FARLE P.

ALMODIEL
vs.
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (FIRST DIVISION), RAYTHEON PHILS., INC.
DATE: June 14, 1993
NATURE: Petition for certiorari of the decision of the National Labor Relations Commission
PONENTE: Nocon, J.
FACTS:
Petitioner Almodiel is a certified ublic accountant !ho !as hired in "ctober, 19#$ as Cost
Accountin% &ana%er of resondent Ra'theon Philiines, (nc. throu%h a lacement firm
)efore said emlo'ment, he !as the accounts e*ecutive of (nte%rated &icroelectronics, (nc. for
several 'ears. +e left this ,ob in vie! of the romisin% career offered b' Ra'theon.
+e started as a robationar' or temorar' emlo'ee and !as re%ulari-ed after a fe! months.
+is ma,or duties as Cost Accountin% &ana%er !ere to. /10 lan, coordinate and carr' out 'ear
and h'sical inventor'1 /20 formulate and issue out hard coies of 3tandard Product costin% and
other cost4ricin% anal'sis if needed and re5uired and /30 set u the !ritten Cost Accountin%
3'stem for the !hole coman'.
&ean!hile, Ra'theon lants and subsidiaries !orld!ide installed and used a standard cost
accountin% s'stem and it !as li6e!ise adoted in the Philiine oerations.
As a conse5uence, the services of a Cost Accountin% &ana%er alle%edl' entailed onl' the
submission of eriodic reorts that !ould use comuteri-ed forms rescribed and desi%ned b'
the international head office of the Ra'theon Coman' in California, 73A.
Januar' 2$, 19#9 8 Almodiel !as summoned b' his immediate boss and in the resence of (R9
&ana%er, he !as told of the abolition of his osition on the %round of redundanc'.
9esite his leadin%s, he !as told that the decision of mana%ement !as final and that the same
has been conve'ed to the 9eartment of Labor and :mlo'ment.
;hus, he filed a comlaint for ille%al dismissal before the Arbitration )ranch of the National
Caital Re%ion, NLRC, 9eartment of Labor and :mlo'ment.
;he Labor Arbiter rendered a decision orderin% the resondent to reinstate the comlainant !ith
full bac6!a%es and !ithout loss of seniorit' ri%hts and !ith the a!ard of P2<<,<<<.<< as moral
dama%es and P2<,<<<.<< as e*emlar' dama%es, !ith 1<= of the total a!ard as attorne'>s fees.
Ra'theon aealed on the %rounds that the Labor Arbiter committed %rave abuse of discretion in
den'in% its ri%hts to dismiss etitioner on the %round of redundanc',
NLRC reversed the decision and directed Ra'theon to a' etitioner the total sum of
P1<<,<<<.<< as searation a'4financial assistance.
+ence this aeal
ISSUE: ?hether bad faith, malice and irre%ularit' cret in the abolition of etitioner@s osition of Cost
Accountin% &ana%er on the %round of redundanc' /?hether there !as unla!ful discrimination0.
HELD: No.
DISPOSITIVE: Petition 9ismissed.
RATIO:
;ermination of an emlo'ee@s services because of redundanc' is %overned b' Article 2#3 of the
Labor Code
o Art. 283. Closure of establishment and reduction of personnel. A ;he emlo'er ma' also terminate the
emlo'ment of an' emlo'ee due to installation of labor8savin% devices, redundanc', retrenchment to revent
losses or the closin% or cessation of oeration of the establishment or underta6in% unless the closin% is for the
urose of circumventin% the rovisions of this ;itle, b' servin% a !ritten notice on the !or6er and the
9eartment of Labor and :mlo'ment at least one /10 month before the intended date thereof. (n case of
termination due to installation of labor8savin% devices or redundanc', the !or6er affected thereb' shall be
entitled to a searation a' e5uivalent to at least one /10 month a' for ever' 'ear of service, !hichever is
hi%her. (n case of retrenchment to revent losses and in cases of closure or cessation of oerations of
establishment or underta6in% not due to serious business losses or financial reverses, the searation a' shall
be e5uivalent to at least one /10 month a' or at least one8half /1420 month a' for ever' 'ear of service,
!hichever is hi%her. A fraction of at least si* /B0 months shall be considered as one /10 !hole 'ear.
