SC stops back payment of 18.5 B to Napocor employees

The Supreme Court (SC) has stopped the payment of 18.5 billion worth of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) and Amelioration Allowance (AA) sought by employees of the National Power Corporation (Napocor).

In a 44-page decision, the SC granted the peti-

tion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) as tribune of the people to overturn the orders issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (Branch 84) which directed the release of the amount representing the back payment of additional COLA and AA to Napocor personnel from July 1, 1989 to March 16, 1999.

“Wherefore, the Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition in G.R. Nos. 187257 and 187776 are granted. The Decision dated November 28, 2008, Joint Order dated March 20, 2009, and Writ of Execution dated March 23, 2009 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 84 in Civil Case No. Q-07-61728 are vacated and set aside,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen referring to the two petitions filed by the OSG.

With the ruling, the SC has made permanent the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) it issued on April 15, 2009 in favor of the OSG petition.

The SC pointed out “there was no legal basis to grant the back payment of additional COLA and AA to Napocor personnel from July 1, 1989 to March 16, 1999.”

The RTC issued the orders based on the petition for mandamus filed on December 28, 2007 by the Napocor Employees Consolidated Union (NECU) and the Napocor Employees and Workers Union (NEWU) which demanded that the Napocor pay the P8.5 billion COLA and AA.

The NECU and NEWU based their argument on the SC ruling on Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) Employees vs. the Commission on Audit (COA) where the High Tribunal declared the ineffectivity of the Department of Budget (DBM) circular in the implementation of Republic Act 6758 (Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989) from July 1, 1989 to March 16, 1999.

No basis However, the SC pointed out that “considering there was no diminution in the salaries and benefits of the Napocor employees upon the implementation of the New Compensation Plan, there was no basis for the Regional Trial Court to grant NECU and NEWU’s money claim.”

“To repeat, the indiscriminate grant of additional allowances would be tantamount to additional compensation, which is proscribed by Section 8, Article IX (B) of the Constitution,” the SC warned.

The High Court also said the RTC erred in issuing the orders and the writ since “money claims and judgments against the government must first be filed with the Commission on Audit.”

“Trial courts have already been strongly cautioned against the issuance of writs of executions in cases involving the disbursement of public funds in Supreme Court Administrative Circular No. 10-2000,” the SC stressed.

“The Regional Trial Court should have been more prudent in granting the immediate execution, considering that the execution of the judgment award involves the payment of almost 18.5 billion in public funds,” said the SC.