MURAO, JOSE PEPITO III

I. Article III Section 1, Equal Protection:

Patricia Sto.Tomas as Secretary of DOLE v. Jose Paneda, Presiding Judge G.R. 152710
Facts:
The case of Patricia Sto. Tomas, Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment versus Jose Paneda,
Presiding Judge, is one of a plethora of cases consolidated and decided by the Supreme Court on the
constitutionality of R.A. 8042 or the Migrant Worker’s and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. The Migrant Worker’s
Act mandated the Department of Labor to deregulate its handling of recruitment and migration of overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs) and phase out the regulatory functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA). The Regional Trial Court, responding to the petition of several recruiters, granted the application of
preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against said Act.
However, after such decision, President Gloria Macapal-Arroyo signed into law R.A. 9422 which repealed the Act
and adopted the policy of close government regulation of recruitment and deployment of OFWs. Salac, one of the
proponents of the preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against the DOLE, along with others,
agreed that such law amending the Act rendered their question moot and academic.
On the other hand, a petition for declaratory relief, prohibition, and issuance of TRO over certain sections in the
Migrant Worker’s Act was also discussed in the consolidated cases. Specifically, Section 6, which defines illegal
recruitment, was questioned, as it supposedly does not distinguish illegal recruiters from licensed ones. The RTC
decided that the assailed Sections warranted the unconstitutionality of such.
Issue:
1) W/N Section 6 of the Migrant Worker’s Act violates right to equal protection by not distinguishing from
licensed and illegal recruiters?
Held:
NO. The Migran Worker’s Act clearly distinguishes illegal recruiters from those who are licensed. Unlicensed
recruiters are penalized for committing acts which licensed recruiters are authorized to do so like enlisting,
transporting, and advertising work abroad. Meanwhile, licensed recruiters are only punished upon ‘wrongful acts’
concurrent to their authorized activities. Hence, along with the amendments introduced by President Arroyo, the
Migrant Worker’s Act has been held to be CONSTITUTIONAL.