G.R. No. 156029 November 14, 2008
Santosa B. Datuman, petitioner, vs. First Cosmopolitan Manpower and Promotion Services, Inc., respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Santosa B. Datuman was recruited by respondent First Cosmopolitan Manpower & Promotion Services, Inc. in 1989 for overseas employment in Bahrain as a saleslady with a basic monthly salary of US$370.00 under a one-year contract approved by the POEA. Upon arrival, her foreign employer took her passport and she was forced to work as a domestic helper with a salary of only BD40.00 (approx. US$100.00). On September 1, 1989, she was compelled to sign another contract transferring her to another employer as a housemaid with the same low salary for two years. She worked without compensation from September 1991 to April 1993. She returned to the Philippines in May 1993. In May 1995, she filed a complaint with the POEA and subsequently with the NLRC for underpayment and nonpayment of salary, vacation leave pay, and refund of plane fare. The Labor Arbiter found respondent liable for violating the employment contract and ordered payment of salary differentials (US$4,050.00 for 15 months) and refund of plane ticket (BD180.00). The NLRC modified the decision, reducing the salary differential award to US$2,970.00, ruling that claims accruing earlier than April 1993 had prescribed. The Court of Appeals reversed the NLRC and Labor Arbiter, dismissing the complaint.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the decisions of the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC and in dismissing petitioner’s complaint.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the NLRC Decision with modification. The Court held that the three-year prescriptive period for filing money claims is counted from the date of separation from employment. Petitioner’s cause of action accrued upon her return to the Philippines in May 1993, and her complaint filed in May 1995 was well within the prescriptive period. The Court found respondent jointly and solidarily liable with the foreign employer for violations of the POEA-approved contract, including underpayment of wages and illegal contract substitution. The NLRC correctly computed the salary differential based on the approved salary rate (US$370.00) versus the amount received (US$100.00) for the un-prescribed period. The award of US$2,970.00 as salary differentials and BD180.00 as refund for plane ticket was affirmed.