Toledo vs.

Civil Service Commission

Facts:

Atty. Toledo was appointed by COMELEC Chairman Felipe as Manager of its Education
and Information Department at which time Toledo was already more than 57 years old.
Toledo’s appointment papers and his oath of office were endorsed by the COMELEC to
the CSC for approval and attestation. However, no prior request for exemption from the
provisions of Section 22, Rule III of the Civil Service Rules on Personal Actions and
Policies which prohibits the appointment of persons 57 years old or older into
government service without prior CSC approval was secured. Upon discovery of the
lack of authority required under CSRPAP, COMELEC issued a resolution declaring
Toledo’s appointment void from the beginning.

Issue:

W/N the CSRPAP provision is valid

Held:

NO. The Civil Service Act of 1959 itself contained no provision prohibiting appointment
or reinstatement in the Government service of any person who was already 57 years
old, or otherwise requiring that some limitation as regards to age be placed on
employment in the Government service. This prohibition was purely a creation of the
Civil Service Commission. The provision cannot be valid, being entirely a CSC creation,
it has no basis in the law which it was meant to implement. It was therefore an
unauthorized act of legislation on the part of the Civil Service Commission. It cannot be
justified as a valid exercise of its function of promulgating rules and regulations for that
function, to repeat, may legitimately be exercised only for the purpose of carrying the
provisions of the law into effect.