THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 206529, April 23, 2018
RENANTE B. REMOTICADO, Petitioner, v. TYPICAL CONSTRUCTION TRADING CORP. AND ROMMEL M. ALIGNAY, Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
LEONEN, J.:
There can be no case for illegal termination of employment when there was no termination by the employer. While, in illegal termination cases, the burden is upon the employer to show just cause for termination of employment, such a burden arises only if the complaining employee has shown, by substantial evidence, the fact of termination by the employer.
This resolves a Petition for Review on Certiorari1 under Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure praying that the assailed November 29, 2012 Decision2 and March 26, 2013 Resolution3 of the Court of Appeals in CA G.R. SP No. 124993 be reversed and set aside.
The assailed Court of Appeals November 29, 2012 Decision found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of National Labor Relations Commission in rendering its January 11, 2012 Decision,4 which affirmed Labor Arbiter Renell Joseph R. Dela Cruz's (Labor Arbiter Dela Cruz) October 11, 2011 Decision.5 Labor Arbiter Del a Cruz's Decision dismissed petitioner Renante B. Remoticado's (Remoticado) Complaint for illegal dismissal after a finding that he voluntarily resigned. The assailed Court of Appeals March 26, 2013 Resolution denied his Motion for Reconsideration.
Remoticado's services were engaged by Typical Construction Trading Corporation (Typical Construction) as a helper/laborer in its construction projects, the most recent being identified as the Jedic Project at First Industrial Park in Batangas.6
In separate sworn statements, Pedro Nielo (Nielo), Typical Construction's Field Human Resources Officer, and two (2) of Remoticado's co-workers, Salmero Pedros and Jovito Credo,7 recalled that on December 6, 2010, Remoticado was absent without an official leave. He remained absent until December 20, 2010 when, upon showing up, he informed Nielo that he was resigning. Prodded by Nielo for his reason, Remoticado noted that they were "personal reasons considering that he got sick."8 Nielo advised Remoticado to return the following day as he still had to report Remoticado's resignation to Typical Construction's main office, and as his final pay had yet to be computed.9
Remoticado returned the following day and was handed P5,082.53 as his final pay. He protested, saying that he was entitled to "separation pay computed at two (2) months for his services for two (2) years."10 In response, Nielo explained that Remoticado could not be entitled to separation pay considering that he voluntarily resigned. Nielo added that if Remoticado was not satisfied with P5,082.53, he was free to continue working for Typical Construction. However, Remoticado was resolute and proceeded to sign and affix his thumb marks on a Kasulatan ng Pagbawi ng Karapatan at Kawalan ng Paghahabol, a waiver and quitclaim.11
On January 10, 2011,12 Remoticado filed a Complaint for illegal dismissal against Typical Construction and its owner and operator, Rommel M. Alignay (Alignay).13 He claimed that on December 23, 2010, he was told to stop reporting for work due to a "debt at the canteen"14 and thereafter was prevented from entering Typical Construction's premises.15
In a Decision16 dated October 11, 2011, Labor Arbiter Dela Cruz dismissed Remoticado's Complaint for lack of merit. He explained that Remoticado's employment could not have been illegally terminated as he voluntarily resigned.17
In its January 11, 2012 Decision,18 the National Labor Relations Commission denied Remoticado's appeal.
In its assailed November 29, 2012 Decision,19 the Court of Appeals found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the National Labor Relations Commission. In its assailed March 26, 2013 Resolution,20 the Court of Appeals denied Remoticado's Motion for Reconsideration.
Undeterred by the consistent rulings of the Court of Appeals, the National Labor Relations Commission, and Labor Arbiter Dela Cruz, Remoticado filed the present Petition.21
For resolution is the issue of whether petitioner Renante B. Remoticado voluntarily resigned or his employment was illegally terminated in the manner, on the date, and for the reason he averred in his complaint.
The Petition lacks merit.
The Rules of Court require that only questions of law should be raised in petitions tiled under Rule 45. This court is not a trier of facts. It will not entertain questions of fact as the factual findings of the appellate courts are "final, binding[,] or conclusive on the parties and upon this [c]ourt" when supported by substantial evidence. Factual findings of the appellate courts will not be reviewed nor disturbed on appeal to this court.No exception avails in this case.
