6/5/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly been encashed - which takes three banking days from the time they are presented for payment - the appeal bond was actually posted beyond the reglementary period for appeal. That being the case, the appeal was not perfected, and the labor arbiter's ruling attained finality. This position was sustained by the CA. Nonetheless, we find otherwise and rule that petitioner has complied with the requirements of the law with regard to the posting of the appeal bond. The posting of a bond for the perfection of an appeal from a decision of the labor arbiter is required under Article 228[98] of the Labor Code, which provides: ARTICLE 228. Appeal. — Decisions, awards, or orders of the Labor Arbiter are final and executory unless appealed to the Commission by any or both parties within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of such decisions, awards, or orders. xxxx In case of a judgment involving a monetary award, an appeal by the employer may be perfected only upon the posting of a cash or surety bond issued by a reputable bonding company duly accredited by the Commission in the amount equivalent to the monetary award in the judgment appealed from. (Emphases supplied) The requirement of an appeal bond is further emphasized in Section 6,[99] Rule VI of the 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure. This provision clarifies that damages and attorney's fees awarded by the labor arbiter shall not be included in the computation of the bond to be posted. In several pronouncements,[100] this Court has adopted a particular understanding of the word "only" in the phrase "an appeal by the employer may be perfected only upon the posting of a cash or surety bond." It has regarded the phrase as the legislative's unequivocal declaration that the posting of a cash or surety bond is the exclusive means by which an employer's appeal from a labor arbiter's decision may be perfected. The reason for the requirement was also enunciated by the Court in Viron Garments Manufacturing, Co., Inc. v. NLRC,[101] in which we said: The requirement that the employer post a cash or surety bond to perfect its/his appeal is apparently intended to assure the workers that if they prevail in the case, they will receive the money judgment in their favor upon the dismissal of the employer's appeal. It was intended to discourage employers from using an appeal to delay, or even evade, their obligation to satisfy their employees' just and lawful claims.[102] Proceeding from this rationale, the intention of the requirement is fulfilled when the employer is able to deposit with the NLRC an amount that is equivalent to the monetary award adjudged by the labor arbiter in the employee's favor, and that shall subsist until the final resolution of the appeal. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/60760 13/20