THIRD
DIVISION
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SAN MIGUEL
CORPORATION EMPLOYEES UNION–PHILIPPINE TRANSPORT AND GENERAL WORKERS
ORGANIZATION (SMCEU–PTGWO), Petitioner, -
versus - SAN MIGUEL PACKAGING PRODUCTS
EMPLOYEES UNION–PAMBANSANG DIWA NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO (SMPPEU–PDMP), Respondent.[1] |
|
G.R. No. 171153 Present: YNARES-SANTIAGO, J., Chairperson, AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ, CHICO-NAZARIO, NACHURA,
and REYES,
JJ. Promulgated: September 12, 2007 |
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D
E C I S I O N
CHICO-NAZARIO, J.:
In this Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Revised
Rules of Court, petitioner SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION EMPLOYEES UNION-PHILIPPINE TRANSPORT AND GENERAL
WORKERS ORGANIZATION (SMCEU-PTGWO) prays that this Court reverse and
set aside the (a) Decision[2]
dated 9 March 2005 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 66200, affirming the
Decision[3]
dated 19 February 2001 of the Bureau of
Labor Relations (BLR) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) which
upheld the Certificate of Registration of respondent SAN MIGUEL PACKAGING PRODUCTS
EMPLOYEES UNION–PAMBANSANG DIWA NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO (SMPPEU–PDMP); and (b) the Resolution[4]
dated
The
following are the antecedent facts:
Petitioner is the incumbent bargaining
agent for the bargaining unit comprised of the regular monthly-paid rank and file
employees of the three divisions of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), namely, the
San Miguel Corporate Staff Unit (SMCSU), San Miguel Brewing Philippines (SMBP),
and the San Miguel Packaging Products (SMPP), in all offices and plants of SMC,
including the Metal Closure and Lithography Plant in Laguna. It had been the certified bargaining agent for
20 years – from 1987 to 1997.
Respondent is registered as a chapter
of Pambansang Diwa ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PDMP). PDMP issued Charter Certificate No. 112 to
respondent on
On
On
As
a chartered local union, appellant is not required to submit the number of
employees and names of all its members comprising at least 20% of the employees
in the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate. Thus, the revocation of its
registration based on non-compliance with the 20% membership requirement does
not have any basis in the rules.
Further, although PDMP
is considered as a trade union center, it is a holder of Registration
Certificate No. FED-11558-LC issued by the BLR on 14 February 1991, which
bestowed upon it the status of a legitimate labor organization with all the
rights and privileges to act as representative of its members for purposes of
collective bargaining agreement. On this basis, PDMP can charter or create a
local, in accordance with the provisions of Department Order No. 9.
WHEREFORE, the appeal is hereby
GRANTED. Accordingly, the decision of
the Regional Director dated July 14, 2000, canceling the registration of
appellant San Miguel Packaging Products Employees Union-Pambansang Diwa ng
Manggagawang Pilipino (SMPPEU-PDMP) is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Appellant shall
hereby remain in the roster of legitimate labor organizations.[14]
While
the BLR agreed with the findings of the DOLE Regional Director dismissing the
allegations of fraud and misrepresentation, and
in upholding that PDMP can directly create a local or a chapter, it
reversed the Regional Director’s ruling that the 20% membership is a
requirement for respondent to attain legal personality as a labor organization.
Petitioner thereafter filed a Motion for
Reconsideration with the BLR. In a
Resolution rendered on
Invoking
the power of the appellate court to review decisions of quasi-judicial
agencies, petitioner filed with the Court of Appeals a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 of the 1997
Rules of Civil Procedure docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 66200. The Court of Appeals, in a Decision dated
In Department Order No. 9, a registered federation or
national union may directly create a local by submitting to the BLR copies of
the charter certificate, the local’s constitution and by-laws, the principal
office address of the local, and the names of its officers and their addresses.
Upon complying with the documentary requirements, the local shall be issued a
certificate and included in the roster of legitimate labor organizations. The
[herein respondent] is an affiliate of a registered federation PDMP, having
been issued a charter certificate. Under the rules we have reviewed, there is no need
for SMPPEU to show a membership of 20% of the employees of the bargaining unit
in order to be recognized as a legitimate labor union.
x x x
x
In
view of the foregoing, the assailed decision and resolution of the BLR are
AFFIRMED, and the petition is DISMISSED.[16]
Subsequently, in a Resolution dated
Hence, this Petition for Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Revised
Rules of Court where petitioner raises the sole issue of:
WHETHER OR NOT THE HONORABLE COURT OF
APPEALS COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN RULING THAT PRIVATE RESPONDENT IS NOT
REQUIRED TO SUBMIT THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND NAMES OF ALL ITS MEMBERS
COMPRISING AT LEAST 20% OF THE EMPLOYEES IN THE BARGAINING UNIT WHERE IT SEEKS
TO OPERATE.
