Case Digest: Agyao, Jr. v. CSC

G.R. No. 182591: January 18, 2011

MODESTO AGYAO, JR., Petitioner v. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Respondent


FACTS: Petitioner was re-appointed, following the expiration of his previous temporary appointment, to PEZA Director II by the PEZA Director-General de Lima. The appointment was submitted to the Civil Service Commission. The re-appointment was invalidated by the CSC as petitioner lacked the prescribed Career Executive Service Office/Career Service Executive Examination (CESO/CSEE) qualifications. The CSC ruled that the position of PEZA Director II is above the Division Chief level, which falls properly under level 3, or Career Executive Service. Petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals, which sustained the ruling of the CSC.

ISSUE: Whether or not PEZA Director II falls under level 3 or Career Executive Service, of the Administrative Code.

HELD: Petition is impressed with merit.

Political Law: It has been held in a long line of Jurisprudence that for a position to fall under Career Executive Service, the appointing authority must be the President of the Philippines. The Administrative code makes this classification based on the Constitutional powers granted to the President. As such, any deviation of interpretation would not only be against the prevailing law (i.e. Administrative Code), but also be unconstitutional. The position of PEZA Director II is appointed by the PEZA Director-General, not by the President of the Philippines. Hence, the CESO/CSEE requirements are not needed by the appointee.