THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has ordered the Philippine National Bank (PNB) to compensate a former senior vice president, who had resigned after voicing his opposition to a joint venture the bank was about to enter in 1999.
In a decision dated December 11, 2019, the SC's Second Division, through Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, upheld the Court of Appeals (CA) decision and awarded Manuel C. Bulatao full back wages, inclusive of allowances and other benefits.
Bulatao was also awarded separation pay in lieu of reinstatement.
Associate Justices Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, Andres B. Reyes, Jr. and Amy C. Lazaro-Javier concurred in the decision, which denied the petition filed by PNB against Bulatao, a former senior vice president of the Information Technology Group of PNB, who was appointed in 1996.
In 1999, former PNB president Benjamin Palma Gil and a certain Samit Roy hosted a dinner meeting for PNB's IT staff to announce a joint venture agreement between the bank and Roy who announced that not all of the IT staff would be retained since everyone had to undergo an International Competitive Test as requisite for absorption.
Bulatao argued that the conduct of the test was a ploy to force IT personnel not supportive of the project to leave the bank.
He was one of those who objected to the joint venture because of the capital exposure of roughly PHP970 million on PNB's end. He subsequently filed his retirement letter.
After the deal did not materialize, Bulatao made a turnaround and alleged that the new board of PNB asked him to reconsider his decision to retire and instead join the management team. Because of this, Bulatao alleged that he went back to work in 2000 and withdrew his application for retirement.
Four days from the date of his memorandum, Bulatao received a call from the bank's Human Resource Division who informed him not to report for work in February 2000 as the board already accepted his resignation. He filed a complaint for illegal dismissal with the National Labor Relations Commission.
The SC upheld the CA which said Bulatao "properly relied" on the announcement by Gil and Samit that there would a retirement plan for those who would not be absorbed by the IT joint venture.
"(S)ince there was no actual retirement plan or scheme which Bulatao could be availed of, he correctly withdrew his application for retirement, although it was done for a different reason which was the supposed prodding for him to continue working for PNB," the court said.
The court noted that "Bulatao's withdrawal of his application for retirement left PNB without any application to accept or deny."(By Benjamin Pulta)
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