By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed a petition filed by a local real estate developer challenging a ruling in a case involving a construction worker who was terminated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In its 13-page decision Associate Justice Pablito Perez on Dec. 11, the CA’s 13th division dismissed the petition filed by S.C. Megaworld Construction and Development Corp. against the National Labor Relations Commission’s (NLRC) decision.
The NLRC had ruled in favor of carpenter Eduardo Bocboc who had worked in the company since 2012 but was among those affected when work halted in 2020 due to the pandemic.
When he returned on the same year, the Megaworld informed him there was no available project to which he may be assigned.
The NLRC noted that the worker’s floating status, although valid at the start, stretched for more than six months which rendered him constructively dismissed and ordered the employer to pay PHP80,000 in separation pay and salary differentials.
Bocboc appealed the ruling which he also won with the NLRC granting him back wages.
Megaworld, for its part, claimed that the case should be dismissed since it had not been “verified”.
Under rules on documents submitted before courts, a “verification” is a certification by the party submitting the pleading that the contents are based on one’s personal knowledge or authentic documents. Without the said verification, a pleading may be considered unsigned.
“(T)echnicalities should not be allowed to stand in the way of equitably and completely resolving the rights and obligations of the parties. Technical rules are not binding in labor cases and are not to be applied strictly if the result would be detrimental to the working man,” the court ruled in dismissing the petition and affirming the NLRC. (PNA)
