SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 232850. January 22, 2018.]
HARBOUR CENTRE PORT TERMINAL, INC., REGHIS M. ROMERO II, AND REYMOND BULAY, petitioners, vs. RICKY G. GONZAGA, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 22 January 2018 which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 232850 (Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc., Reghis M. Romero II, and Reymond Bulay v. Ricky G. Gonzaga)
After a judicious study of the case, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition and AFFIRM the August 11, 2016 Decision 1 and July 12, 2017 Resolution 2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 143202 for failure of petitioners Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc., Reghis M. Romero II, and Reymond Bulay (petitioners) to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in finding that respondent Ricky G. Gonzaga (respondent) was constructively dismissed from employment.
As correctly ruled by the CA, the National Labor Relations Commission's (NLRC) finding that respondent was constructively dismissed is supported by substantial evidence. Constructive dismissal exists when there is cessation of work because continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely, as an offer involving a demotion in rank or a diminution in pay and other benefits. 3 In this case, the NLRC found that the offer to pay separation pay in lieu of respondent's voluntary resignation or his transfer to another company, which offer he refused via e-mail, coupled with the unjustified taking of the company car issued to him as an employment benefit pursuant to a company policy, amounts to constructive dismissal. Settled is the rule that factual findings of quasi-judicial bodies such as the NLRC, when supported by substantial evidence, are accorded great respect and even finality. 4 Absent any showing that these were arrived at arbitrarily or in utter disregard of the evidence on record, the Court must uphold the NLRC's factual findings, 5 as the CA did in this case.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
By:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 9-22. Penned by Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob with Associate Justices Ricardo R. Rosario and Edwin D. Sorongan concurring.
2.Id. at 88-96.
3.Central Azucarera de Bais, Inc. v. Siason, 765 Phil. 399, 407 (2015).
4. See P.J. Lhullier, Inc. v. Velayo, 746 Phil. 781, 788 (2014).
5. See Marlow Navigation Philippines, Inc. v. Heirs of Ganal, G.R. No. 220168, June 7, 2017.