Author name: Melissa Renee Mendiola

Facts On March 26, 2014, a drunk Marvin L. San Juan willfully, unlawfully and feloniously threatened the life of AAA, a fifteen year old child, by poking a gun at him without any justifiable cause. This act amounts to a crime, thereby subjecting the minor to psychological cruelty and emotional maltreatment. San Juan argued that he cannot be held liable for child abuse because the information did not allege, nor was his intention to debase, degrade, or demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of AAA proven in trial. ISSUE: Can the accused be held guilty of child abuse? With respect to the act of child abuse, Section 3(b) of R.A. No. 7610 provides: Ruling It is a general rule that if it is proved that the accused committed the unlawful act charged, it will be presumed that the act was done with a criminal intention, and that it is for the accused to rebut this presumption. However, there are certain crimes of which a specific intent to accomplish a particular purpose is an essential element. This specific intent was taken into consideration by this Court in the analysis of crimes involving violation of Section 3(b)(2) of R.A. No. 7610. Pointing a firearm towards a minor is intrinsically cruel. “Certainly, the term cruelty, in its common usage, simply means suffering that is excessive and unnecessary to the purpose to be achieved by an offender. An act that is accompanied by such a cruel act can easily be determined by the manner it was executed. It does not need an inquiry into the specific intent to debase, degrade or demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of the child, as being referred to under the Rules and Regulations of R.A. No. 7610. “ When the act itself is examined based on the inherent characteristic of the act itself and the manner of its execution, and it later turns out to be intrinsically cruel, there should be no need to look into the specific intent. Again, the term cruelty, when not qualified by the terms “to debase, degrade or demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of the child,” may still be utilized based on its common usage.

Facts Jonald O. Torreda (petitioner) was hired by Investment and Capital Corporation of the Philippines (respondent) on May 17, 2010 as an IT Senior Manager. He was tasked to supervise his team in the Information Technology (IT) Department and manage the IT-related projects. He reported to William M. Valtos, Jr. (Valtos), the Officer­ in-Charge of the IT Department and the Group President of the Financial Service of respondent. Sometime during his employment, he had a falling out with the senior management for its interference with the functions of the IT department. On January 5, 2012, petitioner went to the office of Valtos for a closed-door conference meeting supposedly regarding his IT projects. In said meeting, Valtos discussed another matter with petitioner and told him that if his performance were to be appraised at that time, Valtos would give him a failing grade because of the negative feedback from the senior management and the IT staff. The performance appraisal of petitioner, however, was not due until May 2012. Torreda was then gave petitioner a prepared resignation letter and asked him to sign; otherwise, the company would terminate him. The said letter indicated that the resignation of petitioner would be effective on February 4, 2012. Petitioner refused to sign the resignation letter but such refusal was not accepted. Thus, Valtos edited the resignation letter. Petitioner thought of leaving the room by making an excuse to go to the restroom, but Valtos and respondent’s legal counsel followed him.  Because of Valtos’ insistence, petitioner placed his initials in the resignation letter to show that the letter was not official. Valtos then accompanied petitioner to his room to gather his belongings and escorted him out of the building. Petitioner was not allowed to report for work anymore and his company e-mail address was deactivated.  Six (6) days after the incident, petitioner filed the instant complaint for illegal dismissal (constructive), moral and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees against respondent. For its part, respondent countered that petitioner was not illegally dismissed because he voluntarily resigned. Respondent stated that while Valtos admitted that he gave a resignation letter to petitioner on January 5, 2012, petitioner himself edited the letter to include courteous words and voluntarily signed the same. Valtos also admitted that the performance appraisal of petitioner was not due until May 2012.  Issue 1. Whether or not the resignation letter was voluntarily signed Respondent argues that since petitioner edited the resignation letter and added words of courtesy, it was improbable for him to involuntarily sign the letter. It further asserts that it was impossible to coerce petitioner to sign a prepared resignation letter because he had a managerial position and a high educational status.  These numerous facts and circumstances certainly contradict the voluntariness of petitioner’s resignation. Any reasonable person in the petitioner’s position would have felt compelled to give up his position. Assuming arguendo that petitioner edited the said letter and inserted words of courtesy, these are insufficient to prove the voluntariness of his resignation in light of the various circumstances which demonstrated that he did not have a choice in his forced resignation.

