MANILA, Philippines–The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the implementation of its 2006 order for the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to pay some P62 billion in damages and back wages to Napocor employees found to have been illegally retrenched in 2003.
In a resolution released Tuesday, the high court’s Special Third Division ordered Quezon City Regional Trial Court Clerk of Court Perlita Ele and the lower court’s sheriffs to suspend the enforcement of the high court’s decision and lift the garnishment against Napocor and PSALM, including their creditors and depository banks, for payouts to petitioners.
The court said the move was aimed at properly identifying which terminated Napocor employees were entitled to back wages and how much each should receive. It did not say how many former Napocoer employees were covered by the 2006 court decision.
Writs of garnishment
“The court’s action today… stops the execution of the writs of garnishment and allows the court to determine who are entitled to be paid under the terms of its previous resolutions and how much each is entitled to be paid,” the resolution said.
The high court’s Sept. 26, 2006, ruling had favored the NPC Drivers and Mechanics Association (Dama) and nullified the resolutions of the NPC board that prompted the termination of its employees on Jan. 31, 2003, as part of Napocor’s restructuring under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, which privatized the power sector.
It issued a resolution two years later declaring that the petitioners “have the right to reinstatement or separation pay in lieu of reinstatement, pursuant to a validly approved separation program; plus back wages, wage adjustments, and other benefits accruing” from the time of their termination.
PSALM has a pending motion for the high court to admit its second reconsideration plea. PSALM took this action in August, shortly after the court upheld its 2006 ruling and “reiterated NPC [Napocor] and PSALM’s liability for the benefits due the dismissed employees” through a resolution on June 30.
In Tuesday’s resolution, the high court ordered Dama to submit within 45 days of receipt of the resolution a detailed list of NPC employees as of Jan. 31, 2002, or a year before the mass termination.
Requested data
The court requested the following data on individual Napocor employees: “full name, date of hiring, last date of uninterrupted service, position and salary as of last date of service, if termination or separation pay has been received at any time from NPC, the amount of termination or separation pay received, and date of receipt.”
It also ordered Ele to submit the list of Napocor employees who were earlier fired by the respondents.
In its resolution, the court also noted letters from several Cabinet secretaries, including Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who have expressed concern over the June 30 resolution that upheld the 2006 court decision.
The letters cited “the possible injurious effects on the economy as well as the energy sector if the court’s resolution were to be enforced” given the amount of the ordered settlement.