The power to appoint personnel of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) with positions lower than the deputy administrator is vested with the CDA administrator, the Department of Justice (DOJ said. 

In a legal opinion issued by Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez, on behalf of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, the DOJ said that Republic Act (RA) No. 11364, the CDA Charter of 2019, states that “in no uncertain terms that the power to appoint CDA personnel with a rank lower than a Deputy Administrator is vested with the CDA Administrator.”

“As the statute is clear, plain, and free from ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning and applied without attempted interpretation,” it said.

CDA Chairman Joseph B. Encabo sought the legal opinion due to what he described as conflicting views on the power to appoint under RA 11364 and RA 6939 that created the CDA.

Encabo told the DOJ that RA 6939 allowed the then CDA Board of Administrators to appoint all CDA personnel regardless of position and rank.

He said that RA 11364 departs from this rule by allowing the CDA administrator the power to appoint personnel lower than the position of deputy administrator.

The DOJ said the CDA Board of Directors that Encabo chairs may review the recommendations of the Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board (HRMPSB) on the top five ranking candidates for appointments lower than deputy administrator and recommend candidates.

However, it said “the eventual decision on who to appoint rests solely with the CDA Administrator.”

“Thus, the CDA Administrator may or may not appoint the persons recommended by the CDA Board of Directors as it is the sole discretion of the CDA Administrator whom to appoint,” it pointed out. 

It noted that while the administrator has been mandated by law to execute the resolution of the CDA Board of Directors, the board of directors “has no authority to pass a resolution approving the appointment of personnel lower than the position of Deputy Administrator.”