Civil Service Commission Vs Cortes
Civil Service Commission Vs Cortes
Civil Service Commission Vs Cortes
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW; NEPOTISM; EXCEPTIONS. By way of exception, the following shall not be covered
by the prohibition: (1) persons employed in a confidential capacity; (2) teachers; (3) physicians; and (4)
members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In the present case, however, the appointment of
respondent Cortes as IO V in the CHR does not fall to any of the exemptions provided by law.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW; ADMINISTRATIVE CODE; SECTION 59; PURPOSE. The purpose of Section 59 on the
rule against nepotism is to take out the discretion of the appointing and recommending authority on the
matter of appointing or recommending for appointment a relative. The rule insures the objectivity of the
appointing or recommending official by preventing that objectivity from being in fact tested. Clearly, the
prohibition against nepotism is intended to apply to natural persons. It is one pernicious evil impeding the
civil service and the efficiency of its personnel.
Indeed, it is absurd to declare that the prohibitive veil on nepotism does not include appointments made
by a group of individuals acting as a body. What cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly. This
principle is elementary and does not need explanation. Certainly, if acts that cannot be legally done
directly can be done indirectly, then all laws would be illusory.