G.R. No. 149329 -

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered in these cases, as follows: Declaring respondent corporation guilty of illegally dismissing complainants, except Rosalina Basan and Filomena Lanting whose complaints are hereby dismissed on ground of prescription, and as a consequence therefor ordering the said respondent corporation to reinstate them to their former positions without loss of seniority rights and other privileges and with full backwages from the time they were illegally dismissed in the aggregate amount of P 15,328,594.04 ; Ordering respondent corporation to pay the said complainants their 13th month pay, holiday pay and service incentive leave pay in the aggregate amount of P 1,979,148.23 ; Ordering respondent corporation to pay said complainants the amount of P 1,730,744.22 by way of attorneys fees, representing ten (10%) percentum of the total judgment awards. The case against individual respondent Medardo Quiambao is hereby dismissed. [10] A copy of the decision was sent by registered mail to the respondent on October 23, 1997 under Registered Mail No. 004567 addressed to Atty. Emmanuel O. Pacsi, counsel for GMC, 6th Floor, Corinthian Plaza Bldg., 121 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City. [11] However, Beth Cacal, a clerk of the respondent GMC received the said decision on October 28, 1997. [12] Contending that a copy thereof was received only on November 3, 1997, the respondent filed an appeal on November 12, 1997, before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), docketed as NLRC NCR CA No. 014462-98. The petitioners filed a Motion to Dismiss Respondents Notice of Appeal/Appeal Memorandum on the ground that the appeal was filed five days late, considering that the August 18, 1997 Decision was received by the respondent through its employee, Beth Cacal, on October 28, 1997. [13] The respondent opposed the motion, contending that Cacal was a mere clerk, and was not a member of the staff of its Legal Department. It further contended that the Legal Department was located at the sixth (6th) floor of Corinthian Plaza and had its own staff, including the legal secretary who served as the Legal Departments receiving clerk. [14] Invoking Section 10, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court, in relation to Section 2 thereof, the respondent alleged that Cacals receipt of the mail and/or decision was not equivalent to receipt by its counsel. In support thereof, the respondent cited the cases of Adamson University v. Adamson University Faculty and Employees Association , [15] and PLDT vs. NLRC . [16] On May 25, 1998, the NLRC rendered a decision reversing that of the Labor Arbiter, the dispositive portion of which is herein quoted: WHEREFORE, except for its award of 13 th month pay, holiday pay and service incentive leave pay in the aggregate amount of P 1,979,148.23 which is hereby affirmed, the appealed decision is set aside for being contrary to settled jurisprudence. [17] The NLRC ruled that the respondent GMC filed its appeal within the reglementary pe