156 SCRA 549 G.R. No. 79974 December 17 1987 [Appointing Power]
FACTS:
Mison was appointed as the Commissioner of the Bureau of
Customs and Carague as the Secretary of the Department of Budget, without the
confirmation of the Commission on Appointments. Sarmiento assailed the
appointments as unconstitutional by reason of its not having been confirmed by
CoA.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the appointment is valid.
Whether or not the appointment is valid.
RULING:
Yes. The President acted within her constitutional authority
and power in appointing Salvador Mison, without submitting his nomination to
the CoA for confirmation. He is thus entitled to exercise the full authority
and functions of the office and to receive all the salaries and emoluments
pertaining thereto.
Under Sec 16 Art. VII of the 1987 Constitution, there are 4
groups of officers whom the President shall appoint:
1st, appointment of executive departments and bureaus heads,
ambassadors, other public ministers, consuls, officers of the armed forces from
the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other officers with the consent and
confirmation of the CoA.
2nd, all other Government officers whose appointments are
not otherwise provided by law;
3rd those whom the President may be authorized by the law to
appoint;
4th, low-ranking officers whose appointments the Congress
may by law vest in the President alone.
First group of officers is clearly appointed with the
consent of the Commission on Appointments. Appointments of such officers are
initiated by nomination and, if the nomination is confirmed by the Commission
on Appointments, the President appoints.
2nd, 3rd and 4th group of officers are the present bone of
contention. By following the accepted rule in constitutional and statutory
construction that an express enumeration of subjects excludes others not
enumerated, it would follow that only those appointments to positions expressly
stated in the first group require the consent (confirmation) of the Commission
on Appointments.
It is evident that
the position of Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs (a bureau head) is not
one of those within the first group of appointments where the consent of the
Commission on Appointments is required. The 1987 Constitution deliberately
excluded the position of "heads of bureaus" from appointments that
need the consent (confirmation) of the Commission on Appointments.
