514 Phil. 177
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered, declaring the dismissal of complainants illegal. Respondents DAP CORPORATION/FELIX PINEDA, President-Owner, are hereby directed to jointly and solidarily pay complainants the total amount of SIXTY-FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY SIX PESOS and 96/100 (P64,566.96) representing their separation pay and backwages, plus 10% of the total award as attorney's fees.Petitioners filed an appeal with the NLRC, which affirmed[5] the decision of the Labor Arbiter. However, the NLRC found that respondent and Diapen were entitled only to one month separation pay on the basis of their length of service. Thus, it ruled:
In case of appeal, backwages shall accrue up to the finality of the decision.
The claim for damages is dismissed for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.[4]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed decision of the Labor Arbiter is hereby MODIFIED to the extent that complainants Maureen Marcial and Jason R. Diapen shall be paid one (1) month separation pay, but the same is affirmed in all other aspects.The case was elevated to the Court of Appeals on a petition for certiorari. In the interim, Diapen withdrew his appeal. The appellate court affirmed the decision of the NLRC, thus:
SO ORDERED.[6]
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED and the resolution of the National Labor Relations Commission is AFFIRMED by ordering private respondents DAP CORPORATION, FELIX PINEDA, and DENSIL PINEDA, jointly and solidarily to pay private respondent MAUREEN MARCIAL separation pay equivalent to one (1) month pay or in the amount of SIX THOUSAND PESOS (P6,000.00) and full backwages from the time her employment was terminated on July 28, 2001 up to the time the decision herein becomes final. This case is REMANDED to the Labor Arbiter for computation of the award of backwages and the ten percent (10%) of the total award as attorney's fees.Petitioners are before us now raising the following issues:
SO ORDERED.[7]
RESPONDENT NLRC ERRED AND COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION WHEN IT CONFIRMED THE RULING OF THE LABOR ARBITER WHERE AFTER DECLARING THAT THERE WAS VALID GROUND FOR TERMINATION DUE TO REDUNDANCY, STILL IT RULED THAT THERE WAS ILLEGAL DISMISSAL.We find the petition bereft of merit.
RESPONDENT NLRC ERRED AND COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION WHEN IT CONFIRMED THE RULING OF THE LABOR ARBITER THAT THERE WAS LACK OF NOTICE PRIOR TO THE SEPARATION OF PRIVATE RESPONDENT MARCIAL AND ORDERED THE PAYMENT OF BACKWAGES.
RESPONDENT NLRC ERRED AND COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION WHEN IT FAILED TO CATEGORICALLY RULE ON THE MAIN ISSUE WHICH IS WHETHER IT WAS LEGAL AND VALID FOR PETITIONER DAP TO PAY ON INSTALLMENT SEPARATION PAY TO PRIVATE RESPONDENT MARCIAL AS SAID PETITIONER WAS SUFFERING FROM SEVERE FINANCIAL LIQUIDITY.
THE SUBJECT DECISION IS CONTRARY TO LAW, CUSTOMS AND PUBLIC POLICY.[8]
Art. 283. Closure of establishment and reduction of personnel. – The employer may also terminate the employment of any employee due to the 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 written notice on the workers and the Ministry of Labor and Employment at least one (1) month before the intended date thereof ....Thus, we have held that the employer must comply with the following requisites to ensure the validity of the redundancy program: 1) a written notice served on both the employees and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) at least one month prior to the intended date of retrenchment; 2) payment of separation pay equivalent to at least one month pay or at least one month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher; 3) good faith in abolishing the redundant positions; and 4) fair and reasonable criteria in ascertaining what positions are to be declared redundant and accordingly abolished.[10] As mentioned earlier, respondent does not question the soundness of the redundancy program implemented by DAP, but the lack of notice required by law.
The violation of the petitioners' right to statutory due process by the private respondent warrants the payment of indemnity in the form of nominal damages. The amount of such damages is addressed to the sound discretion of the court, taking into account the relevant circumstances.... We believe this form of damages would serve to deter employers from future violations of the statutory due process rights of employees. At the very least, it provides a vindication or recognition of this fundamental right granted to the latter under the Labor Code and its Implementing Rules.[12]The above ruling was qualified in the case of Jaka Food Processing Corporation v. Pacot.[13] In Jaka, the employees were terminated because the corporation was financially distressed. However, the employer failed to comply with the notice requirement under Article 283 of the Labor Code when it failed to serve a written notice to the employees and the DOLE at least one month before the intended date of termination. Significantly, the Court distinguished the case from Agabon saying:
The difference between Agabon and the instant case is that in the former, the dismissal was based on a just cause under Article 282 of the Labor Code while in the present case, respondents were dismissed due to retrenchment, which is one of the authorized causes under Article 283 of the same Code.Thus, we qualified the ruling in Agabon in this wise:
....
A dismissal for just cause under Article 282 implies that the employee concerned has committed, or is guilty of, some violation against the employer, i.e. the employee has committed some serious misconduct, is guilty of some fraud against the employer, or, as in Agabon, he has neglected his duties. Thus, it can be said that the employee himself initiated the dismissal process.
On another breath, a dismissal for an authorized cause under Article 283 does not necessarily imply delinquency or culpability on the part of the employee. Instead, the dismissal process is initiated by the employer's exercise of his management prerogative, i.e. when the employer opts to install labor saving devices, when he decides to cease business operations or when, as in this case, he undertakes to implement a retrenchment program.[14]
Accordingly, it is wise to hold that: (1) if the dismissal is based on a just cause under Article 282 but the employer failed to comply with the notice requirement, the sanction to be imposed upon him should be tempered because the dismissal process was, in effect, initiated by an act imputable to the employee; and (2) if the dismissal is based on an authorized cause under Article 283 but the employer failed to comply with the notice requirement, the sanction should be stiffer because the dismissal process was initiated by the employer's exercise of his management prerogative.[15]In light of the aforequoted ruling, we find the amount of P50,000.00 sufficient under the circumstances as indemnity for the violation of respondent's statutory rights.