JMM Promotions and Management, Inc., Petitioner vs.

National Labor Relations

Commission (NLRC) and Ulpiano L. Delos Santos, Respondents.
G.R. No. 109835, November 22, 1993

Facts:

 Following Secs. 4 and 17, Rule II, Book II of the POEA Rules, the petitioner, a recruiting
agency, made the following:
- Paid the license fee (Sec. 4)
- Posted a cash bond of 100k and surety bond of 50k(Sec. 4)
- Placed money in escrow worth 200k (Sec. 17)
 The petitioner wanted to appeal a decision of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) to the respondent NLRC, but the latter dismissed the appeal
because of failure of the petitioner to post an appeal bond required by Sec. 6, Rule V,
Book VII of the POEA Rules. The decision being appealed involved a monetary award.
The petitioner contended that its payment of a license fee, posting of cash bond and surety
bond, and placement of money in escrow are enough; posting an appeal bond is unnecessary
 According to Sec. 4, the bonds are posted to answer for all valid and legal claims
arising from violations of the conditions for the grant and use of the license, and/or
accreditation and contracts of employment.
 According to Sec. 17, the escrow shall answer for valid and legal claims of recruited
workers as a result of recruitment violations or money claims.
 Sec. 6 reads:
“In case the decision of the Administration involves a monetary award, an appeal by
the employer shall be perfected only upon the posting of a cash or surety bond…”
- The bonds required here are different from the bonds required in Sec. 4.
Issue:
Whether or not petitioner is still required to post an appeal bond even after posting a cash
and surety bond of P150,000.00 and placing an escrow money of P200,000.00 as required
by POEA rules to perfect the appeal from a decision of POEA to NLRC?
Decision:
Yes. POEA rules are clear. In addition to the cash and surety bond, and the escrow money
fund, there should be also an amount equivalent to the monetary award to perfect the
appeal.
- In the POEA Rules, the bonds required in Sec. 4 Rule 2, Book 2 and the escrow
required in Sec. 17 Rule 2, Book 2 have different purposes from the appeal
bond required in Sec. 6, Rule 5 Book 7.

An appeal bond is intended to further insure payment of the monetary award in favor of the
employee if it is eventually affirmed on appeal to the NLRC.
It is possible for the monetary award in favor of the employee to exceed the amount of
350,000 which is the sum of the bonds and escrow money required of the recruiter.
 - Overseas recruiters are subject to more stringent requirements because of the
special risks to which workers abroad are subjected by their foreign employers
against whom there is usually no direct or effective recourse.

PRINCIPLE:

 In legal hermeneutics, caution should be taken that every part thereof be given effect
on the theory that it was enacted as an integrated measure and not as a hodge-
podge of conflicting provisions.
- Under the petitioner's interpretation, the appeal bond required by Section 6 of the
POEA rule should be disregarded because of the earlier bonds and escrow fund.

 The Court ruled that it is not a redundancy, but rather a complement between
Section 6, Section 4 and Section 17.
Ut res magis valeat quam pereat. (It is better for a thing to have effect than to be made void.)

 The rule is that a construction that would render a provision inoperative should be
avoided; instead, apparently inconsistent provisions should be reconciled
whenever possible as parts of a coordinated and harmonious whole.

Application: The monetary obligations of the overseas recruiter prescribed in Section

4, Rule II of Book II of POEA Rules and the escrow agreement under Section 17 of
the same rule, it is necessary to post the appeal bond required under Section 6, Rule
V of Book VII of the POEA Rules as a condition for perfecting appeal from decision of
POEA.