The present
petition questions the legal personality of respondent as a legitimate labor
organization.
Petitioner posits that respondent
is required to submit a list of members comprising at least 20% of the
employees in the bargaining unit before it may acquire legitimacy, citing Article
234(c) of the Labor Code which stipulates that any applicant labor
organization, association or group of unions or workers shall acquire legal
personality and shall be entitled to the rights and privileges granted by law
to legitimate labor organizations upon issuance of the certificate of
registration based on the following requirements:
a.
Fifty pesos (P50.00) registration fee;
b.
The names of its officers, their addresses, the
principal address of the labor organization, the minutes of the organizational
meetings and the list of the workers who participated in such meetings;
c.
The names of all its members comprising at least twenty
percent (20%) of all the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to
operate;
d.
If the applicant union has been in existence for one or
more years, copies of its annual financial reports; and
e.
Four (4) copies of the constitution and by-laws
of the applicant union, minutes of its adoption or ratification and the list of
the members who participated in it.[17]
Petitioner also
insists that the 20% requirement for registration of respondent must be based
not on the number of employees of a single division, but in all three divisions
of the company in all the offices and plants of SMC since they are all part of
one bargaining unit. Petitioner refers to Section 1, Article 1 of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA),[18]
quoted hereunder:
ARTICLE
1
SCOPE
Section 1. Appropriate Bargaining
Unit. The appropriate bargaining unit covered
by this Agreement consists of all regular rank and file employees paid on the
basis of fixed salary per month and employed by the COMPANY in its Corporate
Staff Units (CSU), San Miguel Brewing Products (SMBP) and San Miguel Packaging
Products (SMPP) and in different operations existing in the City of Manila and
suburbs, including Metal Closure and Lithography Plant located at
Canlubang, Laguna subject to the provisions of Article XV of this Agreement
provided however, that if during the term of this Agreement, a plant within the
territory covered by this Agreement is transferred outside but within a radius
of fifty (50) kilometers from the Rizal Monument, Rizal Park, Metro Manila, the
employees in the transferred plant shall remain in the bargaining unit covered
by this Agreement. (Emphasis supplied.)
Petitioner
thus maintains that respondent, in any case, failed to meet this 20% membership
requirement since it based its membership on the number of employees of a
single division only, namely, the SMPP.
There
is merit in petitioner’s contentions.
A legitimate labor organization[19]
is defined as “any labor organization duly registered with the Department of
Labor and Employment, and includes any
branch or local thereof.”[20]
The mandate of the Labor Code is to
ensure strict compliance with the requirements on registration because a
legitimate labor organization is entitled to specific rights under the Labor
Code,[21]
and are involved in activities directly affecting matters of public interest. Registration requirements are intended to
afford a measure of protection to unsuspecting employees who may be lured into
joining unscrupulous or fly-by-night unions whose sole purpose is to control
union funds or use the labor organization for illegitimate ends.[22]
Legitimate labor organizations have
exclusive rights under the law which cannot be exercised by non-legitimate
unions, one of which is the right to be certified as the exclusive
representative[23]
of all the employees in an appropriate collective bargaining unit for purposes
of collective bargaining.[24]
The acquisition of rights by any union
or labor organization, particularly the right to file a petition for
certification election, first and foremost, depends on whether or not the labor
organization has attained the status of a legitimate labor organization.[25]
A
perusal of the records reveals that respondent is registered with the BLR as a
“local” or “chapter” of PDMP and was issued Charter Certificate No. 112
on
The procedure for
registration of a local or chapter of a labor organization is provided in Book
V of the Implementing Rules of the Labor Code, as amended by Department Order
No. 9 which took effect on
The applicable
Implementing Rules enunciates a two-fold procedure for the creation of a
chapter or a local. The first involves
the affiliation of an independent union with a federation or national union or
industry union. The second, finding
application in the instant petition, involves the direct creation of a local or
a chapter through the process of chartering.[27]
A
duly registered federation or national union may directly create a local
or chapter by submitting to the DOLE Regional Office or to the BLR two copies
of the following:
(a)
A charter certificate issued by the federation or
national union indicating the creation or establishment of the local/chapter;
(b)
The names of the local/chapter’s officers, their
addresses, and the principal office of the local/chapter; and
(c)
The local/chapter’s constitution and by-laws; Provided,
That where the local/chapter’s constitution and by-laws is the same as that of
the federation or national union, this fact shall be indicated accordingly.
