562 Phil. 817
CORONA, J.:
The respondent [JB Line] is a bus company operator plying the Bicol-Manila route. The [petitioners] are all employees of respondent [JB Line]. Most of [them] are drivers, conductors and mechanics while the rest are regular employees who assist in the conduct of the business of transportation of [respondent JB Line]. All the drivers and conductors who ply the Bicol-Manila route would render their services at night until morning when they reach the place of destination.Respondent JB Line, represented by its owners, Lao Huan Ling and Jose Baritua, repudiated the allegations claiming that petitioners were not dismissed constructively from their jobs. Respondent JB Line claimed:
Most of the [petitioners] have been with the company for at least ten years. In fact[,] some of them have been with the company for more than twenty years. Most of them are members of the ABC [l]abor [u]nion and there is an existing [c]ollective [b]argaining [a]greement between the company and the said labor union. All of them were underpaid and most of them, particularly those who travel the Bicol-Manila-Bicol route were not given overtime and night differential pay.
Sometime beginning the year 2000, the company started constructively dismissing [petitioners]. This was done by not allowing [them] to perform their duties and function or simply by not admitting them to their work by stating that they should just return some other time. What the company would do is to inform the concerned employees that they should not [report to work] on that date and to return to another date as the bus they were supposed to drive is [not] serviceable. [Petitioners] would just be informed to return to a latter date but when they returned, another excuse will greet them for them not to perform their regular function. These same acts of the respondent [JB Line] hold true to all [petitioners].
Tired of being treated in the same manner and for failure on the part of [JB Line] to give them their work despite no cessation of operations and for non-payment of their salaries, wage adjustments and other benefits, [petitioners were] left with no recourse except to file the instant case to force respondent [JB Line] to reinstate them in their jobs and [pay] their benefits.[2]
[Petitioners] are still regular employees of respondent [JB Line]. No record will show that letter of suspension were sent to them. Their claim for alleged... constructive dismissal is baseless considering the absence of any documentary evidence relative thereto and their failure to present testimonial evidence to prove that respondent [JB Line] violated the essential elements for constructive dismissal.Although the labor arbiter (LA)[7] found that some of JB Line's employees were validly dismissed from their jobs, he nonetheless ruled that JB Line was liable for constructive dismissal. In a decision dated August 24, 2001, he ruled:
Their failure to work regularly was due to economic crises that necessitated the reduction of trips for drivers and conductors and shortened workdays for office personnel and maintenance crew. The measures taken by respondent [JB Line] to prevent losses and possible closure of the business [were] management prerogative and were not resorted to as a ploy to constructively dismissed [petitioners].
On the contrary, [petitioners] can resume duties anytime depending on the availability of buses and passengers...
As to [petitioners] Joue Balderama, Jesus Velarde, Edison Belen, Wilfredo Loscano, Marcelino Hamto,[3] Romeo Ermino, Eduardo Escurel, Benjamin Pura, Noel Hapin[4] and Albert Binaday[5], respondent [JB Line] asserts that these [petitioners] were separated and dismissed for just and valid causes...[A]s to [petitioner] Salvador Genetia, respondent [JB Line] contends that he suffered a stroke five (5) years ago and has already availed of his disability benefits...while [petitioner] Emilio Escandor has been legally terminated for cause.[6]
...[I]t can be deduced that because of the reduced number of trips and shortened workdays, [petitioners] would naturally suffer diminution in pay. One does not need to stretch his imagination to arrive at a conclusion that because at present, only two (2) buses are dispatched daily, almost all of the [petitioners] lost their jobs. With only two (2) buses presently dispatched, continuation of [petitioners'] employment with respondent [JB Line] is rendered impossible. There is constructive dismissal when [petitioners suffer] diminution in pay and/or continued employment is rendered impossible.[8]Respondent JB Line appealed the arbiter’s decision (accompanied by axxx xxx xxx
The normal consequences of constructive dismissal are reinstatement and payment of backwages. However, in this case ... the 1999 Collective Bargaining Agreement, signed by both parties, provide only for payment of separation pay to every employee whose service is terminated due to reduction in work force because of lack of work or financial difficulty, in an amount equivalent to twenty four (24) days for every year of service, computed based [on petitioners'] latest daily wage...[9]xxx xxx xxx
...As to [petitioners] Joue Balderama, Jesus Velarde, Edison Belen, Wilfredo Lascano, Marcelino Hamto, Romeo Ermino, Eduardo Escurel, Benjamin Pura, Noel Hapin...this Arbitration Branch believes and so holds that they were validly dismissed. Respondent [JB Line] presented substantial evidence which clearly support its contention that these [petitioners] either committed dishonesty, grave misconduct or went AWOL and subsequently abandoned their jobs...
