G.R. No. 169780 - ALFREDO A. MENDROS, JR., VS. MITSUBISHI MOTORS PHILS. CORPORATION (MMPC).D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, on May 31, 1999, MMPC sent separate notices to Alfredo and other affected personnel advising them of their permanent lay-off, but with retrenchment benefits, effective July 2, 1999. The drop in company sales and market share was the stated reason for MMPC's latest move. As in the first instance, a copy of the audited financial statements (AFS) was not appended to the letter-notice to substantiate, as Alfredo would later bemoan, the acute business losses MMPC claimed to have suffered. It may be mentioned at this juncture that the July 1999 retrenchment of 170 hourly employees was preceded by the retrenchment of monthly-salaried MMPC employees. In effect, therefore, the lay-off of the 170 employees was the second retrenchment implemented by MMPC in 1999 and the third since 1998. On June 1, 1999, a letter dated May 31, 1999 and addressed to Director Alex Maraan was filed with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), advising him that the temporary lay-off of the 170 MMPC hourly employees is being made permanent effective July 2, 1999 due to continuing adverse market conditions. In September 1999, Alfredo filed a case for illegal dismissal and damages before the NLRC's Regional Arbitration Branch No. IV, docketed as NLRC Case No. RAB-IV-9-11454-99-R. The Ruling of the Labor Arbiter Conciliation efforts having failed, hearings were held, followed by a directive for the submission of position papers. In its position paper, MMPC defined the criteria used in considering employees for retrenchment. And among the documents it filed together with its pleadings were its 1997-1996 and 1998-1997 Financial Statements prepared by SGV & Co. On February 27, 2001, Labor Arbiter Enrico Portillo rendered a Decision finding for MMPC and against Alfredo, his complaint for illegal temporary lay-off and retrenchment being dismissed. [4] From the arbiter's ruling, Alfredo appealed to the NLRC, its appeal docketed as NLRC NCR CA No. 028205-01. The Ruling of the NLRC The NLRC saw things differently. By Resolution dated September 23, 2002, the NLRC's First Division reversed and set aside the decision of Labor Arbiter Portillo, disposing as follows: IN VIEW THEREOF, the judgment appealed from is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE and a new one ENTERED declaring the temporary lay-off / retrenchment as illegal and ordering the respondent [MMPC] to immediately reinstate the complainant [Alfredo] to his former position without loss of seniority rights and other benefits accorded the regular employees pursuant to their Collective Bargaining Agreement, with full backwages which as of September 16, 2002 amounts to P447,349.99. A ten percent (10%) attorney's fee is likewise adjudged. The computation submitted by the Computation and Examination Unit is hereby adopted as Annex "A" and an integral part hereof. SO ORDERED.