G.R. No. 72572 . December 19, 1989.
SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION, petitioner, vs. THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, LABOR ARBITER LOLITO C. FULLEROS and ANTONIO MANGAMPO, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner San Miguel Corporation (SMC) filed an application for clearance to terminate the services of private respondent Antonio Mangampo, a warehouseman-cashier, on grounds of alleged misappropriation of company funds. The case was docketed as RAB Case No. 102-81. After proceedings where SMC and its counsel failed to appear at scheduled hearings, the hearing officer allowed SMC to submit its position paper. The Executive Labor Arbiter ultimately decided in favor of Mangampo, ordering his reinstatement with backwages and attorney’s fees.
SMC received the Labor Arbiter’s decision on July 18, 1984, and appealed to the NLRC. Respondent Mangampo moved to dismiss the appeal for being filed beyond the ten-day reglementary period, citing the post office stamp on the mailing envelope indicating it was mailed on August 6, 1984. SMC insisted it mailed the appeal on July 27, 1984, submitting a xerox copy of a registry receipt with a handwritten date to support its claim. The NLRC dismissed the appeal as untimely, giving more credence to the official post office stamp on the envelope than to the unauthenticated xerox copy of the receipt. SMC’s motion for reconsideration was denied.

ISSUE

Whether the NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion in dismissing SMC’s appeal for being filed out of time.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled that the NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion. Under Section 1, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court, the date of mailing of a pleading sent by registered mail is considered the date of filing, determinable from the post office stamp on the envelope or the registry receipt. However, these documents and the dates thereon must be duly authenticated. In this case, the NLRC correctly relied on the official post office stamp on the envelope, which was part of the records, showing mailing on August 6, 1984. This was nineteen days after SMC received the Labor Arbiter’s decision, making the appeal untimely. SMC’s submission of a mere xerox copy of a registry receipt with a handwritten date, without authentication, was insufficient to overcome the evidentiary weight of the official stamp.
Moreover, the Court found that even if the appeal was timely, SMC’s application for termination must fail. The alleged cause for dismissal—misappropriation of funds and loss of trust and confidence—was not supported by substantial evidence. The Labor Arbiter’s factual findings, which the Court generally respects, revealed a paucity of proof connecting Mangampo to the loss. Investigations failed to establish his complicity, and access to the safe was not exclusive to him. Dismissal cannot be based on mere conjectures. Therefore, the NLRC’s dismissal of the appeal was affirmed, and the Labor Arbiter’s decision was modified only to limit backwages to three years.