Bautista's appointment to Marina void - Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines - Undersecretary Ma. Elena Bautista’s appointment as acting administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is void, the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled.

However, the SC did not order Bautista to vacate her post as Marina administrator since she had already given up the job of undersecretary for maritime transport.

The SC declared as unconstitutional Bautista’s designation as Marina officer-in-charge in 2008 on grounds that she was also holding the post of undersecretary for maritime transport at the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

The Marina administrator must be checked by the undersecretary for transport, and naming one person for the two posts would remove check and balance, the SC added,

The SC issued the ruling upon petition of lawyer Dennis Funa, who claimed that the DOTC charter does not provide any ex-officio role for undersecretaries in any of its attached agencies.

The SC dismissed Bautista’s claim the resolution of the case has become moot since her appointment as Marina administrator had become effective Feb. 2, 2009, and that she had already relinquished the post of undersecretary for maritime transport.

The question of the constitutionality of the President’s designation of a department undersecretary as officer-in-charge of an attached agency must be resolved to prevent a similar case in the future, the SC added.

Bautista is not even a member of the Maritime Industry Board, according to the SC.

The decision was written by Associate Justice Martin Villarama.     – Edu Punay