On January 25 1999, after the parties submitted their respective responsive
pleadings, the Court referred the petition to the CA,[15] in accordance with St.
Martin Funeral Homes v. National Labor Relations Commission.[16]
On September 14, 1999, the CA issued the herein assailed Decision
affirming the decision of the NLRC and lifting the TRO issued by this Court.
[17]
The CA held that petitioner is liable under Section 6, Rule I, Book III of the
POEA Rules and Regulations, to wit:
Section 6. Transfer of Accreditation. The accreditation of a principal or a
project may be transferred to another agency provided that transfer shall not
involve diminution of wages and benefits of workers.
The transferee agency in these instances shall comply with the
requirements for accreditation and shall assume full and complete responsibility
for all contractual obligations of the principals to its workers originally recruited
and processed by the former agency. Prior to the transfer of accreditation, the
Administration shall notify the previous agency and principal of such application.
It sustained the NLRC’s view that the time of the breach of contract in a case of a
valid accreditation is of no moment since the rules did not provide for a
qualification and petitioner’s Affidavit of Assumption of Responsibility dated July
31, 1996 stated that it is willing to assume any responsibility that may arise or may
have arisen with respect to workers recruited by JSCI. It added that while the
Supreme Court ruled in ABD Overseas Manpower Corporation v. National Labor
Relations Commission[18] that the rule on transfer of accreditation should not be
given a strict interpretation when the same interpretation would result to grave
injustice, said case is inapplicable here since the facts showed that petitioner
actively participated in the hearing of the present case and as such, it was given the
opportunity to deny its liability and present its defense.