SC junks petition questioning EO 883

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday dismissed a petition of a lawyer questioning the legality of Executive Order No. 883 issued by the previous administration in May last year that granted Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) rank to eligible lawyers in the executive branch.

In a unanimous decision, the high court junked the petition of lawyer Elias Omar Sana for being moot since the assailed EO No. 883 was already repealed by President Aquino’s Executive Order No. 3 in July last year.

The ruling penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio held that to pass upon the validity of EO 883 would be to transgress the requirement of the case and controversy as precondition for the Court’s exercise of judicial review.

The SC explained that the question of whether an appointment to a CESO rank of an executive official amounts to “appointment” for purposes of the constitutional ban on midnight appointment – while potentially recurring – holds no certainty of evading judicial review as the question can be decided even beyond the appointments-ban period under the Constitution.

It also held that Sana himself does not allege to have suffered any violation of a right vested in him under EO 883.

Thus, the SC ruled that for it to determine the constitutionality of EO 883, despite its “unquestioned repeal and the absence of any resulting prejudice to petitioner’s rights, is to depart from its constitutional role of settling actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable.”

On May 28, 2010, President Arroyo issued EO 883 granting the rank of CESO III or higher to officers and employees “occupying legal positions in the government executive service” who have obtained graduate degrees in law and successfully passed the Bar examinations.

The Career Service Executive Board (CESB) subsequently issued CESB Resolution No. 870 finding no legal impediment for the President to vest CESO rank on executive officials during the periods covered by the constitutional ban on midnight appointment and statutory ban on pre-election appointment.

CESB also endorsed to President Arroyo its recommendation to vest CESO rank to 13 officials from various departments and agencies, including three members of the CESB who signed the resolution.