All the foregoing supporting
requirements shall be certified under oath by the Secretary or the Treasurer of
the local/chapter and attested to by its President.[28]
The
Implementing Rules stipulate that a local or chapter may be directly created by
a federation or national union. A duly constituted
local or chapter created in accordance with the foregoing shall acquire legal
personality from the date of filing of the complete documents with the BLR.[29] The issuance of the certificate of
registration by the BLR or the DOLE Regional Office is not the operative act
that vests legal personality upon a local or a chapter under Department Order No. 9. Such legal personality is acquired from the
filing of the complete documentary requirements enumerated
in Section 1, Rule VI.[30]
Petitioner insists that Section 3 of the Implementing Rules,
as amended by Department Order No. 9, violated Article 234 of the Labor Code
when it provided for less stringent requirements for the creation of a chapter
or local. This Court disagrees.
Article
234 of the Labor Code provides that an independent labor organization
acquires legitimacy only upon its registration with the BLR:
Any applicant labor organization,
association or group of unions or workers shall acquire legal personality and shall
be entitled to the rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor
organizations upon issuance of the certificate of registration based on the
following requirements:
(a) Fifty pesos (P50.00) registration
fee;
(b) The names of its officers, their
addresses, the principal address of the
labor organization, the minutes of the organizational meetings and the list of the workers who participated in such meetings;
(c) The
names of all its members comprising at least twenty percent (20%) of all the employees in the bargaining
unit where it seeks to operate;
(d) If the applicant union has been in
existence for one or more years,
copies of its annual financial reports; and
(e) Four (4) copies of the constitution and
by-laws of the applicant union, minutes
of its adoption or ratification, and the
list of the members who participated in
it. (Italics supplied.)
It
is emphasized that the foregoing pertains to the registration of an independent labor organization,
association or group of unions or workers.
However, the creation of
a branch, local or chapter is treated differently. This Court, in the landmark case of Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment,[31] declared that when an unregistered union becomes
a branch, local or chapter, some of the aforementioned requirements for registration
are no longer necessary or compulsory. Whereas
an applicant for registration of an independent union is mandated to submit,
among other things, the number of employees and names of all its members
comprising at least 20% of the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks
to operate, as provided under Article 234 of the Labor Code and Section 2 of
Rule III, Book V of the Implementing Rules, the same is no longer required of a
branch, local or chapter.[32] The intent of the law in imposing less
requirements in the case of a branch or local of a registered federation or
national union is to encourage the affiliation of a local union with a
federation or national union in order to increase the local union’s bargaining
powers respecting terms and conditions of labor.[33]
Subsequently,
in Pagpalain Haulers, Inc. v. Trajano[34] where
the validity of Department Order No. 9 was directly put in issue, this Court
was unequivocal in finding that there is no inconsistency between the Labor
Code and Department Order No. 9.
As
to petitioner’s claims that respondent obtained its Certificate of Registration
through fraud and misrepresentation, this Court finds that the imputations are
not impressed with merit. In the instant
case, proof to declare that respondent committed fraud and misrepresentation
remains wanting. This Court had, indeed,
on several occasions, pronounced that registration based on false and
fraudulent statements and documents confer no legitimacy upon a labor
organization irregularly recognized, which, at best, holds on to a mere scrap
of paper. Under such circumstances, the
labor organization, not being a legitimate labor organization, acquires no
rights.[35]
This
Court emphasizes, however, that a direct challenge to the legitimacy of a labor
organization based on fraud and misrepresentation in securing its certificate
of registration is a serious allegation which deserves careful scrutiny. Allegations thereof should be compounded with
supporting circumstances and evidence.
The records of the case are devoid of such evidence. Furthermore, this Court is not a trier of
facts, and this doctrine applies with greater force in labor cases.