Facts Lingganay was hired by the respondents as a bus driver sometime in 2013. In October 2013, he figured in an accident while driving the company bus along Maharlika Hi-way in Brgy. Concepcion, Quezon Province.  On 30 December 2016, Lingganay was involved in another accident—this time, with a motorcycle. On 01 May 2017, Lingganay again figured in an accident as he crashed into the rear portion of a Toyota Wigo while driving the company bus along the San Juanico Bridge, Samar.  On 29 May 2017, respondents decided to terminate Lingganay from Employment for transgressing the company rules and regulations on health and safety, i.e. “Violation 8.1.4 – Any form of laxity, reckless driving, and gross negligence, resulting to damages to property, injuries, death, and other casualties.”  This prompted Lingganay to file a complaint for illegal dismissal with money claims against respondents.  The Labor Arbiter (LA) ruled in favor of the respondents and dismissed Lingganay’s complaint, which the NLRC affirmed. The Court of Appeals (CA) agreed with the labor tribunals that Lingganay was validly dismissed  as he repeatedly violated the Health and Safety Rules of the Company, and also on the ground of gross and habitual neglect of duties in accordance with Art. 282 of the Labor Code.  Lingganay insists that even if he was indeed negligent in the performance of his tasks, it was not shown that his negligence was both gross and habitual, since his past mishaps were merely minor.  Hence, this present petition for review on certiorari.  Issue Whether or not Lingganay was validly dismissed from employment.  Ruling YES. The Supreme Court  (SC) held that respondents validly terminated Lingganay from employment for transgressing the company rules and regulations on health and safety, and for his gross and habitual neglect of his duties under Art. 297(b) of the Labor Code.  Furthermore, the SC declared that even assuming arguendo that the employee’s gross negligence was not habitual, the element of habituality may be dispensed with in instances when the recklessness caused substantial damage or loss to the employer.  Here, the infraction of Lingganay when he crashed into the Toyota Wigo caused substantial damage to the car in the amount of Php99,000.00 and to the company bus amounting to Ph6,500. Respondents were compelled to pay the full amount of Php99,000 just to avoid any possible legal suit against the company. This damage was so substantial that respondents cannot be legally compelled to continue his employment. 

Doctrine: Insurers must not be allowed to delay the payment of claims by filing frivolous cases in court, hoping that the inevitable may be put off for years—or even decades—by the pendency of these unnecessary court cases Facts Romeo obtained an accident insurance policy from several insurance companies including Philam Life Insurance. One day, as he was coming out of the bathroom, Romeo tripped causing his right eye to hit the arm rest of a chair. He called out to his spouse, Luisa, who promptly rushed to his side Romeo was immediately brought to the clinic Dr. Villanueva. After a series of check-ups, he underwent an enucleation, a surgical procedure involving the removal of his right eye. On account of the surgery, he incurred medical expenses in the sum of PHP 31,060.00. Consequently, Romeo filed written notices of injury with the insurance companies. To his dismay, his claims were disapproved based on the joint affidavit of their former household helpers who denied the occurrence of the accident.  The disapproval of the claims prompted Romeo and Luisa (spouses Soriano) to lodge separate complaints before the RTC against the insurance companies for accident insurance proceeds, specific performance, damages, and attorney’s fees. toto togel During the trial, spouses Soriano presented themselves and Dr. Villanueva as witnesses. On the other hand, Philam Life proffered the testimony of the househelperand the medical opinion of Dr. Dr. Valenton, a credited physician of Philam Life. In due course, the RTC rendered its Judgment, dismissing the complaints based on the equipoise rule. Issue Whether or not the RTC erred in not granting Romeo the insurance proceeds? Ruling Yes. In civil cases, the quantum of evidence to be observed is preponderance of evidence. Preponderance of evidence means that the evidence adduced by one side is superior to or has greater weight than that of the other. It means that evidence which is more convincing to the Court as worthy of belief than that which is offered in opposition thereto.  Jurisprudence teaches that when the evidence of the parties are evenly balanced or when there is doubt on which side the evidence preponderates, the decision should be against the party with the burden of proof, according to the equipoise doctrine. Here, the RTC erred in applying the equipoise rule considering that the spouses Soriano were able to prove through preponderance of evidence that Romeo’s injury was caused by an accident, thus entitling him to the proceeds of the subject accident insurance policies. Their testimonies were sufficiently corroborated by the testimony of Dr. Villanueva, who clearly explained the findings he gathered in his examination of Romeo on January 29, 2001 or the day of the accident Determined to prove that Romeo was not entitled to the insurance benefits, PhilamLife raised Dr. Valenton ‘s medical opinion to controvert Dr. Villanueva’s testimony. It claims that Dr. Villanueva found no abrasion or hematoma. However, a perusal of Dr. Villanueva’s testimony plainly reveals that he “observed sub-conjunctival harmorhage, hemorrhage occuring in between the consubjunctival sclera of the eye. In contrast, Dr. Valenton, by his own admission, did not personally examine Romeo, but merely offered a different interpretation based on the findings made by Dr. Villanueva Hence, the Court ordered Philam Life, along with the other insurance companies, to pay jointly and severally actual damages or medical reimbursement to spouses Soriano in the amount of PHP 31,060.00 and the insurance proceeds for the permanent and irrecoverable loss of sight and of Romeo’s right eye.  In so ruling, the Court commiserated with the two-decade plight of spouses Soriano, surpassing the death of Romeo. Certainly, insurers must not be allowed to delay the payment of claims by filing frivolous cases in court, hoping that the inevitable may be put off for years—or even decades—by the pendency of these unnecessary court cases. They employ this period to benefit from collecting the interest and returns on both the premiums previously paid by the insured clients and the insurance proceeds which should otherwise go to their beneficiaries.  Philam Life’s deliberate delay in the payment of insurance proceeds and protracted litigation warrant the imposition of exemplary damages. This imposition serves as a warning to insurers or insurance companies of the consequences of unreasonably denying or delaying the payment of legitimate claims. Hence, aside from the insurance claim, Philam Life was also ordered to pay exemplary damages in the amount of PHP 50,000.00 with interest.

