G.R. No.

168613 March 5, 2013

ATTY. MA. ROSARIO MANALANG-DEMIGILLO, Petitioner,

vs.
TRADE AND INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF THE
PHILIPPINES (TIDCORP), and its BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Respondents.

FACTS:

- On February 12, 1998, the Philippine Export and Foreign Loan Guarantee was renamed
Trade and Investment Development Corporation of the Philippines (TIDCORP) pursuant
to Republic Act No. 8494
- Republic Act No. 8494 reorganized the structure of TIDCORP. Petitioner Rosario
Manalang-Demigillo was appointed as Senior Vice President with permanent status and
was assigned to the Legal and Corporate Services Department (LCSD) of TIDCORP.
- During the implementation of the Organizational Refinement/Restructuring Plan, the
LCSD was abolished. President Valdes issued the petitioner her appointment as head of
RCMSS, such appointment being in nature a reappointment under the reorganization
plan.
- On December 23, 2002 Demigillo challenged before the Board of Directors the validity of
Resolution No. 1365 and of her assignment to the RCMSS. She averred that she had been
thereby illegally removed from her position of Senior Vice President in the LCSD to
which she had been previously assigned during the reorganization of July 1998. She
insisted that contrary to OGCC Opinion No. 221 dated September 13, 2002 the Board of
Directors had not been authorized to undertake the reorganization and corporate
restructuring.
ISSUE:
Whether the reorganization is valid resulting to Demigillo’s reassignment valid.

RULING:
Yes, the court ruled reorganization undertaken pursuant to a specific statutory authority by the
Board of Directors of a government-owned and controlled corporation is valid.
APPLICATION:
The result of the lengthy consultations and close coordination was the comprehensive
reorganization plan that included a new organizational structure, position classification and
staffing pattern, qualification standards, rules and regulations to implement the reorganization,
separation incentive packages and timetable of implementation. Undoubtedly, TIDCORP
effected the reorganization within legal bounds and in response to the perceived need to make
the agency more attuned to the changing times.

Demigillo’s contention that she was specifically appointed to the position of Senior Vice
President in the LCSD was bereft of factual basis. The records indicate that her permanent
appointment pertained only to the position of Senior Vice President. Her appointment did not
indicate at all that she was to hold that specific post in the LCSD. Hence, her re-assignment to
the RCMSS was by no means a diminution in rank and status considering that she maintained
the same rank of Senior Vice President with an accompanying increase in pay grade.

CONCLUSION:
The court uphold the 2002 reorganization and declare it valid for being done in accordance with
the exclusive and final authority expressly granted under Republic Act No. 8494. Demigillo’s
new position was but the consequence of the valid reorganization, the authority to implement
which was vested in the Board of Directors by Republic Act No. 8494. Indeed, the Court do not
consider to be a violation of the civil servant’s right to security of tenure the exercise by the
agency where she works of the essential prerogative to change the work assignment or to
transfer the civil servant to an assignment where she would be most useful and effective. More
succinctly put, that prerogative inheres with the employer, whether public or private.