Borres v. Canonoy 108 SCRA 181 G.R. No. L-31641 October 23, 1981 Facts

Borres v.
Canonoy 108 SCRA 181

G.R. No. L-31641
October 23, 1981
FACTS:
Eulogio Borres was then the acting mayor of Cebu City, while private
respondent Silverio Parages was a detective in the Cebu Police Department holding such position in
a permanent capacity being a civil service eligible. He was assigned to the Homicide and General
Investigation Section of the Investigation Branch particularly to the Missing Persons Section. Acting
on verbal complaints that respondent Parages had been molesting Chinese businessman in Cebu
and the fact that his performance was not satisfactory, Borres issued a memorandum ordering the
detail of respondent to his office. Parages was served with a copy of the detail order, but refused to
receive it and to comply with said order. He informed petitioner that he was declining the detail
stating that the order was illegal and continued to report to his unit. Petitioner charged Parages
with insubordination and neglect of duty in the Police Commission through the City Board of
Investigators, and ordered the suspension of respondent. Parages amended his petition for
prohibition and injunction, with the additional prayer that his suspension be declared illegal.
The trial court rendered its decision dated declaring the detail order of illegal and therefore null
and void, for being contrary to Section 90 of Republic Act No. 3857, or the Revised Charter of the
City of Cebu and to the
constitutional protection of security of tenure. It also held the order of suspension dated illegal, and
ordered the immediate reinstatement of private respondent to the service and the payment of his
back salaries. Petitioner filed the present petition for review on certiorari.
ISSUE:
Whether or not it is within the power of the Mayor to order the detail of private respondent under
the Revised Charter of the City of Cebu and the latter's suspension for refusing to comply with the
order.
RULING:
WHEREFORE, the decision of the lower court dated February 4, 1969 is hereby set aside and
another one is entered declaring legal and with full force and effect petitioner's questioned detail
and suspension orders. Without cost.
RATIO
Yes. The power of petitioner, as Mayor of Cebu City, to detail respondent cannot be denied. Such
power to detail must necessarily be deemed included in his power of control and supervision over
different departments, among which is the Police Department, as expressly so provided in Sections
19 and 32 of the Revised Charter of
Cebu. The power to detail may also be gleaned from the fact that Section 20 provides that the Mayor
has the power to see to it that executive officers and employees are properly discharging their
respective duties. It should be recalled that the Mayor issued the questioned detail order after he
has received reports that Parages' efficiency is far from satisfactory and had been molesting
Chinese businessmen. Hence, in this desire to gain information of actual facts and closely look at his
activities, he ordered the detail of private respondent to his office. There is no
effective way by which the Mayor can see to it that private respondent properly discharged his
duties.
Furthermore, the same Section authorizes the Mayor, to transfer officers and employees from one
section, division, service or department without changing the compensation. It is the local
executive, more than anybody
else, who is primarily responsible for efficient and honest governmental administration in the
locality and the effective maintenance of peace and order therein, and is directly answerable to the
people who elected him. The suspension order was predicated on his obstinate refusal to obey the
detail, and although the charge involved was denominated by petitioner as neglect of duty it cannot
be doubted that such
refusal properly constitutes grave misconduct which is one of the grounds for suspending an officer
under Section 16 of the Polcom Law.

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