Laurel V Desierto Digest
Laurel V Desierto Digest
Laurel V Desierto Digest
v.
Desierto
430
Phil
658
|
No.
145368
12
April
2002
|
Kapunan,
J.
Facts:
! President
Cory
issued
Admin
Order
No.
223
Committee
for
the
preparation
of
the
National
Centennial
Celebration.
The
committee
was
mandated
to
take
charge
of
the
nationwide
preparations
for
the
National
Celebration
of
the
Philippine
Centennial.
! President
Fidel
Ramos
issued
an
EO
to
reconstitute
the
committee
and
appointed
VP
Laurel
as
chair.
! A
corporation
named
Philippine
Centennial
Expo
98
Corporation
(Expocorp)
was
created.
Laurel
was
elected
as
CEO
of
Expocorp.
! Senator
Coseteng
delivered
a
privileged
speech
denouncing
alleged
anomalies
in
the
projects
of
the
National
Centennial
Committee
(NCC).
! President
Estrada
issued
an
AO
creating
a
committee
to
investigate
the
projects
of
NCC.
Rene
Saguisag
was
appointed
as
chair
of
the
AdHoc
committee.
! The
SBRC
(Senate
Blue
Ribbon)
recommended
that
Laurel
be
prosecuted
by
the
Ombudsman
for
violating
the
anti-graft
law.
! The
AdHoc
committee
also
recommended
further
investigation
by
the
Ombudsman
of
Laurel.
! The
Ecaluation
and
Preliminary
Investigation
Bureau
issued
a
resolution
finding
probable
cause
to
indict
Laurel
before
the
Sandiganbayan.
! Petitioner
assails
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Ombudsman
claiming
that
he
is
not
a
public
officer.
Issue/Ratio:
WON
Laurel
is
a
public
officer.
YES
Neither
the
Consti
nor
the
Ombudsman
Act
defines
who
a
public
officer
is,
but
a
definition
Is
cited
in
jurisprudence:
A
public
office
is
the
right,
authority
and
duty,
created
and
conferred
by
law,
by
which,
for
a
given
period,
either
fixed
by
law
or
enduring
at
the
pleasure
of
the
creating
power,
an
individual
is
invested
with
some
portion
of
the
sovereign
functions
of
the
government,
to
be
exercised
by
him
for
the
benefit
of
the
public.
The
individual
so
invested
is
a
public
officer.
Characteristics
of
a
Public
Office:
(1) Delegation
of
sovereign
functions
-
NCC
was
delegated
with
executive
functions.
(2) Created
by
law
The
NCC
was
created
by
an
EO.
(3) Continuance
of
the
position
the
element
of
continuance
cannot
be
considered
indispensable,
for
,
if
the
other
elements
are
present,
it
can
make
no
difference
whether
there
be
but
on
act
or
a
series
of
acts
to
be
done,
-
whether
their
office
expires
as
soon
as
the
one
act
is
done,
or
is
to
be
held
for
years
or
during
good
behavior.
(4) The
designation
of
the
position
as
an
office.
NCC
performs
executive
functions
and
is,
therefore,
a
public
office.