Chapter 1

What is Public Office?

It is a right, authority, 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 sovereign power of government to be exercised by him for
the benefit of the people.

What are the elements of a public office?

1. Created by law or by authority of law

2. Possess a delegation of a portion of the sovereign powers of
government, to be exercised for the benefit of the public
3. Powers conferred and duties imposed must be defined by the
legislature or by legislative authority
4. Duties must be performed independently and without control of
the superior power UNLESS they be those of an inferior or
subordinate officer created or authorized by the legislature and
placed under the general control of a superior officer or body
5. Permanence or continuity.

What is an officer as distinguished from clerk or

employee?

It refers to a person whose duties, not being of clerical or

manual nature, involves the exercise of discretion in the
performance of the functions of the government.

What is the most important characteristic which distinguishes an

office from an employment or contract?
 The creation and conferring of an office involves a delegation
to the individual of some of the sovereign functions of
government, to be exercised by him for the benefit of the public;
that some portion of the sovereignty of the country, either
legislative, executive or judicial, attaches, for the time being, to
be exercised for the public benefit.

How is public office created?

1. Constitution
2. Statutory enactment
3. Authority of law

What is the characteristic of a public office?

A public office is a public trust. This simply means that it

must be discharged by the incumbent not for his own personal
aggrandizement but for the benefit of the public for whom it is
held by him in trust.

What are the classifications of a public officer?

A public officer may be constitutional or statutory; national

or local; legislative, executive or judicial; lucrative or honorary;
discretionary or ministerial; appointive or elective; civil or military;
and de jure or de facto.

Chapter 2

How is public officer chosen?

1. Appointive
2. Election

In appointment, the choice of the public functionaries is

made by the particular officer designated by the Constitution or
the law.
In election, such choice is made by the enfranchised
citizenry through the exercise of their suffrages.

What is the legal meaning of appointment?

Appointment has been defined as the act of designation by

the appointing officer, body or board, to whom that power has
been delegated, of the individual who is to exercise the functions
of a given office.
It is to be distinguished from designation, which is simply the
mere imposition of new duties on the officer to be performed by
him in a special manner.

To whom the power of appointment is exercised?

The power of appointment is by nature executive and is

vested by the Constitution in the President of the Philippines over
the following officers:

1. Heads of the executive departments.

2. Ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls.
3. Officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval
captain.
4. Those other officers whose appointments are vested in him by
the Constitution.
5. All other officers of the government whose appointments are
not provided for by law.
6. Those whom he may be authorized by law to appoint.

How is the power of appointment exercised?

The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the

Commission on Appointments, appoint the heads of the executive
departments, ambassadors, and other officers as enumerated
above.
The President shall have the power to make appointments
during the recess of Congress, whether voluntary or compulsory,
but such appointments shall be effective only until disapproval by
the CA or until the next adjournment of Congress.
The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of other
officers lower in the rank in the President alone, in the courts, or
in the heads of departments, agencies. Commissions, or boards.

Function of the Civil Service Commission in relation to the

appointive power of the President?

To determine whether or not the appointee possesses the

qualifications and requisite or appropriate elegibility. If he does,
his appointment is approved; if not, it is disapproved.
The CSC has no authority to revoke an appointment on the
ground that another person is more qualified, its authority being
limited to approving or renewing an appointment in the light of
the requisites of the law governing the Civil Service, it is within its
power to order the reinstatement of government employees who
have been unlawfully dismissed.

What is election?

It is a mode of filling a public office, by which the

enfranchised citizenry is able to participate directly in the conduct
of the government, through the selection by them of the
functionaries who will represent them therein.

What are the qualifications of public officers?

To be eleigible for public office, the person appointed or

elected thereto must possess the prescribed qualifications as
provided for in the Constitution. Among the usual qualifications
are the age, citizenship, suffrage, literacy, residence, academic
and moral qualifications.

What are the disqualifications?

General Disqualifications under the Constitution are the

following:

1. No candidate who lost in an election, shall, within 1 year after

such election, be appointed to any office in the Government.
2. No elective official shall be eligible for appointment or
designation in any capacity to any public office or position during
his tenure.
3. No appointive official shall hold any other position in the
Government, unless otherwise allowed by law or the primary
functions of his office.
*ex-officio capacity

Chapter 3

What is a de facto officer?

An officer de facto is one whose acts, though not those of a

lawful officer, the law, upon principles of policy and justice, will
hold valid so far as they involve the interests of the public, and
third persons, where the duties of the office were exercised:
1. Without a known appointment or election, but under such
circumstances of reputation or acquiescence as were calculated
to induce people, without inquiry, to submit to or invoke his
action, supposing him to be the officer he assumed to be;
2. Under color of a known and valid appointment or election, but
where the officer had failed to conform to some precedent,
requirement, or condition, as to take an oath, give a bond, or the
like;
3. Under color of a known appointment or election, void, because
the officer was not eligible, or because there was a want of power
in the electing or appointing body, or by reason of some defect or
irregularity in its exercise, such ineligibility, want of power, or
defect being unknown to the public;
4. Under color of an election or an appointment by or pursuant to
a public, unconstitutional law before the same is adjudged to be
such.

What are the distinguishing characteristics of a de jure

and de facto officer?

A de jure officer is one who has lawful title to the office but
has not been able to take possession of it or has been ousted
therefrom. A de facto officer is one who actually possesses the
office although he has an imperfect or only colorable title thereto.

What are the requisites of de facto officership?

1. Existence of a de jure office

2. Color of title
3. Physical position of the office

What are the effects of acts of de facto officer?

 The lawful acts of an officer de facto so far as the rights of
third persons are concerned, are, if done within the scope and by
the apparent authority of the office, considered as valid and
binding as if he were the officer legally elected and qualified for
the office and in full possession thereof.
It has been likewise ruled that a de facto public officer
cannot be made to reimburse funds disbursed during his term of
office because his acts are as those of a de jure officer. Moreover,
as a de facto officer, he is entitled to emoluments for actual
services rendered.

Is de facto officer entitled to salary?

The general rule is that the de facto officer cannot claim a

salary and other compensation for services rendered by him as
such. If he has already collected such salary, he may in fact be
required to pay it back to the de jure officer upon recognition of
the latters title.
However, there is authority to the effect that the de facto
officer may retain salaries collected by him for services rendered
in good faith where there is no de jure officer claiming the office.

Can a De Facto Officer be challenge? If yes. How?

The incumbency of the de facto officer may not be

challenged collaterally or in an action to which he is not a party
but in a direct proceeding where title to the office will be the
principal issue. The authorized proceeding is quo warranto which
is an action that may be brought against a person who usurps
intrudes into or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office, either
by the Solicitor General in the name of the Republic or any person
claiming title to the office.