The Supreme Court (SC) has granted a petition by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and dismissed a suit brought by the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) against it before a lower court over the contested results of the group’s election for its national officers for 2016.
In its decision uploaded December 27 on the SC website and written by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, the tribunal’s first division set aside the 2020 decision of the Court of Appeals and dismissed the case for being moot.
“Simply put, no practical relief can be granted by the Court in this case. It would therefore be unnecessary to indulge in further academic discussion here since a judgment on the petition…will not have any practical effect, or in the nature of things, cannot be enforced,” the tribunal said.
The PSME had initiated a suit before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 6 questioning PRC Office Order No. 2016-56 over who should sit as 2016 national president of PSME.
The PSME claimed the law limits the power of the PRC to regulate the policies and practice of certain professions and did not have the authority to decide on who can sit as officers in a particular professional organization.
The PRC in February 2016 issued the order recognizing Engr. Leando Conti as the 2016 PSME national president solely for the purpose of issuing certificates of good standing required for the PSME members’ applications for renewal of their professional identification cards.
Before this, in 2015 the PSME held its 63rd national convention and general membership meeting and elected the 2016 PSME national board of directors which in turn, had the authority to elect the 2016 PSME national officers.
On October, Conti filed a letter-protest claiming that Manila chapter accepted ballots after the deadline among others. In November, the outgoing PSME executive committee invited the incoming members led by Engr. Murry F. Demdam over Conti’s protest. Demdam’s group claimed the PSME’s elections commission had no authority to entertain Conti’s protest.
In November, the PSME’s elections commission issued a resolution resolving in favor of Conti’s group and annulled the tally sheets covering 999 votes from the NCR chapter on the ground of improbability.
The 2015 PSME national board of directors on the other hand proceeded with the scheduled special board meeting for the election of the 2016 national officers where Demdam won as 2016 PSME national president.
In December 2015, PRC acting chairperson Angeline Chua Chiaco sent a letter to outgoing president Ocampo acknowledging Conti as the 2016 national president. The commission subsequently issued the order recognizing Conti as authority for signing certificates of good standing.
This prompted PSME to file a petition before the Manila court, which the PRC eventually elevated to the SC.
Source: Philippines News Agency