2. Modes and Kinds of Appointment

Characteristics:

• Entrance on bases other than those of the usual test of merit and fitness;
• Tenure which is limited to:
• Period specified by law;
• Coterminous with that of appointing authority;
• Subject to appointing authority’s pleasure;
• Limited to the duration of a particular project

Non-career personnel have security of tenure consistent with the nature and terms of their appointments. Expiration of a fixed term, the end of a coterminous appointment, or loss of confidence under a genuine pleasure appointment is not necessarily removal for cause requiring a hearing. (1987 Constitution, Art. IX-B, Sec. 2(3); Administrative Code of 1987, Book V, Sec. 9(2))

Types of Appointment

• Permanent Status: A permanent appointment shall be issued to a person who meets all the requirements for the positions to which he is being appointed, including the appropriate eligibility prescribed, in accordance with the provisions of law, rules and standards promulgated in pursuance thereof.
• Temporary Status: In the absence of appropriate eligibles and when it becomes necessary in the public interest to fill a vacancy, a temporary appointment shall be issued to a person who meets all the requirements for the position to which he is being appointed except the appropriate civil service eligibility; provided that such temporary appointment shall not exceed 12 months, but the appointee may be replaced sooner if a qualified civil service eligible becomes available.

Temporary Designations

The President may designate an officer already in the gov’t service or any other competent person to perform the functions of any office in the executive branch, appointment to which is vested in him by law, when:

• The officer regularly appointed to the office is unable to perform his duties by reason of illness, absence or any other cause; or
• There exists a vacancy.

In no case shall a temporary designation exceed 1 year [Section 17, Book III, Admin Code of 1987].

Congress cannot impose on the President the obligation to appoint an Undersecretary as [the President’s] Acting Secretary. The President shall have the freedom to choose who shall be his temporary alter ego [Pimentel v. Ermita, G.R. No. 164978 (2005)].

May the President appoint an individual as acting Solicitor General and acting Secretary of Justice?

The President may not appoint an individual as acting Solicitor General and acting Secretary of Justice in a concurrent capacity. The designation of Alberto Agra as acting Secretary of Justice concurrently with his position as Solicitor General is in violation of the constitutional prohibition under Article VII, Section 13. It is of no moment that the designation was in a temporary capacity. The Constitution makes no reference to the nature of the designation (Funa v. Agra, G.R. No. 191644, Feb. 19, 2013).

Kinds of Presidential Appointments under Art VII, Sec.15 of the Constitution

• Appointments made by an acting president
• Under Article VII, Section 15, the President generally may not make appointments during the two months immediately before the next presidential election and up to the end of the President’s term, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.
• Appointments made during the two months immediately before the next presidential election through the end of the President’s term are generally prohibited, subject to Article VII, Section 15’s exception for temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.
• Regular presidential appointments, with or without confirmation by the Commission on Appointments, and ‘recess’ or ‘ad-interim’ appointments.

Appointment in an Acting Capacity

The essence of an appointment in an acting capacity is its temporary nature. It is a stop-gap measure intended to fill an office for a limited time until the appointment of a permanent occupant to the office. The law expressly allows the President to make such acting appointment. EO 292 states that “[t]he President may temporarily designate an officer already in the government service or any other competent person to perform the functions of an office in the executive branch.” But EO 292 also provides that acting appointments cannot exceed one year. The law has incorporated this safeguard to prevent abuses, like the use of acting appointments as a way to circumvent confirmation by the Commission on Appointments. (Pimentel v. Ermita, G.R. No. 164978, Oct. 13, 2005)