MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:05 p.m.) — The National Labor Relations Commission has ordered the publisher of the Daily Tribune to pay a former reporter who resigned in October 2022 his pro-rated 13th month pay, saying it is a matter of right and is guaranteed by the law.
According to the March 27 NLRC decision, publisher Concept Information Group Inc. — which did not attend the arbitration hearings — must also pay former reporter Gabriel John Villegas attorney's fees of 10% of the awarded payment.
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Villegas had resigned from the company after its alleged failure to pay government premium contributions that had been deducted from his salary but had not been remitted, an issue not covered by the arbitration case.
"In the demand for the payment of 13th-month pay, which Presidential Decree No. 851 mandates be given to employees as a matter of right, it is obvious that respondents never refuted the claim or presented any proof of its payment," NLRC said in granting Villegas' claim for payment.
Under the law, employees are entitled to one-twelfth of their annual basic salary and should receive the 13th-month pay no later than December 24 of each year.
The commission, however, ruled that Villegas was not entitled to moral and exemplary damages because he "did not establish by convincing evidence that respondents were motivated by bad faith and ill motive."
Villegas was represented at the NLRC by lawyer Noel Neri of the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center.
In an online exchange, Villegas told Philstar.com that his former employer has started remitting some of the deductions from his salary to government financial institutions as required by law. Employers deduct portions of employees' salaries and are supposed to remit those to the Social Security System, Pag-IBIG Fund and Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
Many journalists and media workers in the Philippines endure low pay and poor working conditions. Sen. Raffy Tulfo, a former broadcaster, pointed out in the explanatory note for a proposed Media Workers Welfare bill that would set pay standards in the industry that "sadly, those responsible [to provide news to the public] are also the ones whose labor rights are habitually neglected."
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