This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2009-08-24 |
CARPIO, J. |
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| The Court is unimpressed. The gravity of Maralit's infraction demands the relaxation of strict rules of procedure. Strict rules of procedure may be set aside to serve the demands of substantial justice. Labor cases must be decided according to justice, equity, and the substantial merits of the controversy. In Azul v. Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank,[36] the Court held: The seriousness of petitioner's infraction demanded the setting aside of strict rules of procedure as to allow the determination on the merits of whether he was lawfully dismissed. As held by the Court, the application of technical rules of procedure may be relaxed to serve the demands of substantial justice, particularly in labor cases, because they must be decided according to justice and equity and the substantial merits of the controversy. | |||||
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2007-08-17 |
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J. |
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| Under the circumstances, we are convinced that complainant was involved in effecting the unauthorized transfer x x x. We take particular note of the fact that the spurious letter request was in favor of someone known to her husband. To us, it is more than pure coincidence that the beneficiary of complainant's act of processing for approval the fake letter request, would be someone known to her husband. Said Mr. Castillano, on the other hand, has never denied having purchased the telephone line for P40,000, a highly irregular transaction. And in the investigation at the QCID on December 4, 1995, Mr. Castillano, in a face to face confrontation with Mr. Buna, pointed to the latter as the PLDT employee who sold to him the line of Ms. Eduarte for P40,000. and in order that the same could be transferred to the former, the fake letter request of Ms. Eduarte was processed and recommended for approval by the complainant. Clearly, the confluence of events point to the complainant as a necessary and indispensable participant in a chain of irregularities intended to illegally transfer a telephone from the original owner to Mr. Castillano, a friend of complainant's husband x x x.[24] (Emphasis supplied) Based on the foregoing, we find that loss of trust and confidence, as a ground for termination, has been clearly established. In Azul v. Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank,[25] we upheld the employee's dismissal despite lack of proof of actual participation in the anomalous activities because his actuations had sown in his employer "the seed of mistrust and loss of confidence," thus:While, indeed, it was not proved that he was the one who made the irregular entries on the tickets, the fact that he did not lift a finger at all to determine who it was is a sad reflection of his job. In fact, even if the petitioner had no actual and direct participation in the alleged anomalies, his failure to detect any anomaly in the passage tickets amounts to gross negligence and incompetence, which are, likewise, justifiable grounds for his dismissal. Be that as it may, to our mind, it is no longer necessary to prove the petitioner's direct participation in the irregularity, for what is material is that his actuations were more than sufficient to sow in his employer the seed of mistrust and loss of confidence. The aforesaid ruling likewise applies to respondent because of her questionable involvement in the manipulation of company records to facilitate the transfer of a telephone line which was obtained through highly irregular means. Her participation was essential to the consummation of the anomalous transaction. | |||||