Source: DIRECT FROM THE LABOR FRONT By Atty Josephus Jimenez

Of the many articles of impeachment, there are none that directly emanates from the labor front. But, with all due respect, and with malice towards none, if we talk of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, as impeachable offenses, then we would humbly submit that delaying a labor case, and supposedly reopening a case where an entry of judgment has already been made, allegedly based on a mere letter of counsel,mightindeed constitute a serious betrayal and violation. All of us well-meaning Filipinos who love our country and respect our fundamental law owe it to ourselves and to our future generations to stand up and indict those who cause and abet these aberrations.

In our past columns, we have written about undue, unreasonable and inexplicable delays. We have called attention to them, pointed out their pernicious effects, the multiple damages they inflict both on employers and employees, but most of all, on the employees. We cited actual cases, noted the dates of the promulgation of decisions and counted the number of years from the dates of their respective filing before the Labor Arbiters and Regional Offices of DOLE and the National labor Relations Commission up to their elevation to the Commission, their recourses to the Court of Appeals, and ultimately to the Supreme Court.

We studied hundreds if not thousands of cases and traced their respective long and tediousjourney, from the filing of the complaint to the submission of position papers, to the promulgation of Decisions, and the issuance of correspondingResolutions of Motions For Reconsideration. Without necessarily looking at the merits and the substance of the cases, we have taken notice of how long a case lasts in the Highest Court, from the time of filing of the petition to the time of promulgation of its decision. We have also taken a look at how long does a ponente dispose of a Motion For Reconsideration that are usually denied, after all.

Our findings and conclusions would constitute a serious ground to complain. It is our humble view, with all due respect again, that since the High Court is not a trier of facts but only a resolver of pure questions of law, it would not require too much time for Court review personnel to draft a Decision affirming, or reversing, without too much elucidation, matters of facts that have been repeatedly delved into by the Arbiter, the NLRC Commissioners and the appellate justices. The last two are collegiate bodies that have expectedly already resolved the issues extensively and rather lengthily.

The Supreme Court is divided into three Divisions with five Justices each. Each justice is assigned a number of case load, but everyone of His and Her Honor are being assisted with many personnel, technical, administrative and clerical staff, who all help liquidate the backlog. There have been a lot of Justices who made names in their utmost efficiency and speed in case resolution. That means, speedy, expeditious and inexpensive justice, as mandated by the Labor Code, are not that elusive, much less impossible to achieve. They can be done, as had been done in the past. It only needs leadership, system and a strict enforcement of deadlines.

The Chief Justice, as the over-all leader of the Highest Court and of the entire Judiciary is vested with enough authority to discipline judges for undue delay in the resolution of cases. There have been many judges in the past who were charged administratively and found guilty of gross negligence. This measure of strict discipline, and again, we are sorry to say this, albeit without malice, should be imposed on the highest court of the land as well, and even with more severity and strictness. For, as the Good Book says, to whom much more has been given, much more is also expected.

Delay is the yoke that kills the faith of the workers in our justice system, and in the government as a whole. Delay means spendingmoney of the poor laboring class. Delay means long andmuch suffering by the family victims of illegal dismissals, unfair labor practices and multiple violations of labor rights. Delay means injustice. As Senator-Juror Miriam Defensor Santiago would stress in the Impeachment Court, that hackneyed, but apropos cliche: JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED. We submit, with due respect, thatit is tantamount to a blatant andculpable violation of the Constitution and an unforgivablebetrayal of public trust.

Source : http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=774599&publicationSubCategoryId=109