Title
Donato, Jr. vs. Civil Service Commission, Regional Office No. 1
Case
G.R. No. 165788
Decision Date
Feb 7, 2007
A teacher and clerk were dismissed for dishonesty after evidence showed the teacher impersonated the clerk during a civil service exam, upheld by courts.
impersonation
government examination
due process
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 216491)

Factual Background

Donato, Jr. worked as a secondary school teacher, while Arce held the position of Assessment Clerk II at the Office of the Municipal Treasurer of Alcala. On October 5, 1998, the CSC Management Information Office received an anonymous letter-complaint requesting an investigation into the alleged dishonest act. The anonymous complainant alleged that Donato, Jr. had falsely represented himself as Arce during the Career Service Sub-Professional Examination held in 1995. The complaint included a photograph of Donato, Jr. and stated that the alleged impersonation enabled cheating of the government.

Upon referral to CSCRO 1 in City of San Fernando, La Union, Donato, Jr. and Arce were required to submit answers. Arce’s answer dated May 19, 1999 denied the charge and asserted that he was the same person who took and passed the examination through his own merit. He supported his denial with a joint affidavit of Gerry Cabrera and David Arce stating that Arce and the others took the Career Service Sub-Professional Examination on August 5, 1990 at Binmaley Catholic High School in Binmaley, Pangasinan. Donato, Jr., in his answer dated May 24, 1999, did not fully concede the impersonation theory. He stated that Arce had asked him once to take the test for him, which Donato refused because he knew it would amount to cheating and put him in trouble. Donato narrated that Arce later found another testing arrangement and announced that he had passed. Donato explained that Arce’s claim about the use of Donato’s picture was beyond his knowledge, though Donato admitted that his picture had been used when he took his own PBET in November 1998 in Dagupan City. He also claimed that two copies of his picture had been submitted to his former principal for loan purposes. Donato further suspected that his picture had been used against him in a vendetta for harassment tied to a case he earlier filed against his former principal.

Development of the Case and the PSP Evidence

The investigation relied on the examination records. The PSP for Examination Room No. 24 in Binmaley Catholic High School for the Career Service Sub-Professional Examination on August 5, 1990—the record where the name Gil Arce appeared—showed that the identification picture pasted above Arce’s name was that of Donato, Jr. The signatures likewise presented a marked variance. The CSC then filed a Formal Charge dated October 12, 1999 against Donato, Jr. and Arce for dishonesty and falsification of official document. The case was docketed as Administrative Case No. 99-27.

Arce’s answer dated December 14, 1999 adopted his prior defenses. He claimed that since childhood he kept photographs in his wallet, including Donato’s. He stated that he might have mistakenly submitted Donato’s ID picture and offered an explanation for the signature discrepancy. Donato, Jr., in his answer dated December 24, 1999, adopted the earlier averments and emphasized a discrepancy in dates: the anonymous complaint allegedly cited the examination in 1995, while the formal charge mentioned August 5, 1990 and also August 5, 1999. He argued that the inconsistency impaired his ability to meet the charge. He also denied impersonation and claimed he was at his residence throughout August 5, 1990, receiving visitors. He submitted affidavits of Diosdado Tamayo and Baldomino Batuan attesting to the visitations on the said date.

CSCRO 1 Proceedings and Rulings

A trial-type hearing followed, at which the parties were afforded opportunity to present documentary and testimonial evidence. CSCRO 1, through Lorenzo S. Danipog, Director IV, rendered Decision No. 2001-113 dated May 30, 2001, dismissing Donato, Jr. and Arce from the service for dishonesty and falsification of official document. Their motions for reconsideration and/or new trial were denied by CSCRO 1 for lack of merit.

CSC Rulings on Appeal

On appeal, the CSC affirmed CSCRO 1 in Resolution No. 020348 dated March 7, 2002 and later denied reconsideration in Resolution No. 021423 dated October 23, 2002. The CSC held that there was substantial evidence to convict both. It particularly considered that Donato’s ID picture appeared on the PSP above Arce’s name during the relevant examination, and that Arce’s purported signature on that PSP differed markedly from Arce’s signature in his CSCRO 1 answer. These circumstances supported the finding that Donato, Jr. actually took the examination for Arce.

The CSC’s resolutions also ordered revocation of their civil service eligibilities in implementation.

