FULL TITLE AS IN FULL TEXT: ARMITA B. RUFINO, ZENAIDA R.

TANTOCO, LORENZO
CALMA, RAFAEL SIMPAO, JR., and FREDDIE GARCIA vs. BALTAZAR N. ENDRIGA, MA. PAZ
D. LAGDAMEO, PATRICIA C. SISON, IRMA PONCE-ENRILE POTENCIANO, and DOREEN
FERNANDEZ.

G.R. No. 139554 DATE: July 21, 2006

PONENTE: CARPIO, J TOPIC: SEC. 16

FACTS OF THE CASE: Two groups of appointed members of the Board of Trustees of CCP are
contesting each other’s appointment. The Respondents, Endriga group, sitting as current
members, was appointed by then-President Ramos and the petitioners, the Rufino group was
appointed by then president Estrada to replace Endriga group.

P.H.: The Endriga group filed a petition for quo warranto asserting the appointment of Rufino
group. The Endriga group refused to accept that the CCP was under the supervision and control
of the President. The Endriga group cited PD 15 Sec. 6 “appointment into the Board shall only
be made by a majority vote of the trustees; presidential appointments can only be made when the
Board is entirely vacant to uphold the CCP’s charter of independence from pressure or politics.”
the Court of Appeals granted the quo warranto petition. The Court of Appeals declared the Endriga
group lawfully entitled to hold office as CCP trustees.

The Rufino group filed a motion of reconsideration asserting that Section 6(b) of PD 15 authorizing
the CCP trustees to elect their fellow trustees should be declared unconstitutional being
repugnant to Section 16, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution allowing the appointment only of
“officers lower in rank” than the appointing power.

STATEMENT OF ISSUE/S: W/N PD 15, Section 6 allowing appointments made by trustees of

their fellow members is constitutional.

HOLDING: NO. The SC ruled that Sec. 6 of PD 15 as amended which authorizes the remaining
trustees to fill by election vacancies in the Board of Trustees of CCP is unconstitutional. Section
6 of PD 15, which authorizes the trustees of the CCP Board to fill vacancies in the Board, runs
afoul with the President’s power of control under Section 17, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution.
The intent of the said Section is to insulate the CCP from political influence and pressure,
specifically from the President, it also makes the CCP a self-perpetuating entity, virtually outside
the control of the President. Such a public office or board cannot legally exist under the 1987
Constitution.

The CCP is part of the Executive branch. No law can cut off the President’s control over the CCP
in the guise of insulating the CCP from the President’s influence. By stating that the “President
shall have control of all the executive offices,” the 1987 Constitution empowers the President not
only to influence but even to control all offices in the Executive branch, including the CCP. Control
is far greater than, and subsumes, influence. The Court grant the petition and declare section 6
(b) and (c) Unconstitutional.