FORMER workers of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) who lost their jobs when LRT Line 1 was privatized in 2014 won their P39.22 million claim for unpaid separation pay.
The Commission on Audit en banc ordered the LRTA to pay the claim of the employees’ group represented by Esperanza Flores, Nelmer Espinosa, Roberto Soler, Prospero Parde Jr., and George Deguia.
Records showed that the claimant workers were displaced when the operations and maintenance of LRT Line 1 was privatized by way of concession to the Light Rail Manila Corp., with the LRTA and the then Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC, now DOTr) acting as grantors.
However, citing uncertainty regarding the applicability of the provisions of Security of Tenure of Civil Service Officers Law (RA 6656), the affected employees failed to collect separation benefits from their former employer although the Concession Agreement dated October 2, 2014 stated that “any retirement or severance payments due to transferring employees shall be the responsibility of the grantors.”
The claimants actually sought payment in the sum of P58,375,083.53 plus attorney’s fees equivalent to 10 percent of the total award.
In granting the petition, the COA en banc said privatization is a form of reorganization that entitles the claimant workers to separation benefits.
“There is no dispute that the petitioners are former employees of LRTA as evidenced by their service records and certificates of employment,” the commission pointed out.
However, it noted the absence of a breakdown of the total amount being claimed to enable auditors to ascertain the entitlement of each worker.
Based on the computation of the audit team leader, the separation pay, applying RA 6656, is equivalent to one month’s salary for every year of service.
“Thus, the recomputed amount of separation pay should be P39,218,953.50. As to ancillary claims for the payment of attorney’s fee, this claim is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The claim is unliquidated and beyond the powers of this Commission to adjudicate,” the COA said.
