Miriam College to appeal NLRC ruling

The school found to have illegally terminated two faculty members on flawed premises of economic losses expected from the roll out of the K-12 program on Thursday said it will appeal the ruling of a labor arbiter of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).

Miriam College president Rosario Lapus said the school acted fairly and “for the best interest” of its community in implementing the Early Separation Program (ESP) for college faculty members affected by the K-12 program.

“Guided by our core values and advocacies, we will always do what is just,” Lapus said in a statement sent to the Inquirer.

On Nov. 9, the NLRC Labor Arbiter Julio Gayaman ordered Miriam College to reinstate Rebecca Añonuevo and Ann Debbie Tan and pay them over P1.2 million in back wages and damages.

Gayaman said the school failed to present “clear and convincing” evidence validating the retrenchment last June.

He noted that Miriam had no reasonable criteria for terminating its faculty, offered no alternative measures and failed to prove imminent financial losses due to the K-12 program.

The labor arbiter also said the  separation program, which intended to remove all General Education faculty members without providing alternative plans and remedies, “proves that the retrenchment was motivated by ill will, bad faith or malice.”