;here is no disute that etitioner !as dul' advised, one /10 month before, of the termination of
his emlo'ment on the %round of redundanc' in a !ritten notice b' his immediate suerior, &rs.
&a%dalena ).9. Loe-. +e !as also issued a chec6 for PC4,#B3.<< reresentin% searation a'
but in vie! of his refusal to ac6no!led%e the notice and the chec6, the' !ere sent to him thru
re%istered mail on Januar' 3<, 19#9. A !ritten notice of termination !as lli6e!ise served to the
9eartment of Labor and :mlo'ment as rescribed b' the ertinent rovirions of the Labor
Code..
Petitioner alle%es that the functions of his osition !ere absorbed b' the Pa'roll4&is4Dinance
9eartment under the mana%ement of 9ann' An% ;an Chai, a resident alien !ithout an' !or6in%
ermit from the 9eartment of Labor and :mlo'ment as re5uired b' la!.
Resondent Ra'theon insists, ho!ever, that etitioner@s functions as Cost Accountin% &ana%er
had not been absorbed b' An% ;an Chai, a ermanent resident born in this countr'. (t claims to
have established belo! that An% ;an Chai did not dislace etitioner or absorb his functions and
duties as the' !ere occu'in% entirel' different and distinct ositions re5uirin% different sets of
e*ertise or 5ualifications.
;he 3ureme Court avers ho!ever that the issue of !hether etitioner@s functions as Cost
Accountin% &ana%er have been disensed !ith or merel' absorbed b' another is immaterial
because even if the functions of etitioner@s osition !ere merel' transferred, no malice or bad
faith can be imuted from said act.
;he fact that the functions of a osition !ere siml' added to the duties of another does not affect
the le%itimac' of the emlo'er@s ri%ht to abolish a osition !hen done in the normal e*ercise of its
rero%ative to adot sound business ractices in the mana%ement of its affairs.
A surve' of the decisions of the 3ureme Court rendered in Wiltshire File Co., Inc. v. NLRC,
International Macleod, Inc. v. Intermediate Appellate Court, Bondoc v. eople!s Ban" and #rust
Co. establishes that an emlo'er has no le%al obli%ation to 6ee more emlo'ees than are
necessar' for the oeration of its business.
&ore so, the 3ureme Court states that as etitioner>s osition !as mana%erial in character,
Ra'theon e*ercised a broad latitude in abolishin% his osition, because as reviousl' decided in
Coca8Cola )ottlers Phils., (nc. v. NLRC, et al., an emlo'er has a much !ider discretion in
terminatin% emlo'ment relationshi of mana%erial ersonnel comared to ran6 and file
emlo'ees because officers in such 6e' ositions erform not onl' functions !hich b' nature
re5uire the emlo'er@s full trust and confidence but also functions that sell the success or failure
of an enterrise.
;he 3C also did not find merit in the etitioner>s imutation of unla!ful discrimination !here he
avers that his osition !as absorbed b' 9ann' An% Chan% ;ai, a resident alien !ithout a !or6in%
ermit and that he is better 5ualified than said erson for that osition.
Article 4< of the Labor Code onl' re5uires an emlo'ment ermit for non8resident aliens. ;hus,
9ann' An% Chan% ;ai does not fall !ithin the ambit of this rovision. (t has been consistentl' held
that an ob,ection founded on the %round that one has better credentials over the aointee is
fro!ned uon so lon% as the latter ossesses the minimum 5ualifications for the osition.
(n the resent case, since etitioner does not alle%e that An% ;an Chai does not 5ualif' for the
osition, the Court cannot substitute its discretion and ,ud%ment for that !hich is clearl' and
e*clusivel' mana%ement rero%ative.