Doctrine: Employer’s insulting words and hostile behavior toward an employee constitutes constructive dismissal Facts: In 2009, Bartolome was hired by Toyota Q. Ave as a marketing professional trainee of its Vehicle Sales Department. He became a regular employee in 2010, tasked in selling of Toyota’s cars, products, and services.  On December 2015, Bartolome received a Notice of Decision for Habitual Absences for October 2015 and a Notice of Explanation for the same offense for November 2015. He also received a notice putting him on a 7-day suspension for  another offense.  A meeting was set by management for the purpose and Bartolome brought his sibling along, who was a lawyer. After the meeting, he thought that the matter was settled but then the president of the company, in another meeting, uttered remarks against him, especially for bringing his sibling along.  This began a series of incidents which lead Bartolome to resign: These series of events and the hostile working environment become unbearable for him to continue working, and thereafter, he resigned.  Even when he was processing his clearance, he was treated like a stranger. His last pay did not include his commissions and his 13th month pay. ISSUE: Was Bartolome constructively dismissed?  YES. The foregoing chain of events created a hostile working environment that made it impossible and unbearable for petitioner to continue working for TQAI. On this score, we emphasize that these events were not even refuted by respondents themselves. In weighing the argument of the parties, it is important to examine the evidence presented. As substantial evidence, or “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion,” the detailed series of events supported by documentary evidence of petitioner must be given credence over the general denial of the respondents. The uttered words of respondents against petitioner, contrary to the respondents’ allegation, are not self-serving statements. Here, petitioner’s account of the events which rendered his employment conditions unbearable, leaving him with no other choice but to resign, was “candid, straightforward[,] and categorical.” It came from matters of his own personal knowledge. It should not be brushed aside, more so since it was unrefuted by the other party and was even amply corroborated by documentary evidence. Verily, petitioner was constructively dismissed. Surely, the calculated and combined acts of his higher ups constitute acts of disdain and hostile behavior, supporting the conclusion that they were collectively easing out petitioner who consequently had no choice but leave his employment. This is constructive dismissal pure and simple. Though the labor arbiter found nothing extraordinary about the resignation letter as it did not exactly indicate a tone of anger nor some sense of ingratitude, the circumstance before the resignation would show that he did not contemplate nor had any intention of resigning from the company were it not for respondents’ hostile and disdainful actions. When he tried to process his clearance on April 21, 2016, he was treated like a “stranger-criminal” and subjected to undue harassment. Notably, the document titled “special release of claim and/or quitclaim” dated July 9, 2016, bore, beside his signature, the term “w/o prejudice.” It was an unequivocal reservation of his right to bring an action against respondents despite his execution thereof. Thus, merely 24 days after, on August 4, 2016, he filed a Complaint for illegal/constructive dismissal and money claims against respondents. Doubtless, his resignation was involuntary and bore a clear reservation to file an action against respondents. pay4d idn toto