FIRST
DIVISION
NATION
BROADCASTING CORPORATION
and ABELARDO YABUT, SR.,
Petitioners,
G. R. No. 116184
October 2, 1997
-versus-
NATIONAL
LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION
and DOUGLAS DE LA PAZ,
Respondents.
D
E C I S I O N
BELLOSILLO, J.:
Douglas de la
Paz, theorizing that his appointment
as regular radio announcer from Officer-in-Charge and/or Acting Station
Manager was done without due process and just cause, instituted the
instant
labor case. He obtained a favorable judgment from the Labor Arbiter as
well as from the National Labor Relations Commission [NLRC]. The Nation
Broadcasting Corporation [NBC] and its President, Abelardo Yabut, Sr.,
are now before this Court assailing the Resolution of the NLRC.
De la Paz started
in 1979 as a radio announcer
in AM Radio Station DXRB Butuan owned and operated by petitioner NBC.
On
19 August 1991, he was assigned as Officer-in-Charge and/or Acting
Station
Manager pending the appointment of a Station Manager after the former
Station
Manager resigned. Petitioner NBC however appeared dissatisfied with his
performance. Thus on 5 November 1991, he was reverted to radio
announcer,
and on 12 November 1991 was placed under suspension after he was said
to
have violated various directives of the management. Consequently, in
January
1992 he commenced the instant labor case before the NLRC Arbitration
Branch
in Butuan City.cralaw:red
De la Paz claimed
that despite the improvement
in the financial position of the radio station during his stint as
Officer-in-Charge
and/or Station Manager, he was still demoted to the position of regular
announcer based on alleged unsubstantiated reports, without due process
nor just cause. And, even before he could be apprised of his demotion,
it was already announced over the air lanes of the radio station,
causing
him to succumb to a mild stroke and be confined in a hospital where he
was served a notice of suspension. He was then forced to go on leave.
Upon
his return, he was dismayed to find out that someone else had taken
over
his regular slot without informing him first. He was thus assigned to
other
programs and was warned that if he did not accept the new assignments
his
services would be terminated. He submitted that his demotion and
reassignment
to other programs were tantamount to constructive dismissal.cralaw:red
On 21 October
1992, Labor Arbiter Marissa Macaraig-Guillen[1]
ruled that there was no constructive dismissal at all since it was made
clear that De la Paz was appointed Station Manager only in an acting
capacity,
not on a permanent basis. Likewise it is on record that petitioner NBC
manifested that it was willing to accept De la Paz back to his old
position
as regular announcer of the programs he used to hold, but he never
asked
for it. De la Paz was however granted service incentive leave pay and
13th
month pay, and was also awarded moral and exemplary damages and
attorney's
fees for having been maligned over the radio station's air lanes and
for
being sent "threateningmemorandums."[2]
Thus:
Judgment is hereby rendered ordering
respondent
Nation Broadcasting Corporation to permit complainant Douglas de la Paz
to return to work to his regular position of radio announcer with his
usual
schedule of radio programs and field work as discussed in this Decision.
Respondents is [sic] also hereby directed
to
pay complainant the sum of FIFTY-FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SEVEN PESOS
AND SIX CENTAVOS [P54,507.06] representing service incentive leave pay,
13th month pay, moral and exemplary damages and attorney's fees.[3]
NBC appealed to
the NLRC. On 3 May 1994 the NLRC[4]
modified the decision of the Labor Arbiter by deleting the award for
service
incentive leave pay and 13th month pay as "[t]hese claims were not
pleaded
or alleged either in the complaint or position paper of complainant."[5]
Thus:
The decision appealed from is Affirmed
with
modification
and the appeal Dismissed for lack of merit. The Labor Arbiter is
ordered
and directed to determine the practicability of the reinstatement of
complainant
preparatory to the execution of the judgment. Should the reinstatement
be found impractical after due proceedings, complainant's granted
payment
of separation pay at the rate of one [1] month pay for every year of
service,
inclusive of other fringe benefits complainant may be entitled, if any.
Finally, the monetary awards for 13th month pay and service incentive
leave
pay are deleted for lack of basis. No findings as to costs.
Petitioner NBC
argues that "[t]he finding of the
Labor Arbiter that there was definitely no constructive dismissal
should
have closed the door for the prayer for damages and attorney's fees.
After
all the basis for claiming damages and attorney's fees was found to be
inexistent. There being no constructive dismissal, there is no
foundation
upon which the award of damages and attorney's fees can stand on."[6]
NBC submits that the cause of action for the award of damages and
attorney's
fees, i.e., when it supposedly allowed De la Paz to be maligned
over the radio station's air lanes causing his health to worsen and his
reputation besmirched, is not within the jurisdiction of the Labor
Arbiter
but within the competence of the civil courts. Hence, the Labor Arbiter
erred in awarding damages and attorney's fees to De la Paz after
holding
that there was no constructive dismissal, and the NLRC committed grave
abuse of discretion when it affirmed the award "there being evidence
showing
that respondents [NBC and its President and General Manager Abelardo
Yabut,
Sr.] acted with bad faith in the manner the constructive discharge of
complainant
(De la Paz) was effected."[7]
We disagree.
