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Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT


NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION
National Capital Region
Quezon City

RAYMOND BUENO,
Complainant,

- Versus - NLRC NCR CASE NO.09-15739-17

ROBIN CO LTD. /
ROBERT CO,
Respondents.
X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X

DECISION
Before the merits of this case be resolved, it is incumbent for us
to determine whether the complainant has a legal right to file the
complaint for money claims and illegal dismissal in this jurisdiction
after Three (3 ) years of non filing.

Facts as extracted from the case revealed that:

According to the respondent’s position paper, complainant is a


former employee holding the position of Machine Operator. For the
past three ( 3 )years, the complainant is on AWOL status and after
receipt of several notices from the respondent did not report for
work in violation of the Company Rules and regulations. As
respondent averred, the underlying reason for complainant being
AWOL was the on-going investigation conducted sometime in the
month of August 2014 where the complainant was involved in theft
resulted in an issuance of a memorandum for Violation of Company
Rules and Regulations. A personal letter of the complainant was
submitted to seek forgiveness for the violation he admittedly
committed dated August 24, 2014 which is self-explanatory ( Rollo
pp.16-21).

Complainant’s position paper alleged that he was forced to


resign due to harassment being imposed by the respondent.
Sometime in the month of August 2014 , he was accused of the
crime of theft by the respondent even in the absence and lack of
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NLRC NCR CASE NO.09-15739-17,
RAYMOND BUENO, Complainant,
Versus -ROBIN CO LTD. /ROBERT CO,
Respondents.

evidence. Aside from being forced to resign, he was also underpaid


of Salary, not paid of Service Incentive Leave Pay, 13th Month pay
and Separation Pay,. Moreover, he also claim Moral and Exemplary
Damages plus attorney’s fees ( Rollo pp. 10-15).

On the scheduled submission of reply, only respondent


submitted its reply and moved that the complaint had been
prescribed and therefore barred by prescription under the provision
of Article 305 of the Labor Code, as amended ( Rollo pp. 23-25).
Hence, the case is now submitted for resolution.

The pivotal issue in this case is whether or not an employee


who has been on Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL) status for
more than Three (3) years can still be entitled to his money claims
and separation pay upon filing of the complaint.

Under Article 291 now renumbered as Article 305 of the Labor


Code, as amended, all money claims arising from employment
relationship is prescribed after three (3) years of non filing of an
action. The fact that complainant admitted in his position paper
that the alleged act of harassment forcing him to resign tantamount
to illegal dismissal transpired in August of 2014, and the filing of the
request for assistance was made only last September 2017 under
SENA proceedings and filing of proper complaint before this office
only last October 2017, placed the complaint for money claims
under the Labor Standards Law outside of its authority and
jurisdiction as the claims are already prescribed and barred by Law.

On monetary claims, aside from being prescribed, it should not


be forgotten that a question of fact is to be determined by the
evidence offered to support this particular contention ( Jose vs. CA
ET AL.; 222 SCRA 25). Thus, when it is alleged by the employee that
she has not been properly paid her wages and benefits, substantial
evidence should be presented by the complainant showing not only
that she rendered compensable services, but also how much she
was paid for the same. Mere allegations of underpayment or non-
payment cannot suffice to establish a fact. Mere allegation is not an
evidence.

On the issue of illegal dismissal due to force , intimidation or


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threat, in this jurisdiction, one who asserts a factual issue has the
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NLRC NCR CASE NO.09-15739-17,
RAYMOND BUENO, Complainant,
Versus -ROBIN CO LTD. /ROBERT CO,
Respondents.

burden of proving it , thus the burden of proof lies on the


complainant .

A careful perusal of the evidence-in-chief of this case shows


that the complainant miserably failed to adduce the presence of
force, threat or intimidation whether it is physical, mental or
emotional exerted allegedly by the respondent in the dismissal of the
complainant. Thus, it is more reasonable to conclude that
complainant , in his own volition and with flight reaction , committed
Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL) and despite notice to report
back for work , complainant intentionally did not report despite
receipt thereof equivalent to abandoning his job with the
respondent.

On this score, we cannot grant separation pay on the ground


that complainant was terminated with a valid cause. Separation
pay is awarded only when there is a declaration of the fact of
dismissal and before this tribunal determines whether such dismissal is
legal or illegal, the fact of dismissal is sine-quanon that complainant
must established . Simply put, absence of the fact of dismissal means
no dismissal at all. In the instant case evidence simply point out that
complainant committed violations of AWOL which is penalized by
dismissal from the service.

On the claims for moral and exemplary damages, this tribunal


finds no circumstance that the dismissal is attended by fraud, malice
or bad faith. We hold that such awards lacks legal basis or
constituted an act oppressive to labor, or was done in a manner
contrary to morals, good customs or public policy, hence denied.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the complaint is DISMISSED


for utter lack of merit.

SO ORDERED.

Quezon City, Philippines, January 29, 2018.

REMEDIOS TIRAD-CAPINIG
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Labor Arbiter
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NLRC NCR CASE NO.09-15739-17,
RAYMOND BUENO, Complainant,
Versus -ROBIN CO LTD. /ROBERT CO,
Respondents.

Copy Furnished:

RAYMOND BUENO,
Don Vicente St.,
Bgry. FTU, Sta. Monica,
Novaliches, Quezon City

ROBIN CO/ROBERT CO
#255 Katipunan Ave.,
California Subd., San Bartolome,
Novaliches, Quezon City,
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