Mobilia Products v. Demecillo

QUISUMBING, J.:

This petition for review on certiorari assails the Decision1 dated July 4, 2005 of the Court of Appeals in C.A.-G.R. S.P. No. 78023, which had reversed the Decision2 dated October 29, 2001 of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in NLRC Case No. V-000072-2000. Reversed by the NLRC was the Decision3 dated May 24, 1999 of the labor arbiter ordering petitioner to pay respondents backwages amounting to ₱203,160 and 10% attorney's fees. The factual antecedents of the case are as follows: Respondents Alan G. Demecillo, Christopher S. Daligdig, Manuelito V. Suson, Marciano G. Suarez and Antonio Montecillo, Jr. were employees of petitioner Mobilia Products, Inc., a company engaged in the manufacture of furniture for export mainly to Japan.

In July 1998, petitioner initiated a retrenchment program allegedly to cope with reduced orders from Japan because of economic crisis. It enticed employees to voluntarily relinquish their positions by offering twice4 the amount of separation pay mandated by law. One hundred eight of its 309 employees, including the respondents, accepted the offer and executed quitclaims in petitioner's favor.

Instead of giving notice 30 days before the effective date of retrenchment, petitioner paid the employees the equivalent of 30 days salary.1avvphi1 On various dates from July 27, 1998 to September 22, 1998, respondents separately filed complaints5 for salary differential against petitioner before the Regional Arbitration Branch (RAB) No. VII of the NLRC, Cebu City. By January 1999, all but Antonio Montecillo, Jr. had amended their respective complaint to include a charge for illegal dismissal.6 On May 24, 1999, the labor arbiter ruled that respondents were not validly retrenched. It held that petitioner failed to comply with the 30-day notice requirement because the respondents were terminated a day after being notified.

The fallo of the decision reads:

WHEREFORE, IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, judgment is hereby rendered declaring complainants Cristopher Daligdig, Alan Demecillo, Marciano Suarez and Manuelito Suson, as having been invalidly retrenched. Consequently, respondent MOBILIA PRODUCT[S], INC. is hereby ordered to pay the said complainants with backwages from the time they were invalidly retrenched up to the date of this decision, to wit: 1. Cristopher Daligdig…….. ₱5,079.00 x 10 mos. = ₱50,790.00 2. Alan Demecillo…………. 5,079.00 x 10 mos. = 50,790.00 3. Marciano Suarez………... 5,079.00 x 10 mos. = 50,790.00 4. Manuelito Suson……….. 5,079.00 x 10 mos. = 50,790.00 TOTAL