G.R. No. 164506 : January 19, 2010

PAULINO M. ALECHA and PRECIOSO M. TAPITAN, Petitioners, v. ELMER BEN V. PASION, RODOLFO M. ELMAN, ANTONIO E. VALENZUELA, MAYOR ULYSSES D. PEREZ, VICE MAYOR STEWART R. PADAYHAG,¹cralaw MEMBER PABLO MANTOS SR., SB MEMBER CASIMERO BAOBAO, SB MEMBER FILOMENO ROSILLOSA, SB MEMBER FELICIANO OLING, SB MEMBER NORBERTO RAMOS, SB MEMBER LUIS PALONGPALONG, SB MEMBER ROGELIO BUGTAY, SB MEMBER OSCAR ATAY, ABC²cralaw PRESIDENT PRIMITIVO VERDAD, JR., SKF CHAIRMAN JACKSON PADAYHAG, ABC PRESIDENT SERGIO DAGOLDOL,³cralaw CHAIRMAN TRISTAN B. BAGUIO, MUN. SECRETARY PROTACIO ELMIDULAN, JR., MPDC VICENTE LLESIS, CIVIL REGISTRAR MEDARDO COLITA, BUDGET OFFICER RAMONITA B. BAGUIO, MUN. ENGR. SEGUNDO ARANDID, JR., MUN. ASSESSOR WILFREDO FLORES, MAO ALEJANDRO JIMENEZ, MUN. ACCOUNTANT AVELINO DEDORO and DSWD ⁴cralaw [OFFICER] SUSAN MAGO, Respondents.

R E S O L U T I O N

CORONA, J.:

On September 12, 2003, petitioners Paulino M. Alecha and Precioso M. Tapitan filed before the Ombudsman (Mindanao) a criminal complaint against respondent municipal officials of the Municipality of Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 3019,⁵cralaw Section 81 of RA 7160,⁶cralaw Section 10 of RA 6758⁷cralaw and RA 9137.⁸cräläwvirtualibräry

In their letter-complaint,⁹cralaw petitioners averred that respondent municipal officials conspired in unlawfully adopting and actually collecting the salaries, representation and travel allowances (RATA) and personnel economic relief assistance (PERA) of public officials for special cities and/or first class provinces or cities, notwithstanding the fact that the Municipality of Midsalip had no financial capacity to cover such expenditures, thus seriously affecting the delivery of basic services within its jurisdiction.

In a joint resolution¹⁰cralaw dated January 27, 2004, the Ombudsman (Mindanao) dismissed the complaint against respondent municipal officials. Petitioners motion for reconsideration¹¹cralaw was likewise denied in a joint order¹²cralaw dated April 15, 2004.

Hence, the present recourse,¹³cralaw where petitioners impute grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the Ombudsman (Mindanao) in dismissing their letter-complaint against respondent municipal officials. To buttress their stance, petitioners cite the admission made by respondent municipal officials that they had been receiving salaries for special cities even though the Municipality of Midsalip was a fifth-class municipality.

The petition has no merit.

Grave abuse of discretion is present when there is a capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment which is equivalent to lack or excess of jurisdiction. The abuse of discretion must be grave, i.e., it must be so patent and gross as to amount to an evasion of a positive duty or virtual refusal to perform a duty enjoined by law, or to act at all in contemplation of law, as where the power is exercised in an arbitrary and despotic manner by reason of passion or hostility.¹⁴cralaw We find nothing of that sort here.

A fifth-class municipality like Midsalip is not absolutely prohibited from adopting a salary schedule equivalent to that of a special city or a first-class province. Local Budget Circular No. 64 dated January 1, 1997, in conjunction with paragraph 11 of Local Budget No. 56, allows local government units (LGUs) lower than special cities and first-class provinces and cities to adopt a salary scheme for special cities and first-class provinces. The adoption of a higher salary schedule needs only to comply with the following requirements:

(1) the LGU is financially capable;

(2) the salary schedule to be adopted shall be uniformly applied to all positions in the in the LGU concerned;

(3) the salary schedule for the special and highly urbanized cities and first class provinces and cities shall not be higher than that being adopted by the national government;

(4) in implementing a new and higher salary schedule, the salary grade allocation of positions and the salary steps of personnel shall be retained;

(5) the adoption of the higher salary schedule shall be subject to the budgetary and general limitations on personal services expenditures mandated under Sections 324 and 325 of RA 7160;

(6) in the case of component cities and municipalities, the salary schedule to be adopted shall not be higher than that of the province or city in the case of some municipalities, where they belong and

(7) the adoption of a higher salary schedule shall not in any manner alter the existing classification of the LGU concerned.

It is beyond cavil that the Municipality of Midsalip has complied with the above conditions.

