TORNALI v CSC
FACTS:
Tornali was appointed as Department Management Officer II by the then Executive Director of the Office of Muslim Affairs. She assumed her duties four months after and during this time, the records of her appointment weren’t transmitted to the CSC for approval. Given that her appointment was incomplete, upon the entrance of a new Executive Director, her appointment was revoked and she was replaced by Lucma. This prompted Tornali to question the validity of Lucma’s appointment when she was already appointed to the position. She protested this but her protests were dismissed.
HELD:
An appointment to a position in the civil service is required to be submitted to the CSC for approval in order to determine, in main, whether the proposed appointee is qualified to hold the position and whether or not the rules pertinent to the process of appointment are followed.
Compliance with the legal requirements for an appointment to a civil service position is essential in order to make it fully effective. Without the favorable certification or approval of the Commission, in cases when such approval is required, no title to the office canyet be deemed to be permanently vested in favor of the appointee, and the appointment can still be recalled or withdrawn by the appointing authority. Until an appointment has become a completed act, it would likewise be precipitate to invoke the rule on security of tenure.
It was well within the authority and discretion of the new OMA Director, therefore, to appoint private respondent, and such prerogative could not be questioned even on a showing that petitioner might have been better qualified for the position.
The rule has always been that an appointment is essentially a discretionary act, performed by an officer in whom it is vested according to his best judgment, the only condition being that the appointee should possess all the qualifications required therefor. There is nothing on record to convince us that the new OMA Director has unjustly favored private respondent nor has exercised his power of appointment in an arbitrary, whimsical or despotic manner.
