Factual Findings of Labor Officials; Questions of Law
The power of the Court of Apeals to review NLRC decisions via a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 has been settled as early as our decision in St. Martin Funeral Home vs. NLRC (295 SCRA 494 [1998]). In said case, we held that the proper vehicle for such review is a Special Civil Action for Certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, and that the case should be filed in the Court of Appeals in strict observance of the doctrine of the hierarchy of courts.
Equally settled is the rule that factual findings of labor officials, who are deemed to have acquired expertise in matters within their jurisdiction, are generally accorded not only respect but even finality by the courts when supported by substantial evidence, i.e., the amount of relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to justify a conclusion. But these findings are not infallible. When there is a showing that they were arrived at arbitrarily or in disregard of the evidence on record, they may be examined by the courts.
Equally settled is the rule that factual findings of labor officials, who are deemed to have acquired expertise in matters within their jurisdiction, are generally accorded not only respect but even finality by the courts when supported by substantial evidence, i.e., the amount of relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to justify a conclusion. But these findings are not infallible. When there is a showing that they were arrived at arbitrarily or in disregard of the evidence on record, they may be examined by the courts.