Article 217 of the Labor Code provides:
Art. 217. Jurisdiction of Labor
Arbiters
and
the Commission.- (a) Except as otherwise provided under this
Code, the Labor Arbiters shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction
to hear and decide the following cases involving all workers
xxx
4. Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages
arising
from employer-employee relations.
In Air Material
Wing Savings and Loan Association,
Inc. v. National Labor Relations Commission[8]
we said that labor arbiters have original and exclusive jurisdiction
over
money claims of workers when such claims have some reasonable
connection
with the employer-employee relationship. For sure, the money claims of
workers referred to in Par. 4, Art. 217 of the Labor Code are those
arising
out of or in connection with the employer-employee relationship or some
aspect or incident of such relationship.
Clearly, the
jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiter
is not limited to money claims arising out of an illegal dismissal
case,
but all money claims arising out of employer-employee relationships. In
the instant case, as found by both the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC, De
la
Paz was treated unfairly. Thus, as aptly pointed out by the
Solicitor-General:
The records reveal that prior to private
respondent's
receipt of his reclassification from Officer-In-Charge/Station Manager
to that of a radio announcer, his reclassification was the subject of a
verbal tirade by one of DXRB's announcers, Mr. Jay Solis. Mr. Jay Solis
was later appointed as DXRB's Officer-In-Charge, replacing private
respondent.
This act of petitioner through Mr. Solis, "did not only cause great
embarrassment
to private respondent but caused him to be confined in the hospital
because
of hypertension and chest pains resulting from his emotional reaction
to
the radio announcement [Labor Arbiter's Decision, p. 21]. Worst,
petitioner
through DXRB's new Officer-In-Charge, Mr. Jay Solis, repeatedly
required
private respondent through a series of memoranda to report to his work
schedule as radio announcer despite prior permission to be on sick
leave
due to his confinement in the hospital [Annex "T," Records, p. 196].
After private respondent's failure to
report
to
his work, he was given another memorandum assigning him to a different
announcing schedule which was found by public respondent to be
unreasonable
and unbearable [NLRC Decision, p. 8]. These acts taken together, show
petitioners'
abuse of their rights and prerogative to manage its employees,
constituting
an act oppressive to labor.[9]
Obviously, the
acts complained of arose out of an
employer-employee relationship which is within the jurisdiction and
competence
of the Labor Arbiter and, on appeal, the NLRC. For petitioner NBC would
not have any reason at all to assail respondent De la Paz over its air
lanes and send the latter unpleasant memoranda were it not for the fact
that the latter was an unappreciated employee. Most certainly his
prayer
for damages was anchored on the termination of his services. Verily,
Labor
Arbiter Marissa Macaraig-Guillen was well within her jurisdiction in
the
instant case when she awarded moral and exemplary damages and
attorney's
fees.
With regard to
the issue of reinstatement or payment
of separation pay, we sustain the view of the Solicitor General that:
Petitioners cannot object to private
respondent's
reinstatement or payment of separation pay since it does not carry with
it payment of back wages. This is in contrast to an award of an illegal
dismissal which results in the twin reliefs of reinstatement and
payment
of back wages. The order of reinstatement or payment of separation pay
can be granted in the concept of equitable remedy which is in
consonance
with the purpose of the State Policies explicitly provided in Article
II
of the 1987 Constitution, thus:
"Section 9. The State shall promote a
just
and
dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence
of
the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that
provide
adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of
living and improved quality of life for all.
"Section 18. The State affirms labor as
a
primary
social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and
promote
their welfare."[10]
After all, it
is on record that petitioner NBC has
manifested that it was willing to accept De la Paz back to his old
position
as radio announcer of the same programs he used to hold.[11]
We, therefore, see no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the NLRC
that will prejudice the welfare of private respondent Douglas de la Paz.
WHEREFORE, there
being no grave abuse of discretion
committed by public respondent National Labor Relations Commission, the
petition is DISMISSED.cralaw:red
SO ORDERED.cralaw:red
Davide, Jr.,
Vitug, Kapunan and Hermosisima, Jr.,
JJ., concur.cralaw:red
__________________________________
Endnotes
[1]
Sub-Regional Arbitration Branch No. X, Butuan City.
[2]
Decision of Labor Arbiter Marissa Macaraig-Guillen, p. 22; Rollo, p. 50.
[3]
Id., pp. 24-25; Id., pp. 52-53.
[4]
Fifth Division, Cagayan de Oro City; Resolution penned by Presiding
Commissioner
Musib M. Buat and concurred in by Commissioners Oscar N. Abella and
Leon
G. Gonzaga, Jr.
[5]
Resolution of the NLRC, p. 9; Rollo, p. 62.
[6]
Petition for Certiorari, p. 7; Rollo, p. 8.
[7]
Resolution of the NLRC, p. 9; id., p. 62.
[8]
G. R. No. 111870, 30 June 1994, 233 SCRA 592.
[9]
Comment of the Solicitor General, p. 9; Rollo, p. 103.
[10]
Id., p.10; id., p. 104.
[11]
Decision of the Labor Arbiter, p. 18; Id., p. 46. |