Findings of fact of administrative agencies and quasi-judicial bodies, such as
the BLR, which have acquired expertise because their jurisdiction is confined
to specific matters, are generally accorded not only great respect but even
finality.[36]
Still,
petitioner postulates that respondent was not validly and legitimately created,
for PDMP cannot create a local or chapter as it is not a legitimate labor
organization, it being a trade union center.
Petitioner’s
argument creates a predicament as it hinges on the legitimacy of PDMP as a
labor organization. Firstly, this line
of reasoning attempts to predicate that a trade union center is not a
legitimate labor organization. In the process, the legitimacy of PDMP is being
impugned, albeit indirectly. Secondly,
the same contention premises that a trade union center cannot directly create a
local or chapter through the process of chartering.
Anent the foregoing, as
has been held in a long line of cases, the legal personality of a legitimate
labor organization, such as PDMP, cannot be subject to a collateral attack. The law is
very clear on this matter. Article 212 (h) of the Labor Code, as amended, defines a legitimate labor organization[37] as “any
labor organization duly registered with the DOLE, and includes any branch or local thereof.”[38] On the other hand, a
trade union center is any group of registered national unions or federations
organized for the mutual aid and protection of its members; for assisting such
members in collective bargaining; or for participating in the formulation of
social and employment policies, standards, and programs, and is duly registered
with the DOLE in accordance with Rule III, Section 2 of the Implementing Rules.[39]
The Implementing Rules
stipulate that a labor organization shall be deemed registered and vested with
legal personality on the date of issuance of its certificate of registration. Once a certificate of registration is issued to a union,
its legal personality cannot be subject to collateral attack.[40] It may be questioned only in an independent
petition for cancellation in accordance with Section 5 of Rule V, Book V of the
Implementing Rules. The aforementioned
provision is enunciated in the following:
Sec.
5. Effect
of registration. The labor
organization or workers’ association shall be deemed registered and vested with
legal personality on the date of issuance of its certificate of
registration. Such legal personality
cannot thereafter be subject to collateral attack, but may be questioned only in
an independent petition for cancellation in accordance with these Rules.
PDMP
was registered as a trade union center and issued Registration Certificate No.
FED-11558-LC by the BLR on
Corollarily, PDMP is
granted all the rights and privileges appurtenant to a legitimate labor
organization,[42] and
continues to be recognized as such until its certificate of registration is
successfully impugned and thereafter cancelled or revoked in an independent
action for cancellation.
We
now proceed to the contention that PDMP cannot directly create a local or a chapter,
it being a trade union center.
This
Court reverses the finding of the appellate court and BLR on this ground, and
rules that PDMP cannot directly create a local or chapter.
After an
exhaustive study of the governing labor law provisions, both statutory and
regulatory,[43] we find
no legal justification to support the conclusion that a trade union center is allowed
to directly create a local or chapter through chartering. Apropos,
we take this occasion to reiterate the first and fundamental duty of this Court,
which is to apply the law. The solemn
power and duty of the Court to interpret and apply the law does not include the
power to correct by reading into the law what is not written therein.[44]
Presidential Decree No.
442, better known as the Labor Code, was enacted in 1972. Being a legislation on social justice,[45]
the provisions of the Labor Code and the Implementing Rules have been subject
to several amendments, and they continue to evolve, considering that labor
plays a major role as a socio-economic force. The Labor Code was first amended by Republic
Act No. 6715, and recently, by Republic Act No. 9481. Incidentally, the term trade union center was never mentioned
under Presidential Decree No. 442, even as it was amended by Republic Act No. 6715.
The term trade union center was first adopted in the Implementing Rules,
under Department Order No. 9.
