G.R. No. 175540 - Alano vs. Magud-Logmao

Bison Management Corporation (Bison) filed a Petition for Review under Rule 45 assailing the Court of Appeals (CA) Decision dated November 18, 2020 and Resolution dated May 25, 2021 in CA-G.R. SP No. 164083. The CA had affirmed the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) Decision dated September 30, 2019 and Resolution dated November 18, 2019, which had reversed the Labor Arbiter’s Decision dated July 22, 2019.
Supreme Court Amended Administrative Circular No. 83-2015 and Section 44 of Republic Act No. 11166 (Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act) were applied to protect the confidentiality of respondent AAA’s HIV-positive status.

Complainants AAA and Dale P. Pernito filed an amended complaint on March 1, 2019 for illegal dismissal, discrimination, non-payment of wages and benefits, attorney’s fees, damages, and legal interest against Bison (the recruitment agency), Belen M. Al-Humayed (Bison’s president), and Saraya Al Jazerah Contracting Est. (the foreign recruiter).
AAA was hired in 2017 as a Cleaning Laborer under a two-year contract with a monthly salary of SR 1,500.00, deployed to Saudi Arabia on October 18, 2017. After fifteen months, a January 2019 medical exam revealed he was HIV-positive; his employment was terminated under Saudi law and he was repatriated on February 8, 2019.
Pernito was hired in 2018 as a Restaurant Worker under a similar contract, deployed on March 29, 2018. After about nine months, he was allegedly terminated for voluntarily resigning to join family in Bahrain—a claim he denied—and was repatriated on January 23, 2019.

The complaint for illegal dismissal was dismissed for lack of merit.
AAA was awarded unpaid salary (January 26–February 7, 2019), vacation leave pay, and 10% attorney’s fees; other claims were denied. The Arbiter upheld Saudi Arabia’s policy barring HIV-positive workers as a valid state prerogative.
Pernito was held to have voluntarily resigned based on a self-serving email from his foreign employer; his delay in filing (37 days) was also criticized.

On partial appeal, the NLRC reversed and set aside the Labor Arbiter’s Decision, declaring both AAA and Pernito illegally dismissed.
Awards for AAA: unexpired contract salary (SR 12,510.00), unpaid salary (SR 762.53), vacation leave (SR 2,423.08), moral damages (₱50,000.00), exemplary damages (₱50,000.00), attorney’s fees (10%), plus 6% interest from finality.
Awards for Pernito: unexpired contract salary (SR 21,450.00), vacation leave (SR 2,423.08), moral damages (₱50,000.00), exemplary damages (₱50,000.00), attorney’s fees (10%), plus 6% interest.
Motion for reconsideration was denied on November 18, 2019.

The CA denied Bison’s petition for certiorari, finding no grave abuse of discretion in the NLRC’s rulings.
On AAA, the CA held Philippine law governs under the lex loci contractus principle and cited RA 8504 sec. 35 (now RA 11166 sec. 49(a)) prohibiting dismissal based on HIV status.
On Pernito, the CA found Bison failed to prove valid dismissal; the employer’s email was self-serving and lacked detail.
The CA denied Bison’s motion for reconsideration on May 25, 2021.

Whether the CA erred in upholding the NLRC’s finding that Pernito was illegally dismissed despite the employer’s claim of voluntary resignation.
Whether the CA erred in applying the principle of lex loci contractus rather than pacta sunt servanda in determining the legality of AAA’s dismissal on account of HIV status.