...[T]he complaint and claim of [petitioner] Larry Escarilla[10] should also be denied because of prescription...[H]e filed his complaint after the lapse of more than five (5) years from the date of his dismissal. Under the [Labor Code]...“all money claims arising from the employer-employee relations accruing during the effectivity of this Code shall be filed within three (3) years from the time that the cause of action accrued, otherwise they shall be forever barred.”[11]xxx xxx xxx
As to [petitioners] Salvador Genetia and Emilio Escandor, this Branch finds for [them]. Again, respondent [JB Line] miserably failed to substantiate its allegations that Salvador Genetia suffered stroke five (5) years ago, while [petitioner] Emilio Escandor had been terminated for cause...
Anent [petitioners'] claim for underpayment of wages, non-payment of 13th month pay and of night shift differential pay, this Arbitration Branch finds for [petitioners], there being no contrary evidence presented to controvert said claims...[12]xxx xxx xxx
[Petitioners]...Oscar O, Domalaon, Abelardo D. Mangampo, Armando Lladones, Alfredo Bonagua, Sosante Pantua,[13] Eligio Nicol, Edgar L. Bitancur, Emilio S. Escandor, Salvacion M. Hasta, Romeo O. Domalaon, Rustico Lagonoy, Serafin Dongaol, Rolando Gribialde,[14] Eddie Ginete, Salvador R. Genetia [and] Manuel Frejas should[,] however, be excluded in the award of night shift differential pay...[15]xxx xxx xxx
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered declaring [petitioners[16]] to have been constructively dismissed by respondent [JB Line] and consequently, ordering the latter to pay complainants the total amount of NINE MILLION NINETY SEVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR PESOS (P9,097,624.00) representing [petitioners'] separation pay, wage differential, 13th month and night shift differential...
All other claims and charge[s] are DISMISSED finding no factual and legal basis therefor.
SO ORDERED.[17]
To date...respondent [JB Line] failed to post an additional bond in the amount ofRespondent JB Line elevated the case to the CA via Rule 65 of the Rules of Court. In a resolution,[20] however, the CA dismissed the petition for failure to attach a secretary's certificate or board resolution authorizing Lao Huan Ling to sign the verification and certification of non-forum shopping for and on behalf of respondent JB Line. The co-owner, Jose Baritua, also did not execute a special power of attorney authorizing him (Lao Huan Ling) to sign the verification and certification.P8,897,624.00 in blatant disregard of our Order.xxx xxx xxx
..[I]ndeed, for respondent [JB Line's] failure to comply with the mandatory requirements of a valid appeal, the decision of the Labor Arbiter dated August 24, 2001 has already attained finality.[19]
..[I]t is clear that the law does not award separation pay to employees when the closure is due to serious business losses. [Respondent JB Line] [has] the burden to prove that such losses actually exist.Petitioners moved for the reconsideration of the decision but it was denied. Thus, this appeal.
In the case at bar, [respondent JB Line] convincingly discharged such burden. From the evidence presented by [it] consisting of financial statements audited by an independent auditor, it has been satisfactorily established that [respondent JB Line] indeed suffered serious business losses for the three preceding years to its closure. Hence, it is not legally obligated to grant separation pay to [petitioners].xxx xxx xxx
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant petition is hereby GRANTED. The assailed [o]rders issued by the NLRC as well as the decision of the Labor Arbiter...are SET ASIDE.