Culling from its
definition as provided by Department Order No. 9, a trade union center is any group of registered national unions or
federations organized for the mutual aid and protection of its members; for
assisting such members in collective bargaining; or for participating in the
formulation of social and employment policies, standards, and programs, and is
duly registered with the DOLE in accordance with Rule III, Section 2 of the
Implementing Rules.[46] The same rule provides that the application
for registration of an industry or trade union center shall be supported by the
following:
(a)
The list of its member organizations and their
respective presidents and, in the case of an industry union, the industry where
the union seeks to operate;
(b)
The resolution of membership of each member
organization, approved by the Board of Directors of such union;
(c)
The name and principal address of the applicant, the
names of its officers and their addresses, the minutes of its organizational
meeting/s, and the list of member organizations and their representatives who
attended such meeting/s; and
(d)
A copy of its constitution and by-laws and minutes of
its ratification by a majority of the presidents of the member organizations,
provided that where the ratification was done simultaneously with the
organizational meeting, it shall be sufficient that the fact of ratification be
included in the minutes of the organizational meeting.[47]
Evidently, while a
“national union” or “federation” is a labor organization with at least ten locals
or chapters or affiliates, each of which must be a duly certified or recognized
collective bargaining agent;[48] a
trade union center, on the other hand, is composed of a group of registered
national unions or federations.[49]
The Implementing Rules,
as amended by Department Order No. 9, provide that “a duly registered federation or national union” may directly create a
local or chapter. The provision reads:
Section 1. Chartering
and creation of a local/chapter. – A duly registered federation or
national union may directly create a local/chapter by submitting to the
Regional Office or to the Bureau two (2) copies of the following:
(a) A charter certificate issued by the federation or national union indicating the creation or establishment of the local/chapter;
(b) The names of the local/chapter’s officers, their addresses, and the principal office of the local/chapter; and
(c)
The local/chapter’s constitution and by-laws; provided that where the
local/chapter’s constitution and by-laws is the same as that of the federation
or national union, this fact shall be indicated accordingly.
All
the foregoing supporting requirements shall be certified under oath by the
Secretary or the Treasurer of the local/chapter and attested to by its
President.[50]
Department Order No. 9
mentions two labor organizations either of which is allowed to directly create
a local or chapter through chartering – a duly registered federation or a national union. Department Order No. 9
defines a "chartered local" as a labor organization in the private
sector operating at the enterprise level that acquired legal personality
through a charter certificate, issued by a duly registered federation or national union and reported to the Regional Office in
accordance with Rule III, Section 2-E of these Rules.[51]
Republic Act No. 9481 or “An
Act Strengthening the Workers’ Constitutional Right to Self-Organization,
Amending for the Purpose Presidential Decree No. 442, As Amended, Otherwise
Known as the Labor Code of the
Pertinent
amendments read as follows:
SECTION
1. Article 234 of Presidential Decree
No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the
ART. 234. Requirements of Registration. — A federation, national union
or industry or trade union center or
an independent union shall acquire legal personality and shall be entitled to
the rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor organizations upon
issuance of the certificate of registration based on the following
requirements:
(a) Fifty pesos (P50.00) registration
fee;
(b) The names of its officers, their
addresses, the principal address of the labor organization, the minutes of the
organizational meetings and the list of the workers who participated in such
meetings;
(c) In case the applicant is an independent
union, the names of all its members comprising at least twenty percent (20%) of
all the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate;
(d) If the applicant union has been in
existence for one or more years, copies of its annual financial reports; and
(e) Four copies of the constitution and
by-laws of the applicant union, minutes of its adoption or ratification, and
the list of the members who participated in it.
SECTION
2. A new provision is hereby inserted
into the Labor Code as Article 234-A to read as follows:
ART. 234-A. Chartering and Creation of a Local Chapter. — A duly registered federation or national union may
directly create a local chapter by issuing a charter certificate indicating the
establishment of the local chapter. The chapter shall acquire legal personality
only for purposes of filing a petition for certification election from the date
it was issued a charter certificate.
The chapter shall be entitled to all
other rights and privileges of a legitimate labor organization only upon the
submission of the following documents in addition to its charter certificate:
(a) The names of the chapter's officers,
their addresses, and the principal office of the chapter; and
(b) The chapter's constitution and by-laws:
Provided, That where the chapter's constitution and by-laws are the same as
that of the federation or the national union, this fact shall be indicated
accordingly.
The additional
supporting requirements shall be certified under oath by the secretary or
treasurer of the chapter and attested by its president. (Emphasis ours.)
Article
234 now includes the term trade union
center, but interestingly, the provision indicating the procedure for
chartering or creating a local or chapter, namely Article 234-A, still makes no
mention of a “trade union center.”
Also worth emphasizing is
that even in the most recent amendment of the implementing rules,[54]
there was no mention of a trade union center as being among the labor
organizations allowed to charter.
