G.R. No. 116404 March 20, 1997
FRANCISCO G. LUNA, et al., petitioners, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, LIONS SECURITY & SERVICES CORP. and GRANDEUR SECURITY AGENCY, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioners, security guards, filed a complaint for illegal dismissal and monetary claims against their employers. The Labor Arbiter rendered a decision on March 18, 1993, partially granting their wage differential claims but finding their dismissal proper. Petitioners appealed to the NLRC. The NLRC dismissed the appeal on May 3, 1994, for being filed out of time. It found that petitioners’ counsel received the Labor Arbiter’s decision on April 12, 1993, but the appeal was filed only on May 5, 1993, exceeding the 10-day reglementary period. The NLRC based this on a notation on the Notice of Judgment and the date stamped by its Docket Section upon receipt of the appeal fees.
Petitioners contested this, claiming their counsel received the decision on April 16, 1993, and filed the appeal memorandum via registered mail on April 26, 1993, the last day. They presented a registry return card and a stamped envelope as proof. The Solicitor General supported petitioners’ interpretation of the notation. The NLRC countered that even if the memorandum was mailed on April 26, the appeal was perfected only upon payment of the appeal fees, which the official receipt showed was done in cash on May 5, 1993.

ISSUE

Whether the NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion in dismissing petitioners’ appeal for having been filed out of time.

RULING

The Supreme Court held that the NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion. While the Court was inclined to agree that the appeal memorandum was likely filed on April 26, 1993, based on the stamped envelope, the records conclusively showed that the requisite appeal fees were paid only on May 5, 1993. This date was established by an official receipt indicating cash payment, a finding petitioners did not refute. Under the NLRC Rules, the perfection of an appeal requires both the filing of a memorandum of appeal and the payment of appeal fees within the reglementary period. The payment of appeal fees is a mandatory and jurisdictional requirement, not a mere technicality. Failure to pay on time renders the Labor Arbiter’s decision final and executory. Consequently, the NLRC correctly dismissed the appeal for being filed out of time. The petition was also dismissible for petitioners’ failure to file a motion for reconsideration before the NLRC, a condition precedent for a certiorari petition, as the issues involved were factual, not purely legal. The petition was dismissed.