from office. His office simply ceased to exist.

Even though it appears that the NES and the PB has similar functions, Manalang’s argument that based on the law creating NES, he should be automatically absorbed as Commissioner therein is not tenable. The absorption of qualified personnel provided for in the law (RA 761: An Act to Provide for the Organization of a National Employment Service) does not include the Director of PB because if that was the intention of Congress, then Congress is usurping the power of the president to appoint. Congress cannot appoint a specific person into a public office. The appointing power is the exclusive prerogative of the President, upon which no limitations may be imposed by Congress, except those resulting from the need of securing the concurrence of the Commission on Appointments and from the exercise of the limited legislative power to prescribe the qualifications to a given appointive office.

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