This Court deems it
proper to apply the Latin maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius. Under this maxim of statutory interpretation,
the expression of one thing is the exclusion of another. When certain persons
or things are specified in a law, contract, or will, an intention to exclude
all others from its operation may be inferred. If a statute specifies one exception to a
general rule or assumes to specify the effects of a certain provision, other
exceptions or effects are excluded.[55] Where the terms are expressly limited to
certain matters, it may not, by interpretation or construction, be extended to
other matters.[56] Such is the case here. If its intent were otherwise, the law could
have so easily and conveniently included “trade union centers” in identifying
the labor organizations allowed to charter a chapter or local. Anything that is not included in the
enumeration is excluded therefrom, and a meaning that does not appear nor is
intended or reflected in the very language of the statute cannot be placed
therein.[57] The rule is restrictive in the sense that it
proceeds from the premise that the legislating body would not have made
specific enumerations in a statute if it had the intention not to restrict its
meaning and confine its terms to those expressly mentioned.[58] Expressium
facit cessare tacitum.[59]
What is expressed puts an end to what is
implied. Casus omissus pro omisso habendus est. A person, object or thing omitted must have
been omitted intentionally.
Therefore,
since under the pertinent status and applicable implementing rules, the power granted
to labor organizations to directly create a chapter or local through chartering
is given to a federation or national union, then a trade union center is
without authority to charter directly.
The
ruling of this Court in the instant case is not a departure from the policy of
the law to foster the free and voluntary organization of a strong and united
labor movement,[60]
and thus assure the rights of workers to self-organization.[61] The mandate of the Labor Code in ensuring
strict compliance with the procedural requirements for registration is not
without reason. It has been observed that the
formation of a local or chapter becomes a handy tool for the circumvention of
union registration requirements. Absent
the institution of safeguards, it becomes a convenient device for a small group
of employees to foist a not-so-desirable federation or union on unsuspecting
co-workers and pare the need for wholehearted voluntariness, which is basic to
free unionism.[62] As a legitimate labor organization is entitled
to specific rights under the Labor Code and involved in activities directly
affecting public interest, it is necessary that the law afford utmost
protection to the parties affected.[63]
However, as this Court has enunciated in
Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary of Department of Labor and Employment, it is not this Court's function to
augment the requirements prescribed by law.
Our only recourse, as previously discussed, is to exact strict
compliance with what the law provides as requisites for local or chapter
formation.[64]
In
sum, although PDMP as a trade union center is a legitimate labor organization,
it has no power to directly create a local or chapter. Thus, SMPPEU-PDMP cannot be created under the
more lenient requirements for chartering, but must have complied with the more
stringent rules for creation and registration of an independent union,
including the 20% membership requirement.
WHEREFORE, the instant Petition is GRANTED.
The Decision dated
Costs against petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
|
|
MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIO
Associate
Justice |
WE CONCUR:
CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGO
Associate Justice
Chairperson
Associate
Justice Associate Justice
RUBEN T. REYES
Associate Justice
ATTESTATION
I attest that the conclusions in the above
Decision were reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the
writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGO
Associate Justice
Chairperson, Third Division
CERTIFICATION
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII
of the Constitution, and the Division Chairperson’s Attestation, it is hereby
certified that the conclusions in the above Decision were reached in
consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the
Court’s Division.
REYNATO S. PUNO
Chief Justice
[1] The
Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) was omitted as public respondent from the title
of the case.
In appeals via
Petition for Certiorari under Rule 45
of the Revised Rules of Court, the tribunal promulgating the appealed Decision
is not impleaded.
[2] Penned
by Associate Justice Mario L. Guarina III with Associate Justices Marina L.
Buzon and Santiago Javier Ranada,
concurring; Rollo, pp. 23-31.
[3] CA
rollo, pp. 17-21.
[4] Rollo, p. 51.
[5] Charter
Certificate; CA rollo, p. 45.
[6] The
following documents were submitted:
a.
Charter
Certificate
b.
Constitution and
By-Laws
c.
Lists and
Addresses of Union Officers
d.
Financial Report
e.
Organization
Meeting and Joint Resolution and Petition for Certification Election
[7] Certificate
of Creation of Chapter/local; CA rollo,
p. 44.
[8] On
[9] Id.
at 18; Section 2 of Rule XI, Book V of the Implementing Rules, as amended by
D.O. No. 9 provides that where two or more petitions for certification election
involving the same bargaining unit are filed in one Regional Office, the same
shall be automatically consolidated.
[10] Article
239. Grounds for Cancellation of Union
Registration. The following shall constitute grounds for cancellation of
union registration:
a.
