Case Digest (G.R. No. 170021)
Facts:
The Office of the President v. Nita P. Buenaobra, G.R. No. 170021, September 08, 2006, the Supreme Court First Division, Ynares-Santiago, J., writing for the Court.The petition arises from respondent Nita P. Buenaobra's dismissal as Chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Pilipino (KWP) by the Office of the President via Resolutions dated April 11, 2003 and June 26, 2003. The Office of the Ombudsman's Special Prosecution Officer earlier filed an information against Buenaobra with the Sandiganbayan for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019 (Criminal Case No. 26918), alleging gross inexcusable negligence in not collecting a 15% royalty fee from Merylvin Publishing House for unauthorized reprinting of a dictionary.
Upon Buenaobra’s motion the Sandiganbayan ordered a reinvestigation; thereafter, Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo approved a recommendation to reverse the finding of probable cause and withdraw the information. The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division granted the Motion to Withdraw Information in a Resolution dated April 30, 2003. While that reinvestigation was pending, the Presidential Anti‑Graft Commission (PAGC) conducted a parallel administrative investigation charging Buenaobra with causing undue injury to the government and giving unwarranted benefits to the publisher by failing to collect the royalty.
Buenaobra moved to dismiss the administrative complaint on grounds of litis pendentia and forum shopping; the PAGC denied her motion, recommended dismissal from the service and other sanctions, and the President (through the Office of the President) adopted PAGC’s recommendation and dismissed her on April 11, 2003. Buenaobra’s motion for reconsideration was denied, whereupon she filed a petition for review with the Court of Appeals (CA‑G.R. SP No. 78279). The Court of Appeals, in a Decision dated May 27, 2005, reversed and set aside the Office of the President’s Resolutions, finding the PAGC proceedings procedurally and substantively flawed for failing to allow presentation of evidence and for issuing bare conclusions without factual findings, and ordered dismissal of...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Whether respondent, as Chairman of the KWP and a presidential appointee in the non‑career service, is removable at the pleasure of the President.
- Whether the Office of the President committed grave abuse of discretion in dismissing respondent for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019, given the procedural defects in the PAGC proceedings and the absence of evidence of administrative liability.
- Whether the pendency and subsequent withdrawal of the criminal information in the Sandiganbayan barred or should have precluded the administrative proceedings (i....(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
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Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)