G.R. No. 211228 , November 12, 2014
UNIVERSITY OF PANGASINAN, INC., CESAR DUQUE/JUAN LLAMAS AMOR/DOMINADOR REYES, Petitioners, vs. FLORENTINO FERNANDEZ and HEIRS OF NILDA FERNANDEZ, Respondents.

FACTS

Florentino Fernandez and his wife Nilda Fernandez, faculty members of University of Pangasinan, Inc. (UPI), were dismissed on May 9, 2000. They filed a complaint for illegal dismissal. Labor Arbiter Rolando D. Gambito, in a Decision dated November 6, 2000, ruled they were illegally dismissed and awarded them backwages from May 9, 2000 to November 6, 2000, separation pay, and attorney’s fees, totaling Php 756,502.47. The NLRC initially affirmed but later reversed this decision. The respondents filed a Petition for Certiorari with the Court of Appeals, which on September 13, 2004, reinstated Labor Arbiter Gambito’s decision. UPI’s appeal to the Supreme Court was denied, and an Entry of Judgment was issued declaring the Resolution final and executory as of July 11, 2005. Subsequently, the respondents moved for a re-computation of their award to include backwages and benefits up to the finality of the decision on July 11, 2005. Labor Arbiter Luis D. Flores, in an Order dated August 22, 2006, approved an updated computation amounting to Php 2,165,467.02. The petitioners appealed to the NLRC, which granted the appeal and set aside LA Flores’s order. The respondents then filed a Petition for Certiorari with the Court of Appeals.

ISSUE

Whether the recomputation of backwages and separation pay from the date of illegal dismissal (May 9, 2000) up to the date of finality of the Supreme Court’s Resolution (July 11, 2005) is proper, and whether legal interest should be imposed on the monetary awards.

RULING

Yes. The Court of Appeals granted the petition, reversing the NLRC and reinstating LA Flores’s Order dated August 22, 2006. The CA ruled that the recomputation was proper as backwages in illegal dismissal cases should be computed from the time of dismissal until the finality of the decision. The doctrine of immutability of judgment does not apply to the computation aspect, which is a mere mathematical consequence of the delay in execution. The CA ordered the petitioners to pay: 1) backwages from May 9, 2000 to July 11, 2005; 2) separation pay computed from the respondents’ first day of employment up to July 11, 2005 at one month pay per year of service; 3) attorney’s fees of Php 20,000.00; and 4) legal interest of twelve percent (12%) per annum on the total monetary awards from July 11, 2005 until full satisfaction. The Labor Arbiter was ordered to make another recomputation according to these directives.