The 24th National Cave Committee (NCC) Meeting was held on 20 February 2018 at the Department of

Tourism (DOT) Training Room, New DOT Bldg., Makati City. The main agenda of said meeting was to
discuss and deliberate on the request of the Philippine Speleological Society (PSS) to become a member
of the NCC.

In the course of the said meeting, majority members of the NCC did not vote favorably on the request of
PSS considering that the NCC had already non-governmental organization (NGO) members with voting
rights and the said Committee is still in the process of crafting the framework and guidelines with
respect to the selection of NGO representative/s as member/s of the said Committee.

Pursuant to the "rule making power" conferred upon to the DENR Secretary by virtue of Section 5 of
Republic Act (RA) No. 9072, otherwise known as the "National Caves and Cave Resources Management
and Protection Act", the National Cave Committee (NCC) is created and under Section 11 of Department
Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2003-09, the NCC shall be composed of representatives from the
coordinating agencies, academe, and relevant non-government organizations, among others.

It is an authority delegated by the law-making body to the administrative body to adopt rules and
regulations intended to carry out the provisions of the law and implement legislative policy. (ABAKADA
vs. Purisima, G.R. No. 166715, 14 August 2008.)

Implementing Rules and Regulations of the National Caves and Cave Resources Management and
Protection Act (Republic Act No. 9072)

By virtue of said "rule making power", the Secretary, through the NCC, has the power to create the rules
and procedures of the said Committee, including the qualification and selection procedure for its
members (i.e. the qualifications of the representatives from identified coordinating agencies, academe,
and relevant non-government organizations, among others).

Thus, these administrative agencies, given their special skills and technical knowledge, are better
equipped to settle factual issues within their specific field of expertise. These include, among others, the
power to create rules and procedure concerning the composition of the members of their respective
Committee.
(Cosmos Bottling Corporation v. Nagrama, Jr., G.R. No. 164403, 04 March 2008, 547 SCRA 571)

As such, authorities sustain the doctrine that the interpretation given to a rule or regulation by those
charged with its execution is entitled to the greatest weight by the Court construing such rule or
regulation, and such interpretation will be followed unless it appears to be clearly unreasonable or
arbitrary.

Geukeko vs. Araneta, L-10182, 24 December 1957, 102 Phil 706.

Given the above discussion, we should respect the decision of the NCC that because it has not yet
established its own rules and procedure for the selection of an NGO representative as one of its
members, then it is premature for the representative of PSS to be selected as one of the members of
said Committee. Further, majority of the current members of the NCC has already voted and elected not
to favorably act on the request of PSS. The said Committee has every right to determine the qualification
and the corresponding selection procedure of its members.