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MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals on Friday temporarily stopped the awarding of more than P400 million to 130 geothermal power firm employees who, a voluntary arbitrator ruled, were illegally dismissed after their employer transferred them to another company in 2012.
The court’s 11th Division, composed of Justices Nina Antonio-Valenzuela, Vicente Veloso and Jane Aurora Lantion, granted Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings Inc.’s appeal for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the award of P408,442,505.32 in total separation pay to its transferred employees.
In a five-page resolution written by Valenzuela, the appeals court said Chevron might suffer a grave injustice and irreparable injury if the award pushes through while the arbiter’s decision was on appeal.
The payment of the P408 million might also undermine the company’s economic viability and imperil the continued operation of its two geothermal plants in Tiwi, Albay, and Makban, on the Laguna-Batangas border, resulting in brownouts in Luzon, including Metro Manila, the justices said.
Chevron, a wholly-owned subsidiary of an American multinational energy corporation of the same name, began operating in the Philippines in 1972. Complying with the government policy to create a Philippine company to operate the steam fields, Chevron entered into a partnership with Allfirst Equity Holdings Inc. via the Philippine Geothermal Production Co. Inc. (PGPC).
The court required Chevron to post a P10-million cash bond and ordered the lawyers of the company and the respondents, Philippine Geothermal Inc. Employees Union (PGIEU), to appear in a hearing on Feb. 5 to present evidence regarding Chevron’s plea for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction.
“The TRO really came as a surprise to the union considering that there is a pending matter regarding the raffle of the case to another division as requested by the company,” PGIEU counsel Samson Alcantara told the INQUIRER.
Alcantara showed a copy of a resolution he received from the 11th Division dated Jan. 10 that he received last Wednesday, ordering him to comment within 10 days on the “urgent motion for a special re-raffle” that was filed by Chevron.
Chevron filed a petition for review of the decision of voluntary arbitrator Orlalyn Suarez-Fetesio in the Court of Appeals in July last year. The case was originally handled by the 8th Division but the company filed a motion for a re-raffle shortly after one of the division justices, Rosalinda Asuncion-Vicente, retired in November last year.
The 8th Division did not issue a TRO so Fetesio issued a writ of execution to collect the P408 million from the Makati City-based Chevron on Dec. 5, 2013.
The case stemmed from a labor case filed by the PGIEU in December 2012 questioning Chevron’s transfer of its employees to the jurisdiction of the new company, PGPC, in April the same year.
The PGIEU members, claiming that PGPC was a separate and distinct company, demanded termination/separation benefits due them under their collective bargaining agreement with Chevron, which, they said, had effectively ceased operations.
During the arbitration hearings, Chevron claimed the transfer of the employees was authorized by its CBA and was a valid exercise of management. The company added that no termination took place and the benefits enjoyed by the employees shall continue under the new company.
Ruling in favor of PGIEU in April last year, Fetesio said what happened to the employees was a termination since PGCP was a new and distinct company from Chevron.
Alcantara said the benefits, adjusted with interest, stood at around P457 million as of September last year.
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