Misrepresentation,
false statement or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the
constitution and by-laws or amendments thereto, the minutes of ratification,
and the list of members who took part in the ratification;
b. Failure to submit the documents mentioned in the preceding
paragraph within thirty (30) days from adoption or ratification of the
constitution and by-laws of amendments thereto;
c.
Misrepresentation,
false statements or fraud in connection with the election of officers, minutes
of the election of officers, the list of voters, or failure to submit these
documents together with the list of the newly elected/appointed officers and
their postal addresses within thirty (30) days from election; x x x.
[11] The
Labor Code stipulates the following:
Article 234. Requirements
of Registration. Any applicant labor organization, association or group of
unions or workers shall acquire legal personality and shall be entitled to the
rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor organizations upon
issuance of the certificate of registration based on the following
requirements:
a.
Fifty pesos
(P50.00) registration fee;
b. The names of its officers, their addresses, the
principal address of the labor organization, the minutes of the organizational
meetings and the list of the workers who participated in such meetings;
c.
The names of all
its members comprising at least twenty percent (20%) of all the employees in
the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate;
d. If the applicant union has been in existence for one
or more years, copies of its annual financial reports; and
e.
Four (4) copies
of the constitution and by-laws of the applicant union, minutes of its adoption
or ratification and the list of the members who participated in it.
[12] CA rollo, pp. 33-39.
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16] Rollo, pp. 29-30.
[17] Article
234, Labor Code.
[18] CA rollo, pp. 31-32.
[19] A labor organization is any union or
association of employees which exists in whole or in part for the purpose of
collective bargaining or for dealing with employers concerning terms and conditions
of employment. [Section 1(h), Rule 1, Book V of the Implementing Rules, as
amended by Department Order No. 9].
[20] Article
212(g), Labor Code; Section 1(i), Rule 1, Book V of the Implementing Rules, as
amended by Department Order No. 9.
[21] Article
242 of the Labor Code grants the following:
Rights of Legitimate Labor Organizations. A legitimate
labor organization shall have the right:
(a) To act as the representative of its members for the
purpose of collective bargaining;
(b) To be certified as the exclusive representative of all
the employees in an appropriate collective bargaining unit for purposes of
collective bargaining;
(c) To be furnished by the employer, upon written request,
with the annual audited financial statements, including the balance sheet and
the profit and loss statement, within thirty (30) calendar days from the date
of receipt of the request, after the union has been duly recognized by the
employer or certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining representatives of
the employees in the bargaining unit, or within sixty (60) calendar days before
the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement, or during the
collective bargaining negotiation;
(d) To own property, real or personal, for the use and
benefit of the labor organization and its members;
(e) To sue and be sued in its registered name; and
(f) To undertake all other activities designed to benefit
the organization and its members including cooperative, housing welfare and
other projects not contrary to law.
[22] Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, G.R. No. 96425,
[23] Provided
there is compliance with the requirements.
[24] San Miguel Foods, Inc-
[25] Progressive Development Corporation-Pizza
Hut v. Laguesma, 338 Phil. 310, 321 (1997).
[26] Section
1, Rule XXVI, Department Order No. 40, which states:
Section 1. Rules governing prior applications,
petitions, complaints, cases. - All applications, petitions, complaints, cases
or incidents commenced or filed prior to the effectivity of these amendatory
Rules shall be governed by the old rules as amended by Department Order No. 9,
series of 1997.
[27] Rule
VI, Book V, Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order No. 9. Additionally, section 2 thereof provides that a duly registered
workers’ association may likewise charter any of its branches, subject to the filing of the documents
prescribed under Section 1.
[28] Section
1, Rule VI, Book V of the Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order
No. 9.
[29]
Section
3, Rule VI of the Implementing Rules of Book V, as amended by Department Order
No. 9, clearly states:
SEC. 3. Acquisition of legal
personality by local/chapter. A local/chapter constituted in accordance with
Section 1 of this Rule shall acquire legal personality from the date of filing
of the complete documents enumerated therein. Upon compliance with all
documentary requirements, the Regional Office or Bureau shall issue in favor of
the local/chapter a certificate indicating that it is included in the roster of
legitimate labor organizations. (Laguna Autoparts Manufacturing Corporation
v. Office of the Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, G.R. No. 157146,
29 April 2005, 457 SCRA 730, 740.
[30] Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, supra note 22.
