G.R. No. 194529 - NATIONAL POWER CORPORATION, VS. FRAULEIN CABANBAN CABANAG AND JESUS T. PANAL.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the petition is Granted . The Decision dated March 30, 2007 of the Civil Service Commission is hereby Modified , in that the Petitioners were illegally dismissed as the NPB Resolutions Nos. 2002-124 and 2002-125 which were relied upon by the Respondent in their reorganization program were subsequently declared void by the Supreme Court. Petitioners are entitled to backwages and other benefits, from the date they were illegally dismissed up to September 14, 2007. Antecedents Respondents Fraulein C. Cabanag and Jesus T. Panal [2] were employed as Principal Chemists Analyst C at the petitioner's Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant located at Puhagan, Valencia, Negros Oriental. [3] On November 18, 2002, the National Power Board (NPB) of the petitioner passed NPB Resolution No. 2002-124 [4] and NPB Resolution No. 2002-125 pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9136 ( Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA). NPB Resolution No. 2002-124 provided for the termination from employment of all the petitioner's personnel effective January 31, 2003, as well as their entitlement to separation benefits. NPB Resolution No. 2002-125 constituted a Transition Team to manage and implement the separation program. Inasmuch as the respondents were told that they could still apply for positions under the reorganized plantilla, they respectively applied for the positions of Principal Chemist Analyst C and Principal Chemist A. [5] Being licensed Chemists, the respondents felt confident on being rehired considering that the other applicants were Chemical Engineers not qualified for the positions under the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Qualification Standards. Yet, on March 1, 2003, they had not been appointed, and that four of the appointees were Chemical Engineers. [6] Both respondents sent to the petitioner a letter seeking a clarification. They thereby requested the re-evaluation of the selection and hiring processes under the New NPC Table of Organization (TO), [7] insisting that they were more qualified than those eventually appointed because the 1997 Revised Quality Standards for the position of Principal Chemist specifically required a registered chemist, not a chemical engineer. [8] Rodolfo C. Pacaña, then the Senior Plant Manager at the Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant, replied that the decision to hire the other applicants for the positions had been based on "behavioral traits." The letter to that effect pertinently reads: Dear Ms. Cabanag and Mr. Panal, This has reference to your letter dated March 6, 2003 regarding your inquiry of not being included in the Chemical Laboratory Work Schedule for March 2003. Allow us to respond to your concerns point-by-point as enumerated in your letter, to wit: x x x x UNEXPECTED HAVING BEEN IN THE SERVICE FOR A CONSIDERABLE LENGTH OF TIME WITH GOOD PERFORMANCE Let it be reiterated that the position of Principal Chemist Analyst C had been reduced from eight to only four in the new T.O. With our re-hiring po