PSALM earmarks P3.7-B for dismissed NPC employees

By Myrna M. Velasco – December 7, 2020, 7:00 AM
from Manila Bulletin

The 17-year wait is finally over for the dismissed employees of state-run National Power Corporation (NPC), as the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) already allocated P3.702 billion for their payment-claims.

According to PSALM President Irene B. Garcia, the company included the claims of the NPC employees in its supplemental budget; and the total validated amount by the Commission on Audit (COA) stood at P3,702,467,434.55. The claims of back wages are anchored on the Drivers and Mechanics Association (DAMA) case of the NPC employees that was decided by the Supreme Court (SC) three years ago.

The PSALM chief executive qualified that the initial tranche for the DAMA claim-payments was already turned over to NPC since November 16 this year.

“PSALM’s role is to remit the funding to NPC. The task of releasing to the individual claimants is actually the role of NPC, because NPC is the employer and the one against whom the claims were made,” Garcia explained.

The original aggregate amount recognized in PSALM’s financial books had been for P8.40 billion – consisting of P4.70 billion principal and P3.70 billion in interest charges as of December 31, 2017. But the amount was reduced following COA’s review and validation.

The DAMA case covered the former NPC employees who were neither rehired by the NPC or absorbed by PSALM or the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) following the reorganization of the state-run power firm in 2003, as part of its privatization process and the restructuring of the entire electricity sector. These affected employees were also the petitioners in the DAMA case at the high court.

PSALM stated in a previous report that the settlement provision covers the NPC employees “subsequently employed in the private sector,” being the ones entitled to “full back wages.”

The company said the booked compensation package to the dismissed NPC employees reflected the resolution of the Supreme Court on the case dated November 21, 2017.

A regional trial court ruling seven years ago placed the total demand of the NPC employees at P62.051 billion, inclusive of 10-percent charging lien, lawful fees and costs of execution, but the high court verdict had done recalculation, taking into consideration PSALM’s argument that such settlement will impact heavily on its financial position.

At the latter part of 2014, the affected NPC employees even lodged a heftier claim of P82 billion against PSALM and NPC, after factoring interest charges over the years. PSALM is NPC’s successor-company, hence, it is the entity being nudged on the claims of the dismissed NPC employees.

In the decision penned by former SC Chief Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro three years ago, it was specified that “interest on the judgment award shall be computed as 12-percent per annum from October 8, 2008 until June 30, 2013, and 6.0-percent per annum from July 1, 2013 onwards.”

It was further stipulated that the judgment award in this case, shall accrue “after deducting the separation pay already received by the petitioners under the restructuring plan and the 10-percent charging lien.”

The high tribunal similarly ruled that “legal interest must not be imposed on attorney’s fees.”

The petitioner-former NPC employees were similarly directed “to file a claim against the government before the Commission on Audit, pursuant to its rules, which shall be resolved in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.”