SO ORDERED.[22]
Verification is not an empty ritual or a meaningless formality. Its import must never be sacrificed in the name of mere expedience or sheer caprice. For what is at stake is the matter of verity attested by the sanctity of an oath to secure an assurance that the allegations in the pleading have been made in good faith, or are true and correct and not merely speculative.In Fuentebella and Rolling Hills Memorial Park, Inc. v. Castro,[24] we likewise declared that a certification without the proper authorization is defective and constitutes a valid cause for dismissal of the petition. We explained:
This Court has strictly been enforcing the requirement of verification and certification and enunciating that the obedience to the requirements of procedural rules is needed if fair results are to be expected therefrom. Utter disregard of the rules cannot just be rationalized by harking on the policy of liberal construction. While the requirement is not jurisdictional in nature, it does not make it less a rule...
The reason for this is that the principal party has actual knowledge whether a petition has previously been filed involving the same case or substantially the same issues. If, for any reason, the principal party cannot sign the petition, the one signing on his behalf must have been duly authorized.Although respondent JB Line claims that it substantially complied with the requirement, albeit belatedly (when it submitted a secretary's certificate to the CA), said certificate, however, was neither dated nor its signatory Lao Huan Ling authorized to sign the verification and the certification of non-forum shopping to be filed in the CA. The records disclose that Lao Huan Ling’s authority was to represent respondent JB Line only before the LA and in the NLRC. While, as a rule, factual (and evidentiary) issues are beyond the province of our judicial review under Rule 45,[26] a discrepancy between the findings of the CA and those of the LA and NLRC (as in this case) excludes it from the purview of said rule.[27]
This requirement is intended to apply to both natural and juridical persons as Supreme Court Circular No. 28-91[25] and Section 5, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court do not make a distinction between natural and juridical persons. Where the petitioner is a corporation, the certification against forum shopping should be signed by its duly authorized director or representative...[I]f the real party-in-interest is a corporate body, an officer of the corporation can sign the certification against forum shopping as long as he is authorized by a resolution of its board of directors.xxx xxx xxx
A certification without the proper authorization is defective and constitutes a valid cause for the dismissal of the petition.
This holds true in the present case...the Administrative Manager of petitioner corporation, who signed the verification and certificate of non-forum shopping, initially failed to submit a secretary's certificate or a board resolution confirming her authority to sign on behalf of co-petitioner...
ARTICLE 223. Appeal. - Decisions, awards, or orders of the Labor Arbiter are final and executory unless appealed to the Commission by any or both parties within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of such decisions, awards, or orders...The perfection of an appeal in a manner and within the period prescribed by law is not only mandatory but also jurisdictional.[28] For respondent JB Line's failure to comply with the rules on appeal, the LA's decision became final and executory. Nothing more can therefore be done to change the decision. Respondent JB Line had lost the privilege of seeking relief from the appellate court.xxx xxx xxx
In case of judgment involving a monetary award, an appeal by the employer may be perfected only upon the posting of a cash bond issued by a reputable bonding company duly accredited by the Commission in the amount equivalent to the monetary award in the judgment appealed from.xxx xxx xxx
The intention of the lawmakers to make the bond an indispensable requisite for the perfection of an appeal by the employer, is clearly limned in the provision that an appeal by the employer may be perfected “only upon the posting of a cash or surety bond.” The word “only” makes it perfectly clear that the lawmakers intended the posting of a cash or surety bond by the employer may be the exclusive means by which an employer's appeal maybe perfected.In some cases,[30] the requirement to post a supersedeas bond for the perfection of an appeal was relaxed but this was justified by substantial compliance. In this case, however, no similar reason existed to excuse respondent JB Line from complying with the requirement. The bond posted by respondent JB Line was not even close to half of the amount required by the NLRC.[31]
ARTICLE 283: Closure of establishment and reduction of personnel. - The employer may also terminate the employment of any employee due to installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment to prevent losses or the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment or undertaking unless the closing is for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this Title, by serving a notice on the workers and the Ministry of Labor and Employment[36] at least one (1) month before the intended date thereof. xxxThe records are devoid of proof that respondent JB Line ever furnished the DOLE or petitioners with such notice.