CASE 2017-0034: MANILA PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION (MPSTA), ET AL. VS. MR. WINSTON F. GARCIA, ET AL. (G.R. NO. 192708, 02 OCT 2017, SERENO, CJ) (SUBJECT/S: PUBLICATION OF REGULATIONS) (BRIEF TITLE: MPSTA ET AL VS. GARCIA ET AL).

 

DISPOSITIVE:

 

“WHEREFORE, the Petition is PARTIALLY GRANTED. GSIS Resolutions Nos. 238, 90, and 179, which respectively embody the Claims and Loans Interdependency Policy, Premium-Based Policy, and Automatic Policy Loan and Policy Lapse, are declared INVALID and OF NO FORCE AND EFFECT.

 

Let a copy of this Decision be forwarded to the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Department of Budget and Management for their consideration on th~ matter of funding the payment of the portion pertaining to the personal share of the employees. A copy should likewise be furnished the Office of the Ombudsman for its consideration on the matter of filing the appropriate cases against the officials and persons responsible for the nonremittance or delayed remittance of premiums and loan repayment.

 

SO ORDERED.”

 

SUBJECTS/DOCTRINES/DIGEST:

 

INTERPRETATIVE REGULATIONS THAT DO NOT AFFECT SUBSTANTIAL RIGHTS NEED NOT BE PUBLISHED.

 

“According to the Court in Veterans Federation of the Philippines v. Reyes, 56 interpretative regulations that do not add anything to the law or affect substantial rights of any person do not entail publication. This is because “they give no real consequence more than what the law itself has already prescribed.”57 However, “when xxx an administrative rule goes beyond merely providing for the means that can facilitate or render least cumbersome the implementation of the law but substantially adds to or increases the burden of those governed, it behooves the agency to accord at least to those directly affected a chance to be heard, and thereafter to be duly informed, before that new issuance is given the force and effect of law.”58

 

In this case, the resolutions additionally obligate member-employees to ensure that their employer-agency includes the GS in the budget, deducts the PS, as well as loan amortizations, and timely remits them; and that the GSIS receives, processes, and posts the payments. These processes are beyond the control of the employees; yet they are being made to bear the consequences of any misstep or delay by either their agency or GSIS. As aptly observed by ·:he CA, “the fault lies with how the deficiencies in payment by the DepEd, real or imagined, are attributed to the employeesmembers. “59

 

Surely, this was not the scenario contemplated by law. The statutorily prescribed mechanism -through salary deduction -is a clear indication that the law’s intent is precisely to make contribution by members less cumbersome. Considering the heavy burden imposed, the requirements of notice, hearing, and publication should have been observed.”

 

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 SCD-2017-0034-Manila Public School Teachers’ Association (MPSTA), et al. Vs. Mr. Winston F. Garcia, et al.

 

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