GR 96779; (November, 1993) (Digest)
G.R. No. 96779 November 10, 1993
PINE CITY EDUCATIONAL CENTER and EUGENIO BALTAO, petitioners, vs. THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (THIRD DIVISION) and DANGWA BENTREZ, ROLAND PICART, APOLLO RIBAYA, SR., RUPERTA RIBAYA, VIRGINIA BOADO, CECILIA EMOCLING, JANE BENTREZ, LEILA DOMINGUEZ, ROSE ANN BERMUDEZ and LUCIA CHAN, respondents.
FACTS
Private respondents were employed as probationary teachers by petitioner Pines City Educational Center. Except for Roland Picart and Lucia Chan, all private respondents signed fixed-term employment contracts. On March 31, 1989, petitioners notified private respondents that their contracts would not be renewed due to expiration and poor performance. Private respondents filed a complaint for illegal dismissal, alleging dismissal without cause and violation of due process, and that they were never informed in writing of the standards for regularization. Petitioners contended the separation was due to contract expiration and poor performance. The Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of private respondents, ordering their reinstatement and payment of full backwages. The National Labor Relations Commission affirmed this decision in toto.
ISSUE
Whether the National Labor Relations Commission committed grave abuse of discretion in affirming the Labor Arbiter’s decision that declared the dismissal of the private respondents illegal.
RULING
The petition is partly granted. The ruling of the National Labor Relations Commission is modified. For private respondents Dangwa Bentrez, Apollo Ribaya, Sr., Ruperta Ribaya, Virginia Boado, Cecilia Emocling, Jane Bentrez, Leila Dominguez, and Rose Ann Bermudez, who knowingly and voluntarily agreed upon fixed periods of employment, their services were lawfully terminated upon the expiration of their contracts. The NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion in ordering their reinstatement and payment of backwages. For private respondents Roland Picart and Lucia Chan, who did not sign fixed-term contracts, petitioners failed to prove the legality of their termination. As probationary employees dismissed for alleged poor performance without being informed of the reasonable standards for regularization, their dismissal was illegal. They are entitled to reinstatement and full backwages from the date of dismissal until actual reinstatement.