DOJ Opinion No. 094, s. 1984

DOJ OPINION NO. 094 , s. 1984 June 18, 1984 Deputy Minister Victor C. Macalincag Minister of Finance Manila Sir : This has reference to your request for a ruling and/or legal opinion on the issue of whether or not provincial treasurers and assessors "shall continue to appoint" their respective subordinate assistant municipal treasurers and assessors. It appears that you have posed the above question in view of what you claim as a "conflict in the interpretation" of Section 73 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 337 (The Local Government Code) vis-a-vis Section 90-A(d) of Presidential Decree No. 464 (The Real Property Tax Code), as amended, and Section 74 of Presidential Decree No. 477 (The Local Fiscal Administration Decree) which insofar as pertinent, respectively, provides as follows: Section 73 of Batas Pambansa Blg . 337 "Appointment of Personnel of Local Governments. All officials and employees paid wholly out of provincial, city or municipal funds shall be appointed by the governor, city or municipal mayor, as the case may be, except as otherwise provided in this Code." prLL Section 74, P . D . No . 477 "In the office of the municipal or municipal district treasurer there shall be an assistant municipal or municipal district treasurer who shall be appointed by the Provincial Treasurer with the approval of the Secretary of Finance in conformity with the provisions of the Civil Service Law." Section 90-A (d), P . D . 464, as amended "The Assistant Municipal Assessor shall be appointed by the Provincial Assessor upon recommendation of the Deputy Provincial and Municipal Assessor, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Finance." . . . You state that certain municipal mayors "have already been appointing" assistant municipal treasurers and assessors relying upon the provision of Section 73 of B.P. Blg. 337 (1983) which grants local chief executives the power to appoint "all officials and employees" within their respective areas. You also claim that many provincial treasurers and assessors continue to exercise their power to appoint assistant municipal treasurers and assessors, respectively, pursuant to Section 74 of P.D. No. 477 (1974) and Section 90-A(d) of P.D. No. 464 (1974). Your query is answered in the affirmative subject to the extended discussion provided hereunder. A general law has been defined as one which covers or embraces a class of subjects or places and does not omit any subject or place naturally belonging to such class, while a special law is one which pertains to particular persons or things of a class (see MOJ Ops. dated February 20, 1984 and February 11, 1967; also Villegas v. Subido, 41 SCRA 190, citing Valera v. Tuazon, Jr., 80 Phil. 823, 828). Applying the aforecited legal definitions, it is clear that Batas Pambansa Blg. 337 is a general law (see also Orendain, Philippine Local Government Code; Annotated, 1983 ed., p. 514), and that P.D. Nos. 464 and 477 are both special law. B.P. Blg. 337 covers all areas of local government and administration whereas the two decrees govern specific fields of the local government's fiscal matters. The former is broad enough to embrace the subject covered by the latter. Even Section 73 of B.P. Blg. 337, in particular, is a general provision considering that the same speaks of the power of appointment of local heads in general, unlike the power of appointment given to the provincial assessors and treasurers by the two presidential decrees, above-cited, which are municipal treasurer and assistant municipal assessor. It may be stated as a general principle that a special or specific act and the general or broad law stand together, the one as the law of a particular case, and the other as a general rule. Hence, the special law as intended to remain in force, as an exception to the general law (see Manila Railroad Company v. Rafferty, 40 Phil. 224, citing case; also 73 Am. Jur. 2d pp. 521-522, citing cases ). In this regard, it is also an established canon in statutory construction that a later statute, general in its terms, provisions and application and not expressly repealing a prior special act or provision, will be considered as not intended to affect the special or specific provisions of the earlier statute, unless the intention to effect the repeal is clearly manifested or unavoidably implied, "although the terms of the general act are broad enough to include the cases embraced in the special law" (see Manila Railroad Co. v. Rafferty, supra , p. 229, citing the case of Mckenna v. Edmundstone, 91 N.Y. 231). And in case of irreconcilable conflict or repugnance between the general law or provision and the special law or provision, the latter shall prevail (MOJ Op. dated February 11, 1967) not only because the same evidences the legislative intent more clearly than the general statute does but also because the legislature is presumed not to have intended a conflict (see also Gonzaga, Statutes and Their Construction, 1969 ed. p.252, citing Black, Statutory Construction, pp. 328-331). Furthermore, despite the otherwise peremptory language in Section 73 of the Local Government Code, which it is noted, is merely a reiteration of Section 4 of the Decentralization Act of 1967 (R.A. 5185). it is significant that the position of assistant municipal treasurer and that of assistant municipal assessor are expressly created under the Local Fiscal Administration Decree and the Real Property Tax Code Respectively, as integral parts of the local treasury career service and local assessment career service, which are under the direct executive supervision of the Ministry of Finance (see Sec. 79, P.D. 477; Sec. 91, P.D. 464). A reading of the discussion on Section 73 of the Local Government Code shows that among the arguments advanced for vesting the power of appointment in the local chief executive is that the fact that the local governments are empowered to create and yet are not empowered to fill up the created positions through appointment by the local chief executives "poses an insult to the local government unit concerned" (see p. 22, TSN, Dec. 6, 1982). Since the positions of assistant municipal treasurer and assistant municipal assessor are offices specifically created in the Real Property Tax Code and the Local Fiscal Administration Decree, they are not local positions where creation is left to the discretion of the local government units concerned. LexLib Premises considered, it is believed that provincial treasurers and assessors may continue to exercise the power to appoint assistant municipal treasurers and assessors pursuant to the provisions of P.D. No. 477 and P.D. No. 464, respectively. LexLib Please be guided accordingly. Very truly yours, (SGD.) RICARDO C. PUNO Minister of Justice