Sabello v DECS (Constitution)

Sabello v DECS

GR No. 87687 December 26, 1989

Section 19. Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment.cralaw

He shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the Members of the Congress.cralaw

FACTS:

(1) Petitioner, together with the barrio captain, were charged of the violation of Republic Act 3019, and both were convicted to suffer a sentence of one year and disqualification to hold public office. The herein petitioner appealed his case to the Court of appeals, Manila. The Court of appeals modified the decision by eliminating the subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency in the payment of one-half of the amount being involved. The herein petitioner, being financially battered, could no longer hire a lawyer to proceed to the highest court of the land.

(2) Petitioner was granted an ABSOLUTE PARDON by the President of the Republic of the Philippines, restoring him to 'full civil and political rights.' With this instrument on hand, the herein petitioner applied for reinstatement to the government service, only to be reinstated to the wrong position of a mere classroom teacher and not to his former position as Elementary School Principal I.

ISSUE:

Whether or not petitioner should be reappointed to his former position after the President’s absolute pardon

HELD:

WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED in that the Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports and/or his duly authorized representative is hereby directed to appoint petitioner to the position of Elementary School Principal I or its equivalent.

RATIO:

(1) Taking into consideration that this petition is filed by a non-lawyer, who claims that poverty denies him the services of a lawyer, We also set aside the requirement of exhaustion of administrative remedies and resolved to go direct to the merits of the petition.

(2)In Monsanto vs. Factoran, Jr., this Court held that the absolute disqualification from office or ineligibility from public office forms part of the punishment prescribed under the penal code and that pardon frees the individual from all the penalties and legal disabilities and restores him to all his civil rights. Although such pardon restores his eligibility to a public office it does not entitle him to automatic reinstatement. He should apply for reappointment to said office.As there are no circumstances that would warrant the diminution in his rank, justice and equity dictate that he bereturned to his former position of Elementary School Principal I and not to that of a mere classroom teacher.However, the Court cannot grant his prayer for backwages from September 1, 1971 to November 23, 1982 since in Monsanto this Court said he is not entitled to automatic reinstatement.