Court of Appeals Review

Donato, Jr. and Arce petitioned the CA, which affirmed the CSC in CA-G.R. SP No. 73854 by decision dated October 11, 2004. The CA rejected the argument that the anonymous complaint should have been dismissed outright under Section 8, Rule II of the Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, reasoning that the basis for formal investigation was not the anonymous letter alone but the finding of a prima facie case after a fact-finding process. The CA also dismissed as “puerile” the claim that documentary evidence lacked probative value because the public officials who had custody of the documents were not presented. It treated the PSP as a public document and applied the evidentiary rule that public documents are prima facie evidence of facts in public records made in the performance of duty, citing Section 23, Rule 132 of the Revised Rules on Evidence.

The CA further held that due process requirements had been met. It found that Donato, Jr. and Arce were afforded opportunity to present their side and in fact submitted evidence to controvert the charges. Accordingly, it sustained the conclusions of dishonesty and falsification based on the PSP and the discrepancies shown thereon.

Issues Raised in the Supreme Court

Before the Supreme Court, Donato, Jr. challenged the CA and CSC rulings, chiefly on two grounds. First, he argued that the proceedings were tainted with irregularity and that his right of confrontation was violated, such that there was no evidence against him. Second, he contested the factual conclusion that he impersonated Arce merely because his picture appeared in the PSP above Arce’s name.

Petitioner’s Arguments on Due Process and Evidence

Donato, Jr. assailed the reliance on the PSP marked as Exhibit “C”. He contended that what was actually presented during the CSCRO 1 proceedings was only a photocopy, not the original PSP. During the hearing of August 8, 2000, CSCRO 1 counsel allegedly produced what counsel claimed was the original PSP only upon Donato, Jr.’s demand. Donato objected on the ground that counsel was not allegedly the custodian of the document. He further insisted he was not placed on the witness stand, so the document was not subject to cross-examination. He also argued that the PSP was not identified and formally offered in evidence. He maintained that this impaired his due process because he could not confront the person who prepared or had custody of the PSP. He added that the placement of his ID picture could have been done by any person through “pasting it over” another picture for an improper purpose, and he accused his former principal, Mrs. Erlinda C. Tadeo, of being responsible due to a prior administrative case in which a fine had been imposed on the principal.

Supreme Court’s Treatment of Administrative Fact-Finding

The Supreme Court held the petition bereft of merit. It emphasized that CSCRO 1, the CSC, and the CA consistently found Donato, Jr. liable, and that these bodies had given credence to the PSP showing Donato’s ID picture above Arce’s name. The Court applied the governing principle that factual findings of administrative bodies, when supported by substantial evidence and affirmed by the CA, are generally controlling and not reviewable in the Supreme Court. It recognized exceptions to this general rule, including findings based on speculation, manifestly mistaken inferences, grave abuse of discretion, misapprehension of facts, conflicting findings, or findings contrary to admissions or the trial court. The Court stated that none of the enumerated exceptions had been shown.

The Court also stressed that it was not its function to reweigh evidence and credibility. Its jurisdiction in such cases was limited to reviewing and correcting errors of law, while administrative fact findings remain conclusive when supported by substantial evidence.

Due Process and Confrontation in Administrative Proceedings

On the due process and confrontation argument, the Supreme Court rejected the contention that the lack of cross-examination against the custodian or preparer of the PSP itself established a deprivation of due process. It invoked the rule that in administrative proceedings, due process is satisfied when parties are afforded a fair and reasonable opportunity to explain their side of the controversy, or when they are given an opportunity to seek reconsideration. The Court found those minimum requirements satisfied: hearings were conducted before CSCRO 1, Donato, Jr. and Arce actively participated, and they submitted evidence. They also availed of reconsideration before CSCRO 1 and later pursued review before the CSC and the CA.

The Supreme Court likewise dismissed the complaint that the PSP was not formally offered, since administrative bodies with quasi-judicial powers are not bound by technical rules of procedure and evidence, subject only to the basic requirement of due process.

Substantive Reasoning on Impersonation and the PSP’s Evidentiary Weight

The Court affirmed the CSC’s reasoning that the picture on the PSP pasted over Arce’s name was indicative of impersonation because the room examiners closely examined the pictures submitted by examinees and would not allow an examinee to sit for the examination if the examinee did not resemble the person in the PSP picture. The Court accepted the CSC’s inference that the person whose picture appeared on the PSP was the one

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