Dela Cruz v.

COA
November 29, 2001
ELEANOR DELA CRUZ, FEDERICO LUCHICO, JR., SOLEDAD EMILIA CRUZ, JOEL LUSTRIA, HENRY PAREL,
HELENA HABULAN, PORFIRIO VILLENA, JOSEPH FRANCIA, CARMELLA TORRES, JOB DAVID, CESAR
MEJIA, MA. LOURDES V. DEDAL, ALICE TIONGSON, REYDELUZ CONFERIDO, PHILIPPE LIM, NERISSA
SANCHEZ, MARY LUZ ELAINE PURACAN, RODOLFO QUIMBO, TITO GENILO and OSCAR ABUNDO, as
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF THE NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY FROM THE PERIOD COVERING 19911996, petitioners, vs.
COMMISSION ON AUDIT, represented by its COMMISSIONERS, respondents.
Sandoval-Gutierrez, J.:
NATURE: Certiorari under ROC 65. Action arising from a COA disallowance
FACTS

Office involved: National Housing Authority (NHA)

Officers involved: Officials of various Cabinet-level departments who sat on the NHA Board as alternates
of the Cabinet secretaries who were ex-officio members of the NHA Board, by virtue of PD 7577 (the NHA
Law) [THE ALTERNATES].

Sep. 19, 1997 In compliance with the ruling in Civil Liberties Union v. Executive Secretary, the
Commission on Audit (COA) issued a memorandum stating that EO 284 had been declared unconstitutional
insofar as it allows Cabinet members, their deputies, and assistants to hold other offices; and directing its
designated auditors in all national government offices to:
o immediately cause the disallowance of additional compensation/remuneration given to and
received by government officials affected by the decisions ruling on the multiple position rule
o effect the refund of such payments from the time the decision became final on Feb. 22, 1991

Oct. 23, 1997 NHA Resident Auditor Salvador VASQUEZ thus issued a Notice of Disallowance against the
payment of representation allowances and per diems to the Cabinet members who were ex-officio members
of the NHA Board and/or their alternates who actually received such payments.
o The total amount disallowed was P276,000, covering the years 1991-1996.

On behalf of the alternates who received the disallowed allowances and per diems, NHA Chairman of the
Board Dionisio dela Serna appealed the disallowance on the ground that the SC issued a resolution in the
CLU case clarifying that the multiple position rule does not cover other appointive officials whose rank was
Assistant Secretary or lower; and that the alternates were all ranked Assistant Secretary or lower.

Sep. 22, 1998 COA denied the appeal.

o COA conceded that the alternates were indeed ranked Asec. and lower, but ruled that they were
sitting on the NHA board by virtue of authority derived from the office of the Cabinet secretaries
they were representing. As such they are mere agents and their right to receive benefits flows from
their principals. Since their principals were barred from receiving remuneration from the NHA under
the multiple position rule, so should the agents. The spring cannot rise higher than its source.

The alternates filed the present petition with the SC

ISSUE (HELD): W/N the disallowance of the remuneration for the alternates of the ex-officio members of the NHA
Board is valid (YES)
RATIO

Under 7 of the NHA Law, the following Cabinet Secretaries are mandated to sit in the NHA Board:
o Secretary of Public Works, Transportation, and Communications
o Secretary of Finance
o Secretary of Labor
o Secretary of Industry
o Executive Secretary
o NEDA Director-General

While the alternates are not these officials, they are their alternates, and still under 7, their acts shall be
considered the acts of their principals.

CLU v. Executive Secretary is controlling: The prohibition against holding dual or multiple offices or
employment under Section 13, Article VII of the Constitution must not, however, be construed as applying to
posts occupied by the Executive officials specified therein without additional compensation in an ex-officio
capacity as provided by law and as required by the primary functions of said officials' office. The reason is
that these posts do not comprise `any other office' within the contemplation of the constitutional prohibition
but are properly an imposition of additional duties and functions on said officials.

On the term ex-officio: The term ex officio means `from office by virtue of office'. It refers to an `authority
derived from official character merely, not expressly conferred upon the individual character, but rather
annexed to the official position.' Ex officio likewise denotes an `act done in an official character, or as a
consequence of office, and without any other appointment or authority than that conferred by the office.' An
ex officio member of a board is one who is a member by virtue of his title to a certain office, and without
further warrant or appointment. x x x
On the right to receive remuneration for an ex officio position: "The ex officio position being actually
and in legal contemplation part of the principal office, it follows that the official concerned has no right to
receive additional compensation for his services in the said position. The reason is that these services are
already paid for and covered by the compensation attached to his principal office. It should be obvious that
if, say, the Secretary of Finance attends a meeting of the Monetary Board as an ex officio member thereof,
he is actually and in legal contemplation performing the primary function of his principal office in defining
policy in monetary banking matters, which come under the jurisdiction of his department. For such
attendance, therefore, he is not entitled to collect any extra compensation, whether it be in the form of a per
diem or an honorarium or an allowance, or some other such euphemism. By whatever name it is
designated, such additional compensation is prohibited by the Constitution."
CAB: Petitioner officials who are on the NHA Board as ALTERNATES of the Cabinet members and ex-officio
members of the NHA are prohibited from receiving additional compensation. To rule otherwise would be
giving the alternates a better right than their principals. The alternates cannot receive the compensation to
which their principals are not entitled to in the first place.

DISPOSITION: Petition dismissed.