AND DAVID SUDHIR KUMAR DAS, VS. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS

Ruling

Accordingly, his complaint was dismissed with prejudice. On January 13, 1992, Labor Arbiter Petilla rendered judgment ordering the reinstatement of private respondents, with full backwages, on the ground that petitioner companies failed to substantiate their supposed losses incurred from 1987 to 1990 which led to the retrenchment of employees. The Labor Arbiter pointed out in his Decision that petitioners' alleged losses were merely conjured as "a convenient excuse to get rid of herein complainants who displayed more determination, motivation, zeal and enthusiasm in going through with their union x x x. It constitutes nothing less than an unfair labor practice." [8] Aggrieved, petitioner companies appealed to the NLRC. Pending appeal, complainants Joel F. Fortich, Merelyn D. Jara and Edwin M. Cruz entered into an amicable settlement with petitioner companies thereby extinguishing whatever claim they had against the latter. On the basis of the aforementioned settlement, petitioners moved for the dismissal of the complaint insofar as Fortich, Jara and Cruz were concerned. On 27 May 1993, the NLRC dismissed the appeal and held: We are subsequently in accord with the findings and conclusions of the Labor Arbiter below. Appellants miserably failed to establish the grave abuse of discretion and/or serious errors allegedly committed by the Labor Arbiter a quo when he rendered the decision in question. The records of the case plausibly show that the assailed decision was amply supported by relevant and material evidence. [9] The NLRC expressed the view that the decision of petitioner companies to lay off private respondents was calculated to douse the embers of unionism among the workers. The NLRC, however, granted the Motion to Dismiss filed by complainants Fortich, Jara and Cruz. [10] Inasmuch as their motion for reconsideration was denied by the NLRC, petitioners filed with this Court the instant petition for certiorari. The veracity of their claim of financial distress and the validity of private respondents' dismissal, as a consequence of their distressful financial condition, are the basic issues which they submitted for the Court's consideration. Instead of commenting on the petition, the Solicitor General filed his Manifestation and Motion which gave credence to petitioner companies' plea of financial distress and supported the retrenchment of employees. In recommending the granting of the petition, the Solicitor General remarked that "had the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC studied more carefully the financial statements offered in evidence by petitioner companies, they would have found that the two companies were losing." [11] On the other hand the NLRC, in its Comment , strongly opposed the granting of the petition and averred that the mass layoff could not be justified by losses suffered by petitioner companies inasmuch as there were no proof presented in support thereof. The NLRC further argued that assuming arguendo that petitioner companies wer