High Court rules for whistleblower

CEBU, Philippines - The Supreme Court has granted nominal damages to the late Ananias Dy after it found that the controversial whistleblower was not afforded due process when he was dismissed from his work in 2000.

Dy was put on the spotlight when he and former co-employee Bernard Liu accused their boss Peter Lim and the latter’s brother Wellington of involvement into the illegal drugs trade. Lim is also a party in the labor case.

In a decision promulgated last February 2, the Supreme Court Second Division through Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, affirmed earlier decisions of the National Labor Relations Commission and the Court of Appeals that found Dy’s dismissal from Hilton Heavy Equipment Corporation without due process.

Although the high tribunal sustained the findings that the dismissal was with just and valid cause, it said that Dy should have been given due process. The Supreme Court said that Hilton Heavy Equipment Corporation and Lim, its president, should pay the nominal damages.

The bad news for Dy and his heirs, however, is that they would no longer receive additional amount because the court considered the P120,000 separation pay Dy had received before his death to be more than enough .

“The amount of P120,000 previously given by petitioners  Hilton Heavy Equipment Corporation and Peter Lim to respondent Ananias P. Dy constitutes the award of nominal damages. Although the amount of P120,000 exceeds the P30,000 normally given in similar cases, the excess paid by  Hilton Heavy Equipment Corporation and Peter Lim may be retained by  Ananias P. Dy as voluntary and discretionary gratuity,” the decision reads.

The case stemmed from a petition for review filed by  Lim and his company assailing an appellate court decision promulgated on May 30, 2003, as well as the resolution promulgated on August 6, 2004 that partly granted the petition filed by Dy and ruled that the latter was dismissed for just cause, but was not entitled to reinstatement and separation pay.

The appellate court ordered Lim and his company to pay Dy back wages from the time of Dy’s termination on May 19 2000 up to the time of the finality of the decision less the amount of P120,000, which Dy received as separation pay.

The petitioner alleged that the appellate court committed an irreversible error in ordering them to pay Dy his back wages. The petitioners’ contention was sustained by the high tribunal. The high court, however, affirmed the award of nominal damages to Dy but credited it to the separation pay he previously received.

Dy was dismissed as Lim’s personal bodyguard after he allegedly mauled an employee of the company. He and Liu later testified against the Lim brothers.

Dy was killed in an ambush in July 2006 by two unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen in barangay Labangon, Cebu City. The case remains unsolved. – Fred P. Languido/JMO (THE FREEMAN)