Strict Application of the Requisites for Perfection of Appeal

January 13, 2004NLRC MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 1-01-04FOR:All Presiding/Commissioners  Labor Arbiters (Reviewers)   SUBJECT:Strict Application of the Requisites for Perfection of Appeal The most recent amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the National Labor Relations Commission took effect on 18 March 2002, after its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. After more than a year of implementation of the said amendments, and notwithstanding the information dissemination conducted on the said Rules of Procedure, there appears to be utter disregard or non-compliance by the parties of the requisites for perfection of appeal. The number of appeals filed, which are irregular or not in conformity with the Rules on Appeals comprise about thirty percent (30%) of the pending cases before the Commission. In the case of Cuevas vs. Bais Steel Corporation, G.R. No. 142689, October 17, 2002, the Supreme Court held that: HSEcTC". . . It is doctrinally entrenched that appeal is not a constitutional right, but a mere statutory privilege. Hence, parties who seek to avail themselves of it must comply with the statutes or...