PROSPERO A. PICHAY, JR. v.

OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY EXECUTIVE

SECRETARY FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS, G.R. No. 196425, 24 July 2012,

Facts: In 2010, President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 13
(E.O. 13), abolishing the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) and
transferring its functions to the Investigative and Adjudicatory Division of the Office
of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (IAD-ODESLA). Finance
Secretary Cesar V. Purisima later on led before the IAD-ODESLA a complaint
affidavit for grave misconduct against Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. (Pichay), Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) for the
purchase by the LWUA of shares of stock of Express Savings Bank, Inc. In
defense, Pichay led a Motion to Dismiss Ex Abundante Ad Cautelam manifesting
that a case involving the same transaction is already pending before the Office of
the Ombudsman. Alleging that no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy is
available, Pichay has resorted to the instant petition for certiorari and prohibition
assailing the constitutionality of E.O. 13.

Issue: Whether or not E.O. 13 is constitutional ?

Held: E.O. 13 is constitutional .Section 31 of Executive Order No. 292 (E.O 292),
otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987, vests in the President the
continuing authority to reorganize the offices under him to achieve simplicity,
economy and efficiency. The Office of the President must, in order to remain
effective and efficient, be capable of being shaped and reshaped by the President
in the manner he deems to carry out his directives and policies.

Clearly, the abolition of the PAGC and the transfer of its functions to a division
specially created within the ODESLA is properly within the prerogative of the
President under his continuing delegated legislative authority to reorganize his
own office. Since both of these offices belong to the Office of the President
Proper, the reorganization by way of abolishing the PAGC and transferring its
functions to the IAD-ODESLA is allowable under Section 31 (1) of E.O. 292.

SECTION 17. The President shall have control of all the executive
departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully
executed.