GR 54247; (December, 1980) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-54247, December 19, 1980
Reynaldo A. Fabula, petitioner, vs. National Labor Relations Commission and R. Mechanical Dynamics, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Reynaldo A. Fabula received a copy of the Labor Arbiter’s decision dismissing his complaint against private respondent R. Mechanical Dynamics on October 16, 1978. He subsequently filed his appeal memorandum with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) on November 3, 1978. The private respondent moved to dismiss the appeal, and the NLRC, in a resolution dated May 30, 1980, granted the motion. The NLRC dismissed Fabula’s appeal for having been filed out of the reglementary period prescribed under Section 7, Rule XIII, Book V of the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Labor Code. Fabula then elevated the matter to the Supreme Court via a petition for certiorari.
ISSUE
The sole legal issue is whether or not the petitioner seasonably filed his appeal with the NLRC within the ten-day reglementary period.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioner, finding his appeal to have been timely filed. The Court’s legal logic centered on the proper computation of the appeal period, excluding non-working days. The reglementary period for appeal was ten calendar days. The petitioner received the Labor Arbiter’s decision on October 16, 1978, and filed his appeal on November 3, 1978, which appears to be eighteen calendar days later.
However, in computing the period, non-working days must be excluded. The Solicitor General, in a manifestation concurred with by NLRC Commissioners, meticulously accounted for the intervening non-working days: two Saturdays, two Sundays, and four public holidays (October 26 and 27 due to Typhoon Kading per a Memorandum Circular, and October 31 and November 1 for All Saints Day per a Presidential Proclamation). These eight non-working days, when deducted from the eighteen calendar days, leave only ten working days. Therefore, the appeal filed on November 3, 1978, was precisely on the tenth and last day of the reglementary period. The NLRC’s dismissal for tardiness was based on a clear error in computation. Consequently, the Supreme Court set aside the NLRC’s resolution and ordered the reinstatement of Fabula’s appeal for proper adjudication on the merits.