Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2008 > October 2008 Resolutions > [G.R. No. 178163 : October 15, 2008] MARINERS POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES FOUNDATION [BARAS] V. JOHN C. BUENDIA AND HON. ROLANDO L. BOBIS :

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated 15 October 2008:

G.R. No. 178163 (Mariners Polytechnic Colleges Foundation [Baras] v. John C. Buendia and Hon. Rolando L. Bobis)

On July 23, 2007, petitioner Mariners Polytechnic Colleges Foundation (MPCF) filed with this Court a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 docketed as G.R. No. 178163. The petition raised the following issues:

1. THE INVESTIGATION LEADING TO PRIVATE RESPONDENT'S DISMISSAL WAS CONDUCTED SOLELY UNDER RA 7877 [THE ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAW (1995)] WHICH IS A PENAL AND NOT A LABOR STATUTE, HENCE THE PUBLIC RESPONDENT HAS NO JURISDICTION TO ENTERTAIN THE PRIVATE RESPONDENT'S COMPLAINT FOR ILLEGAL DISMISSAL

2. THE [COMMITTEE ON DECORUM AND INVESTIGATION] UNDER RA 7877 IS A QUASI-JUDICIAL ENTITY WHOSE DECISION IS APPEALABLE ONLY TO THE COURT OF APPEALS; THE LABOR ARBITER HAS NO APPELLATE JURISDICTION

On December 3, 2007, this Court dismissed the petition for failure to sufficiently show that the questioned judgment is tainted with grave abuse of discretion.

On February 21, 2008: MPCF filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the Resolution dated December 3, 2007. It reasoned that its petition was anchored on lack of jurisdiction and not merely grave abuse of discretion. The Motion correctly pointed out that the petition was filed under Rule 45 and not under Rule 6.5. In any event, we find no merit in the petition

Nothing in Republic Act No. (RA) 7877 strips the labor arbiter of its jurisdiction in illegal dismissal complaints. As correctly pointed out by the appellate court;

x x. x We so hold that a complaint for illegal dismissal filed with she labor arbiter can co-exist with, and in fact be simultaneously heard by the regular courts tor die criminal prosecution for violation of RA 7877 ^[1]x x x.

We agree with MPCF that the Labor Arbiter has no appellate jurisdiction over sexual harassment cases filed under RA 7877. The illegal dismissal complaint filed with the Labor Arbiter is, however, an action independent from the sexual harassment case investigated on by MPCF's Committe on Decorum and Investigation.

We, therefore, find no reversible error committed by the Court of Appeals in its questioned decision dated January 23, 2007.

WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED with FINALITY for lack of merit.

Endnotes:

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^[1]    Rollo, p. 64. The Decision was penned by Associate Justice Vicente Q. Roxas and concurred in by Associate Justices, Josefina Guevara-Salonga and Ramon R Garcia.