SOLOMON A. MAGANA, PETITIONER AND APPELLANT, VS. AUDITOR GENERAL MANUEL AGREGADO, ET AL., RESPONDENTS AND APPELLEES.

On November 10, 1956, the petitioner filed in the Court of First
Instance of Manila a petition for certiorari against the respondents,
alleging that the petitioner was a first grade civil service eligible;
that he had rendered continuous service from June 1, 1922 to June 30,
1954, when he was removed by the respondents from his position of Field
Auditor at P3,120 per annum as an economy measure; that immediately
thereafter he unsuccessfully exhausted all administrative remedies;
that effective July 13, 1956, he was offered and did accept with
reservations the position of Inspector in the Office of the Auditor in
the respondent NAMARCO at P2,400 per annum. The petitioner prayed for
the payment of all salaries and privileges withheld as a result of his
allegedly illegal ouster on June 30, 1954, and his reinstatement in the
service at a lower salary, plus moral damages in the sum of P20,000. On
January 2, 1957, on respondents’ motion to dismiss on the grounds that
the petition failed to state a valid and good cause of action and that
it alleged facts showing that the petitioner was guilty of laches or
estoppel, said petition was dismissed. His motion for reconsideration
having been denied, the petitioner has appealed.

The petitioner contends that the lower court erred in availing
itself of facts not appearing on the face of the petition and in
arriving at illogical conclusions. We do not agree, because all the
findings of the lower court may be gathered from the petition arid its
annexes. (See pars. 4-6; par. 3 of prayer.) Annex “B” attests to the
fact that appellant’s position was abolished, and Annex “H” shows that
the measure was in consonance with the reorganization program of the
new administration and its policy of economy. Consideration by the
court of the annexes was proper, since their principal purpose wag to
support and explain the allegations in the petition.

The records further demonstrate that the petitioner has enjoyed his
unused vacation and sick leave and received the gratuity under the
conditions of Board Resolution No. 1 dated April 1, 1954, as amended by
the Board Resolution No. 372, dated June 8, 1954. Having accepted the
benefits accruing from the abolition of his office, he is estopped from
questioning its validity or deemed to have waived the right to contest
the same. This was bur ruling in the case of Lopez vs. Board of Directors, et al., 101 Phil., 349; 54 Off. Gaz. (9) 2900.

The fact that the appellant had made a reservation (regarding the
prosecution of the present case) in his acceptance of the new position
in the NAMARCO is of no moment, because, as observed by the lower
court, once a government employee accepts a new position, he loses his
right to the old office. Moreover, an appointee cannot impose his own
conditions for the acceptance of a public office. He may accept or
decline it.

The order appealed from is accordingly affirmed with costs against the appellant. So ordered.

Bengzon, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Endencia, Barrera, and Gutierrez David, JJ., concur.