However, these rules do admit exceptions. Over time, the exceptions to these rules have expanded. At present, there are 10 recognized exceptions that were first listed in Medina v. Mayor Asistio, Jr.:(1) When the conclusion is a finding grounded entirely on speculation, surmises or conjectures; (2) When the inference made is manifestly mistaken, absurd or impossible; (3) Where there is a grave abuse of discretion; (4) When the judgment is based on a misapprehension of facts; (5) When the findings of fact are conflicting; (6) When the Court of Appeals, in making its findings, went beyond the issues of the case and the same is contrary to the admissions of both appellant and appellee; (7) The findings of the Court of Appeals are contrary to those of the trial court; (8) When the findings of fact are conclusions without citation of specific evidence on which they are based; (9) When the facts set forth in the petition as well as in the petitioner's main and reply briefs are not disputed by the respondents; and (10) The finding of fact of the Court of Appeals is premised on the supposed absence of evidence and is contradicted by the evidence on record.These exceptions similarly apply in petitions for review filed before this court involving civil, labor, tax, or criminal cases.24 (Citations omitted)
Before the employer must bear the burden of proving that the dismissal was legal, the employee must first establish by substantial evidence the fact of his dismissal from service. If there is no dismissal, then there can be no question as to the legality or illegality thereof.27Petitioner here insists on his version of events, that is, that on December 23, 2010, he was told to stop reporting for work on account of his supposed indebtedness at the canteen. This bare insistence, however, is all that petitioner has. He failed to present convincing evidence. Even his basic narrative is bereft of supporting details that could be taken as badges of veracity. As the Court of Appeals underscored, "[P]etitioner only made a general statement that he was illegally dismissed . . . He did not state how he was terminated [or] mentioned who prevented him from reporting for work."28
It is true that the law looks with disfavor on quitclaims and releases by employees who have been inveigled or pressured into signing them by unscrupulous employers seeking to evade their legal responsibilities and frustrate just claims of employees. In certain cases, however, the Court has given effect to quitclaims executed by employees if the employer is able to prove the following requisites, to wit: (1) the employee executes a deed of quitclaim voluntarily; (2) there is no fraud or deceit on the part of any of the parties; (3) the consideration of the quitclaim is credible and reasonable; and (4) the contract is not contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.Petitioner's barren tale of his employer's order for him to stop reporting for work is hardly the requisite "clear proof that the waiver was wangled from an unsuspecting or gullible person."35 Indeed, courts and tribunals should not be so gullible as to lend validity to every waiver and quitclaim confronting them. However, neither should they be so foolhardy as to believe a complaining employee's narrative at the mere sight or mention of a waiver or quitclaim.
Our pronouncement in Periquet v. National Labor Relations Commission on this matter cannot be more explicit:Not all waivers and quitclaims are invalid as against public policy. If the agreement was voluntarily entered into and represents a reasonable settlement, it is binding on the parties and may not later be disowned simply because of a change of mind. It is only where there is clear proof that the waiver was wangled from an unsuspecting or gullible person, or the terms of settlement are unconscionable on its face, that the law will step in to annul the questionable transaction. But where it is shown that the person making the waiver did so voluntarily, with full understanding of what he was doing, and the consideration for the quitclaim is credible and reasonable, the transaction must be recognized as a valid and binding undertaking.34 (Citations omitted)
| Very truly yours, |
(SGD) | |
WILFREDO V. LAPITAN | |
Division Clerk of
Court |
Endnotes:
1Rollo, pp. 13-36.
2 Id. at 214-226. The Decision was penned by Associate Justice Ramon R. Garcia and concurred in by Associate Justices Amelita G. Tolentino and Danton Q. Bueser of the Fourth Division, Court of Appeals, Manila.
3 Id. at 241-242. The Resolution was penned by Associate Justice Ramon R. Garcia and concurred in by Associate Justices Amelita G. Tolentino and Danton Q. Bueser of the Fourth Division, Court of Appeals, Manila.
4 Id. at 62-69. The Decision, docketed as NLRC LAC No. 11-003025-11 (NLRC RAB-IV-03-00317-11-L), was penned by Commissioner Napoleon M. Menese and concurred in by Presiding Commissioner Raul T. Aquino and Commissioner Teresita D. Castillon-Lora of the Second Division, National Labor Relations Commission, Quezon City.
5 Id. at 72-80.
6 Id. at 65.
7 Id. at 66 and 76-77.
8 Id. at 65.
9 Id.
10 Id.
11 Id. at 65-66.
12 Id. at 76.
13 Id. at 15.
14 Id. at 73.
15 Id. at 215.
16 Id. at 72-80.
17 Id. at 79.
18 Id. at 62-69.
19 Id. at 214-226.
20 Id. at 241-242.
21 Id. at 13-36.
22 RULES OF COURT, Rule 45, sec. 1 provides:
Section 1. Filing of petition with Supreme Court. - A party desiring to appeal by certiorari from a judgment or final order or resolution of the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Regional Trial Court or other courts whenever authorized by law, may file with the Supreme Court a verified petition for review on certiorari. The petition shall raise only questions of law which must be distinctly set forth.
23Pascual v. Burgos, G.R. No. 171722, January 11, 2016 <http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2016/january2016/171722.pdf> [Per J. Leonen, Second Division].
24 Id. at 10-11.
25Rollo, pp. 22-28.
26Doctor v. NII Enterprises, G.R. No. 194001, November 22, 2017 <http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2017/november2017/194001.pdf> 9 [Per J. Leonardo-De Castro, First Division] citing MZR Industries v. Colambot, 716 Phil. 617, 624 (2013).
27 Id.
28Rollo, p. 223.
29 Id. at 223-224.
30 Id. at 66.
31 Id. at 221.
32Talam v. National Labor Relations Commission, 631 Phil. 405, 423 (2010) [Per J. Brion, Second Division], citing Veloso and Liguaton v. DOLE, et al., 277 Phil. 230 (1992) (Per J. Cruz, First Division].
33 625 Phil. 102 (2010) [Per J. Villarama, Jr., First Division].
34 Id. at 107-108.
35Rollo, pp. 222-223.