[31]
[32] Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, id.; San Miguel Foods, Inc.-
[33] Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, supra note 22.
[34] 369
Phil. 618, 627 (1999).
[35] Progressive Development Corporation–Pizza
Hut v. Laguesma, supra note 25.
[36] Seastar Marine Services, Inc. v. Bul-An,
Jr., G.R. No. 142609,
[37] A labor organization is any union or
association of employees which exists in whole or in part for the purpose of
collective bargaining or for dealing with employers concerning terms and conditions
of employment. [Section 1(h), Rule 1, Book V of the Implementing Rules, as
amended by Department Order No. 9].
[38] Article
212(g), Labor Code; Section 1(i), Rule
1, Book V of the Implementing Rules, as amended
by Department Order No. 9.
[39] Section
1(p), Rule I, Book V, of the Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order
No. 9.
[40] Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club
Incorporated v. Tagaytay Highlands Employees Union-PGTWO,
443 Phil. 841, 852 (2003).
[41] Laguna Autoparts Manufacturing Corporation
v. Office of the Secretary, Department
of Labor and Employment, supra
note 29.
[42] Under
Article 234 of the Labor Code, any applicant labor organization, association or
group of unions or workers shall acquire
legal personality and shall be entitled to the rights and privileges granted by
law to legitimate labor organizations upon issuance of the certificate of
registration upon compliance with the documentary requirements.
[43] As
amended by Department Order No. 9, Department Order No. 40-03, and Department
Order No. 40-B-03.
[44] Agote v. Lorenzo, G.R. No. 142675,
[45] As
aptly put by Justice Laurel, social justice is the humanization of laws and the
equalization of
social and economic forces by the state so that
justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be
approximated.
[46] Section
1(p), Rule I, Book V, of the Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order
No. 9.
[47] Under
a different section; Section 2 (III), Rule III, Book V of the Implementing
Rules, as amended by Department Order No. 9.
[48] Rule
I(m), Book V, Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order No. 9.
[49] Rule
(p), id.
[50] Section
1, Rule VI, Book V, id.
[51] Section
1(i), Rule I, Book V, Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order No.
40-03.
[52] Republic
Act No. 9481 was not signed by the President, but lapsed into law by virtue of
the provisions of the 1987
Philippine Constitution.
[53] Republic
Act No. 9481 was published on
[54] Subsequently
amended by Department Order No. 40-B-03, Department Order No. 40-C-05, and Department Order No. 40-D-05.
[55] Black’s
Law Dictionary, p. 581; Office of the
Ombudsman v. Valera, G.R. No. 164250,
5 September 2005, 471 SCRA 715, 746 and City
Government of San Pablo, Laguna v. Reyes, 364 Phil. 842, 853 (1999).
[56] Sarmiento, III v. Mison, G.R. No. 79974,
17 December 1987, 156 SCRA 549, 552; Integrated
Bar of the Philippines v. Zamora,
392 Phil. 618, 642 (2000).
[57]
[58] San Pablo Mfg. Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, G.R. No. 147749,
[59] Abakada Guro Party List v. Ermita, G.R.
No. 168056, 1 September 2005, 469 SCRA 1, Espiritu
v. Cipriano, G.R. No. 32743,
[60] Chapter
1, Book V, Labor Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 6715.
[61] As
embodied under Article 3 of the Labor Code.
[62] Progressive Development Corporation v.
Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, supra note 22.
[63] Article
242 of the Labor Code grants the following:
Rights
of Legitimate Labor Organizations. A legitimate labor organization shall have
the right:
(a) To act as the representative of its members for
the purpose of collective bargaining;
(b) To be certified as the exclusive
representative of all the employees in an appropriate collective bargaining
unit for purposes of collective bargaining;
(c) To be furnished by the employer, upon written
request, with the annual audited financial statements, including the balance
sheet and the profit and loss statement, within thirty (30) calendar days from
the date of receipt of the request, after the union has been duly recognized by
the employer or certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining representatives
of the employees in the bargaining unit, or within sixty (60) calendar days
before the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement, or
during the collective bargaining negotiation;
(d)
To own property, real or personal, for
the use and benefit of the labor organization and its members;
(e) To sue and be sued in its registered name;
and
(f) To undertake all other activities designed to
benefit the organization and its members including cooperative, housing welfare
and other projects not contrary to law.
[64] Supra
note 22.