G.R. No. L-21764 - Cabiling vs. Pabulaan

On August 10, 1960, President Garcia designated Teodoro N. Pepito as Acting Mayor and Ernesto Garcia as Acting Vice-Mayor of the newly created municipality of Valencia, Bukidnon, pursuant to Section 10 of Republic Act No. 180.
Meanwhile, Policarpio Valero, Jose Cajes, Melecio Tilanduca, Marcelo Salintao, and Roberto Laoyan were appointed as Acting Municipal Councilors of Valencia and duly qualified.
On May 19, 1961, the acting designations were extended with subsequent qualification on August 15, 1961, ensuring that these officials performed their functions uninterruptedly with regular disbursement of salaries and per diems from November 6, 1960 to June 23, 1962.

On September 28, 1961, appointments were made in Dangcagan where Vicente Cabiling was designated as Acting Mayor and Paulino Gonzales as Acting Vice-Mayor.
Additionally, Ernesto Cayanong, Agapito Ayuban, and Ramon Caspe were appointed as Acting Municipal Councilors.
Further appointments on December 8, 1961, brought Jose Galamiton, Lucio Sarajena, and Pedro Leuterto into office (with the latter two qualifying on December 19, 1961), and all officials discharged their duties continuously while receiving their salaries and per diems up to June 23, 1962.

On December 18, 1961, Benigno U. Aquino, in his capacity as officer in charge of processing presidential appointments, revived instructions to convert all previous acting designations into ad-interim appointments and antedate them.
President Garcia signed the ad-interim appointments on December 25, 1961, with antedated effects—June 1, 1961 for Valencia and December 8, 1961 for Dangcagan.
These appointments were forwarded to the Commission on Appointments on December 26, 1961, and were confirmed in May 1962.

On December 31, 1961, President Macapagal issued Administrative Order No. 2, effectively withdrawing, recalling, and declaring without effect all ad-interim appointments made by President Garcia after December 13, 1961.
On June 6, 1962, new acting appointments were extended by President Macapagal for Valencia (appointing Lucilo Alkuino as Mayor, Solomon Gaoay as Vice-Mayor, and Hugo Limbo, Segundo Dumaguita, Emilio Ermio, Alfredo Acasio, and Escolastico Hugo Ogario as Councilors) and for Dangcagan (appointing Eusebio Pabulaan as Mayor, Emigdio Ofima as Vice-Mayor, and Nicanor R. Baticolon, Nicolas Paeste, Raymundo Salazar, Donato Pabulaan, Victor Ampuan, and Conrado Tosem as Councilors).
These newly appointed officials qualified for office and received their remunerations accordingly.

On December 4, 1962, petitioners Vicente Cabiling and his co-appellants filed a petition for quo warranto in the First Instance of Bukidnon (Case No. 240) claiming their right to hold positions in Dangcagan and challenging the validity of the appointments of Eusebio Pabulaan and others.
Simultaneously, Teodoro N. Pepito and his co-appellants filed an analogous petition (Case No. 239) contesting the appointments in Valencia and seeking a preliminary injunction against the municipal treasurer to prevent the disbursement of salaries and diems to the contested appointees.
Following a joint trial, the lower court rendered a judgment on June 7, 1963, declaring the petitioners as the legal occupants of the contested positions and ousting the respondents with costs.

The trial court examined the nature of the "acting appointments" and held that under Section 10 of Republic Act No. 180, such appointments were deemed permanent until the next regular election (1963).
The actions taken by both administrations—first President Garcia’s ad-interim appointments and then President Macapagal’s subsequent appointments—introduced conflict regarding the status and validity of these appointments.
Evidence, including delayed telegrams and missing official releases of the ad-interim appointments, played a significant role in determining the legal validity of the appointments.

Whether the acting appointments, later converted to ad-interim appointments by President Garcia, were intended to be permanent until the next regular election as claimed by the trial court.
Whether the statutory provision in Section 10 of Republic Act No. 180 supports a presumption of permanence of such appointments in newly created political subdivisions.

Whether the lack of issuance (release) of the ad-interim appointment documents affected their legal validity.
Whether the respondents, having acted under both the acting and ad-interim designations and later accepting these appointments, can claim that their appointments were permanent and immune from recall or removal prior to the next election.

The effect of President Macapagal’s Administrative Order No. 2, which recalled and nullified the ad-interim appointments made after December 13, 1961, on the legitimacy of the appointments in question.
Whether the subsequent appointments and confirmations by the Commission on Appointments were legally sustainable in light of the withdrawal order.