The Supreme Court has unanimously denied with finality the motion for reconsideration of 16,500 National Power Corp. employees of their P8.5-billion back payment, additional Cost of Living Allowance and Amelioration Allowance for the period of July 1, 1989 to March 16, 1999.
In a 13-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC en banc denied the motion for reconsideration filed by National Power Corp.Employees Consolidated Union (NECU) and the president of the National Power Corp. Employees and Workers Union (NEWU) seeking the reversal of the Court’s February 7, 2017 decision.
“Wherefore, the 16,500 Workers’ Solicitous Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED with FINALITY as the basic issues have already been passed upon in this Court’s February 7, 2017 Decision. No further pleadings or motions shall be entertained in this case. Let entry of final judgment be issued immediately,” the SC declared.
The SC set aside the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City’s decision which granted the petition for mandamus filed by NECU and NEWU seeking to direct the Napocor, its president and its board of directors to release and pay the employees their COLA and AA.
But the magistrates said the employees failed to raise new issues that would sway the Court into abandoning its February 7 ruling.
Based on their MR, Napocor employees insisted that law, jurisprudence, and evidence support their contention that their COLA and AA were deducted from their salaries from July 1, 1989 to March 19, 1999.
In particular, the NECU and NEWU distinguished Napocor workers into three categories.
The first category includes workers already employed when Republic Act No. 6758 or the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989 took effect and whose COLA and AA were integrated into their basic salaries only up to 1993.
The second category covers those hired after Republic Act No. 6758 took effect and whose COLA and AA were allegedly deducted from 1989 to 1999.
The third category consists of employees hired after the effectivity of Republic Act No. 6758 and whose COLA and AA were allegedly deducted from 1994 to 1999.
The employees noted that this only shows that their basic pay for the disputed period did not include salaries from July 1, 1989 to March 19, 1999.
The Court noted that NECU and NEWU were in a position to submit to this Court any pay slip or Notice of Position Allocation and Salary Adjustment showing an actual deduction of the COLA and AA from July 1, 1989 to March 19, 1999 but they failed to do so.
“As it stands, respondents NECU and NEWU have failed to prove that their COLA and AA were factually deducted from their basic pay,” the SC said.
“Respondents NECU and NEWU attempt to sway this Court by insisting that those hired after Republic Act No. 6758 took effect have never received their COLA and AA and that these allowances were deducted from their basic pay. This issue, however, has already been discussed and passed upon in this Court’s February 7, 2017 Decision,” it added.
In its February 2017 ruling, the SC stated that the trial court should have been cautious in coming out with such a ruling since it would entail release of billions in public funds.
The High Court added that the trial court “should have been more prudent in granting the immediate execution, considering that the execution of the judgment award involves the payment of almost P8.5-billion in public funds.
The SC also ruled that COLA and AA of the employees were integrated with the salaries of the employees, after the promulgation of R.A. 6758.
On August 21, 1989, the Congress enacted Republic Act No. 6758 to standardize compensation and benefits of public employees, effective July 1, 1989.Ӭ
The law applied to all positions, whether appointive or elective, including those in government-owned and controlled corporations.
It also provided that all allowances and other additional compensation”¨not otherwise stated “shall be deemed included” in the prescribed”¨standardized salary rates.”¨
However, NECU and NEWU insisted that their COLA and AA from July 1, 1989 to December 31, 1993 were not factually integrated into their standardized salaries.ӬӬ
