Title
Posadas vs. Sandiganbayan
Case
G.R. No. 168951
Decision Date
Jul 17, 2013
A university chancellor and OIC were convicted for appointing and receiving double compensation, violating anti-graft laws, resulting in imprisonment and disqualification.
technology management project
forced resignation
conviction

Case Summary (G.R. No. 168951)

Factual Background

The University of the Philippines Diliman established the Technology Management Center (TMC) in 1995 and executed an MOA on September 18, 1995 with PIDS/PTTAF and CIDA to fund the project; UP was to implement and manage project funds. Dr. Posadas, then Chancellor of UP Diliman, submitted the project for funding and declined initial nomination as TMC Director, designating Prof. Jose Tabbada as Acting Director. Administrative Orders made Dr. Dayco OIC of the Chancellor’s office while Dr. Posadas traveled to China from October 30 to November 6, 1995. On November 7, 1995, Dr. Dayco appointed Dr. Posadas Project Director of the TMC effective September 18, 1995 to September 17, 1996, and executed a contract naming Dr. Posadas consultant for the same period.

Payments, Audit Questions and University Investigation

Dr. Posadas received project honoraria of P30,000 per month and consultancy fees totaling P100,000 until COA raised questions in May–August 1996 and suspended payments in August 1996. COA Resident Auditor Romeo J. Pulido cited excess honoraria, lack of legal basis for the Chancellor’s designation by an OIC, the non‑delegability of appointment authority under the University Charter, and the impropriety of double compensation. UP Chief Legal Officer Marichu C. Lambino responded in a September 16, 1996 memorandum defending the payments as consultancy fees exempt from DBM NCC No. 75 and citing CSC and UP rules; COA lifted suspension notices in September 1997. Concurrently, UP President Emil Q. Javier ordered an administrative investigation following a complaint by a TMC administrative officer, the ADT found grave misconduct and recommended dismissal, and the Board of Regents ultimately imposed forced resignation and accessory penalties on November 26, 1998.

Criminal Proceedings and Charges

The Ombudsman docketed complaints, and after review ordered indictment leading to Informations filed before the Sandiganbayan (Criminal Case Nos. 25465–66). The informations charged that on or about November 7, 1995 petitioners, while performing official duties and acting in conspiracy, gave unwarranted benefits by appointing Dr. Posadas as Project Director and consultant, causing undue injury and enabling payment of P30,000 monthly and P100,000 consultancy fees, and that the consultancy constituted unauthorized private practice contrary to R.A. No. 6713, Section 7(b). Petitioners were arraigned and pleaded not guilty.

Ruling of the Sandiganbayan

The Sandiganbayan, in a Decision dated June 28, 2005, found petitioners guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019 and Section 7(b) of R.A. No. 6713. It concluded that petitioners acted with evident bad faith and that the appointments were beyond the authority of an OIC, retroactive, and violative of rules on multiple positions and double compensation; it also held that the foreign grant, once received by UP, acquired public attributes and therefore the government suffered undue injury. The Sandiganbayan sentenced both to an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of nine years and one day to twelve years and perpetual disqualification for the R.A. 3019 violation, ordered joint and several indemnity of P336,000, and imposed the maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and disqualification for the R.A. 6713 violation.

Issues on Review

The Supreme Court considered whether the Sandiganbayan had committed grave abuse of discretion in denying petitioners’ motion for reconsideration as pro forma for lack of a notice of hearing and whether the convictions under R.A. No. 3019, Section 3(e) and R.A. No. 6713, Section 7(b) rested on facts unsupported by evidence or on inapplicable legal principles.

Petitioners’ Contentions

Petitioners argued that the Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan did not require a movant to set the hearing, that their actions lacked evident bad faith or manifest partiality, and that the OIC’s designation was a routine administrative accommodation to travel scheduling. They maintained the appointments were valid, that services were consultancy exempt from civil service restrictions and not subject to CSC approval, that no injury occurred because the TMC funds were foreign grants and not government funds, and that no conspiracy existed. Petitioners further raised claims of university politics and asserted the complainant’s alleged hearsay and conflict of interest.

Supreme Court’s Analysis — Procedural Issue

The Court held that the Sandiganbayan properly denied due course to the motion for reconsideration because the 2002 Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan require motions to be scheduled for hearing and the Rules of Court provisions on notice of hearing are mandatory. The Court rehearsed precedent and rule text, concluded that a motion lacking a notice of hearing is pro forma and does not toll the period for appeal, and found no grave abuse of discretion in Sandiganbayan’s disposition of the motion.

Supreme Court’s Analysis — Violation of R.A. No. 3019, Section 3(e)

The Court recited the elements of Section 3(e): public officer status, action with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or inexcusable negligence, and causation of undue injury or unwarranted benefit. It accepted that petitioners were public officers and sustained the Sandiganbayan’s finding of evident bad faith. The Court emphasized that the retroactive appointment, the timing to coincide with Dr. Posadas’s travel so that the OIC would effect the appointment, and testimonial evidence that a memo was drafted to secure the appointment demonstrated a pre‑conceived scheme. The Court relied on Section 204 of the Government Accounting and Auditing Manual and CSC and UP regulatory frameworks to conclude that an OIC’s limited powers did not extend to making such an appointment, that the appointment of the Chancellor to a project was not susceptible to the Chancellor’s delegated authority, and that CSC MC No. 38 and MC No. 40 prohibited retroactive effectivity and double compensation. The Court rejected the claim that foreign funding negated public character, holding that funds received and managed by UP were impressed with public attributes and were subject to COA audit; the Court therefore found injury quantified by the improper disbursement and imposed indemnity in the amount ordered by the Sandiganbayan.

Supreme Court’s Analysis — Violation of R.A. No. 6713, Section 7(b)

The Court analyzed Section 7(b), which prohibits outside employment and the private practice of profession by public officials without authorization. It observed that consultancy arrangements are treated as private practice under CSC pronouncements and that permission from the head of the agency is required. The Court held that because the appointee was the Chancellor himself, authorization should ha

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