Petitioners aver that the Municipality of Midsalip was financially incapable of implementing a higher salary schedule but the evidence showed otherwise. Five years into the implementation of the higher salary schedule, the Municipality of Midsalip had savings of P 14,913,554.68 in its bank account.¹⁵cralaw Not only that. The financial capability of the Municipality of Midsalip, as shown by the certified statement of savings of unobligated balances for the years 2002 and 2003 issued by the Midsalip municipal treasurer and accountant, revealed repeated surplus accounts in the amounts of P7,709,311.64 and P 5,070,913.23 for the said years, respectively.¹⁶cralaw The certification of the Midsalip municipal accountant dated January 14, 2003 also stated that there was no realignment or disbursement of the 20% municipal development project for personal services expenditures from 1998 to 2002.¹⁷cräläwvirtualibräry

Petitioners themselves do not deny that the local budget ordinance of the Municipality of Midsalip (which adopted the salary schedule of special cities) was duly approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Zamboanga del Sur (thus becoming part of the provincial budget ordinance of said province) and later, by the Department of Budget and Management. The Commission on Audit, in turn, after reviewing and auditing the expenditures of the Municipality of Midsalip (including the assailed salaries and allowances) did not disallow or suspend the foregoing disbursements and/or expenditures.

In sum, we find no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Ombudsman (Mindanao) in dismissing the letter-complaint of petitioners against respondent municipal officials. Settled is the rule that the findings of fact of the Ombudsman, when duly supported by evidence, are conclusive.¹⁸cralaw Findings of fact of administrative bodies (which are equipped with expertise as far as their jurisdiction is concerned) should be accorded not only respect but even finality when supported by substantial evidence, even if not overwhelming or preponderant.¹⁹cralaw

We have time and again refrained from interfering with the Ombudmans exercise of its constitutionally mandated investigatory and prosecutory powers.²⁰cralaw This is in recognition of the Office of the Ombudsmans independence and initiative in prosecuting or dismissing a complaint filed before it.²¹cralaw

One last word. Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.²²cralaw Corollary to this heavy burden, however, is the right of public officials to be protected from unfounded suits.

WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby DISMISSED.

Costs against petitioners.

SO ORDERED.

RENATO C. CORONA
Associate Justice
Chairperson

WE CONCUR:

A T T E S T A T I O N

I attest that the conclusions in the above Resolution had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Courts Division.

RENATO C. CORONA
Associate Justice
Chairperson

C E R T I F I C A T I O N

Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution and the Division Chairpersons Attestation, I certify that the conclusions in the above Resolution had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Courts Division.

REYNATO S. PUNO
Chief Justice

Endnotes:

¹cralaw Sangguniang Bayan.

²cralaw Association of Barangay Chairpersons.

³cralaw Sangguniang Kabataan Federation.

⁴cralaw Department of Social Welfare and Development.

⁵cralaw Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

⁶cralaw The Local Government Code.

⁷cralaw The Salary Standardization Law.

⁸cralaw An Act Appropriating the Sum of Ten Billion Nine Hundred Million Pesos as Supplement Appropriation for Fiscal Year 2001 and for Other Purposes.

⁹cralaw Annex "A" of the petition; rollo, pp. 26-32.

¹⁰cralaw Annex "H" of the petition; id., pp. 122-131.

¹¹cralaw Annex "I" of the petition; id., pp. 201-212.

¹²cralaw Annex "J" of the petition; id., pp. 223-226.

¹³cralaw Under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court; id.,pp. 4-23.

¹⁴cralaw Duero v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 131282, 4 January 2002, 373 SCRA 11.

¹⁵cralaw Rollo, p. 58.

¹⁶cralaw Id., p. 59.

¹⁷cralaw Id., p. 60.

¹⁸cralaw Section 27, RA No. 6770.

¹⁹cralaw Casa Filipina Realty Corporation v. Office of the President, G.R. No. 99346, 7 February 1995, 241 SCRA 165.

²⁰cralaw Alba v. Nitoreda, G.R. No. 120223, 13 March 1996, 254 SCRA 753, 765.

²¹cralaw Id., pp. 765-766. The rule is based not only upon respect for the investigatory and prosecutory powers granted by the Constitution to the Office of the Ombudsman, but upon practicality as well. Otherwise, the functions of the courts would be grievously hampered by innumerable petitions assailing the dismissal of investigatory proceedings conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman with regard to complaints filed before it, in much the same way that the courts would be extremely swamped if they could be compelled to review the exercise of discretion on the part of the fiscals or prosecuting attorneys each time they decide to file an information in court or dismiss a complaint by a private complainant. (Ocampo IV v. Ombudsman, G.R. Nos. 103446-47, 30 August 1993, 225 SCRA 725, 730).

²²cralaw CONSTITUTION, Article XI, Section 1.