G.R. No. 241986 - FELICIANO PALAD LEGASPI, SR. VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE , premises considered, finding substantial evidence against respondent FELICIANO P. LEGASPI[,] [SR.] for Le charge of Oppression or Grave Abuse of Authority, it is respectfully recommended that a penalty of suspension of six (6) months and one (1) day be imposed against him pursuant to Section 10, Rule III of Administrative Order No. 7, as amended . The Honorable Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government is hereby directed to implement this DECISION immediately upon receipt thereof pursuant to Section 7, Rule III of Administrative Order No. 7, as amended, in relation to OMB Memorandum Circular No. 1, Series of 2006, dated 11 April 2006, and to promptly inform this Office of the action taken hereon. SO DECIDED. [7] (Emphasis in the original, underscoring supplied) Thereafter, Florida M. Dijan ( Dijan ), Regional Director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government ( DILG ) Region III, received a Memorandum dated December 3, 2012 from DILG Undersecretary Austere A. Panadero instructing her to cause the immediate implementation of the OMB Decision dated August 31, 2012 suspending Legaspi. [8] With this, Dijan issued an Order [9] dated December 12, 2012 directing the implementation of Legaspi's suspension. [10] Darwin David ( David ), Officer-in-Charge ( OIC ) of the Bulacan Office, DILG Region III, and Atty. Myron C. Cunanan ( Cunanan ), Legal Officer, DILG Region III, were tasked to serve a copy of the order of suspension to Legaspi and cause the immediate implementation thereof. [11] As such, David and Cunanan proceeded to the Municipal Hall of Norzagaray to implement the suspension order. However, they did not find Legaspi therein. Silangan Rivas ( Rivas ), the Municipal Human Resource Management Officer accommodated David and Cunanan. [12] Thereat, Rivas called Legaspi and handed the phone to Cunanan. Initially, Legaspi refused to receive the suspension order but Cunanan cautioned him that a valid substituted service may be done. After the phone was returned to Rivas, she then informed Cunanan and David that she would receive the suspension order based on Legaspi's instruction. Thus, at 3:00 p.m. on December 12, 2012, Rivas received the suspension order on behalf of Legaspi and this was witnessed by Dr. Jimmy Corpus, a consultant of the municipal government. [13] The following day, Rivas wrote a letter [14] to the DILG Region III, seeking to return the suspension order of Legaspi due to the following reasons: That as the Municipal Human Resource Management Officer, I am not duly authorized to receive such document on behalf of the Municipal Mayor; That since the nature of the document is an order from your office, the undersigned believes that the same should be directly received by Mayor Feliciano P. Legaspi, M.D. [15] The DILG Region III, through Dijan, responded to the letter of Rivas and explained that her authority was categorically acknowledged by the counsel of Legaspi in a pleading entitled "Appear