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 Excessively low compromise agreements are invalid — SC The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that compromise agreements and settlements that offer employees excessively low amounts are invalid. In a decision promulgated in May, the SC Second Division invalidated the compromise agreement between two companies and several illegally dismissed employees. The SC said the petitioners were 12 out of 35 employees earlier declared as illegally dismissed by the two companies. The court ordered the companies to pay the employees backwages and separation pay. According to the SC, the employees later agreed to receive settlement amounts ranging from 5.20% to 23.42% of the backwages and separation pay they were entitled. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) ruled that the agreements were invalid because the amounts given to the petitioners were unreasonable. However, the Court of Appeals found that the agreements were valid as they were voluntarily signed by the petitioners. This prompte...

Higher fines will prevent motorists from violating traffic rules, according to a Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) official. "Perhaps it is about time to raise the penalties on traffic violations to serve as a deterrent, to scare drivers who recklessly violate traffic rules,"  said lawyer Victor Maria Nuñez, director III for enforcement of the MMDA's Traffic Discipline Office. ✍️ via Inquirer  RELATED  VALID EXERCISE OF POLICE POWER: Requisites x x x" the overriding [p]urpose of the exercise of the power is to promote general welfare, public health and safety, among others. It is a measure, which by sheer necessity, the State exercises, even to the point of interfering with personal liberties or property rights in order to advance common good.            [T]o warrant such interference, two requisites must concur:        (a) the interests of the public generally, as [d]istinguished from those of a particular ...

  The breach of procurement regulations by public officials does not automatically result in a graft conviction, the Supreme Court ruled. In an 18-page decision promulgated on Aug. 7, 2024, the Supreme Court acquitted several officials of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) of charges under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act  The officials, members of the DCWD’s Pre-Bidding and Awards Committee-B, were accused of bypassing mandatory public bidding procedures by recommending Hydrock Wells Inc. for a water supply project through a negotiated contract, which was subsequently approved by the DCWD Board. According to the court, while some procurement procedures may have been bypassed, there was no evidence of bad faith or favoritism on the part of the petitioners. The petitioners also opted for a negotiated contract, believing it was a permissible exception due to the urgency of the project and the limited number of qualified bidders, the court noted. “It is imperative for...

The Supreme Court has penalized a judge for a seven-year delay in resolving a request for a writ of preliminary injunction (WPI) against a construction company accused of forcibly evicting stallholders from a market in Cainta, Rizal. In an 11-page decision promulgated on Aug. 12 and made public on Tuesday, the Supreme Court en banc found Presiding Judge Miguel Asuncion of the Antipolo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 99 guilty of gross neglect of duty. Asuncion was fined P201,000 . Voting 15-0, the Supreme Court affirmed the JIB’s ruling that Asuncion had failed to resolve the case within the three-month period mandated by Article VIII, Section 15 of the Constitution. “ Judge Asuncion’s seven-year delay is inexcusable considering that the prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction , by its nature, implies that it must be addressed urgently,” the high court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Paul Inting. Rejecting Asuncion’s argument that th...