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the minimum employment period clause.[29] Notably, she committed to abide thereby
in exchange for the expenses incurred by the company for her training as Network
Engineer. As correctly ruled by the NLRC:
There is basis to [petitioners'] claim that [respondent] is "liable to pay the
employment bond, in the sum of Eighty Thousand Pesos (P80,000.00)".
[Respondent] did not dispute the Minimum Employment Length provision in
her contract which reads :
xxx xxx xxx
Except for claiming that the matter of refund was raised for the first time on
appeal, (respondent] did not dispute the existence and validity of
such provision in her employment contract, a contract which she
voluntarily entered into, fully understanding its meaning and
repercussions . It should be stated that contrary to [respondent's]
argument, this claim was already ventilated in the proceedings before the
Labor Arbiter, as stated in their Position Paper.[30] (emphasis supplied)
Surely, while petitioners are liable to respondent for her illegal suspension and unpaid
money claims , respondent, too, is liable to petitioners for payment of the "employment
bond." As such, the NLRC correctly ordered the offsetting of their respective money
claims against each other. To rule otherwise would be "to sanction split jurisdiction,
which is prejudicial to the orderly administration of justice."[31]
So must it be.
ACCORDINGLY, the petition is GRANTED. The Decision dated July 8, 2015 and
Resolution dated January 12, 2016 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 134623
are REVERSED and SET ASIDE, and the Resolution of the National Labor Relations
Commission dated October 21, 2013 in NLRC NCR CN. 09-14294-11 and NLRC LAC NO.
11-003168-12 , REINSTATED.
SO ORDERED.
Peralta, C.J., (Chairperson), Caguioa, Reyes, J., Jr. and Lopez, JJ., concur.
[1] Penned by Associate Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpio with Associate Justices Francisco P
. Acosta and Victoria Isabel A. Paredes, concurring , rollo, pp. 27-34.
[2] Rollo, pp. 36-37.
[3] Id. at 207.
[4] Id. at 39 .
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