G.

R.No.204944-
45       December3,
2014

FUJITELEVI
SIONNETWORK, INC.
, 
Pet
it
ioner
,
vs.
ARLENES.ESPIRI
TU,
 Respondent
.

DECISION

J.
LEONEN,
  :

Iti
stheburdenoft heempl oy
ert oprovet hataper sonwhoseser v
icesitpaysforisanindependent
contr
actorr
atherthanar egularemploy eewi thorwithoutafi
xedterm.Thataper sonhasadi sease
doesnotperseent it
letheempl oyertot erminatehisorherser
vices.Terminati
onisthelastresort
.
Attheveryl
east,acompet entpubl i
cheal thauthorit
ymustcerti
fythatthediseasecannotbecur ed
wit
hinsix(6)mont hs,evenwi t
happr opr i
atetreat
ment .

Wedeci det hispet

it
ionforrevi
ew  oncerti
orar
1
ifi
l
edbyFuj
iTel
evisi
onNetwork,
Inc.
,seeki
ngthe
reversaloftheCourtofAppeal s’
Decision dat
edJune25,
2012,
2
aff
ir
mingwit
hmodi f
icati
ont
he
decision oft
3
heNationalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssi
on.

In2005, Arl
eneS.Espi r
it
u("Arlene")wasengagedbyFuj iTelevi
sionNetwor k,I
nc.("Fuji
")asanews
correspondent/producer 
"t
askedt
4
oreportPhil
ippinenewst oFuj it
hroughi t
sMani l
aBur eauf i
eld
offi
ce." 
5
Arl
ene’semploymentcont ractinit
ial
l
ypr ovidedforat er
m ofone( 1)yearbutwas
successivelyrenewedonay earl
ybasi swithsalaryadjustmentuponev eryrenewal
6
. Somet i
mei n
January2009, Arlenewasdiagnosedwi thl
ungcancer . 
SheinformedFuj
7
iabouthercondi t
ion.Intur
n,
theChi efofNewsAgencyofFuj i,YoshikiAoki,
informedAr lene" t
hatthecompanywi l
lhav ea
problem renewinghercontract" si
ncei
8
twouldbedi ffi
cultf
orhert operform herjob. She"
9
insi
sted
thatshewasst i
llfi
ttoworkascer tif
iedbyherat tendingphy si
cian." 10

Aftersever
alverbalandwri
tt
encommuni cations, Ar
leneandFujisi
gnedanon-
11
r
enewalcont r
acton
May5, 2009wher eitwassti
pul
atedthathercont r
actwouldnolongerber
enewedafterit
sexpi r
ati
on
onMay31, 2009.Thecontr
actal
sopr ov
idedt hatt
heparti
esrel
easeeachotherfr
om li
abil
i
tiesand
responsi
bil
iti
esundertheemploymentcontract. 12

I
nconsi der
ati
onoft henon-renewalcontr
act,Arl
ene"
acknowledgedrecei
ptoft
hetotalamountof
US$18,050.
00r epr
esentinghermont hl
ysalaryfr
om March2009toMay2009, y
ear-
endbonus, mid-
yearbonus,andseparati
onpay ." 
Howev er,Ar
13
l
eneaf
fi
xedhersignat
ureonthenonrenewalcontr
act
withtheini
ti
als"U.
P."for"underprot
est.
" 14

OnMay6, 2009,thedayaf terAr

lenesignedthenon- r
enewal cont
ract,
shefi
ledacompl ai
ntfori
ll
egal
di
smissalandattor
ney’
sf eeswi t
ht heNati
onal Capit
alRegionArbit
rat
ionBranchoftheNati
onal
LaborRel
ationsCommissi on.Sheal l
egedthatshewasf orcedtosignthenonrenewalcont
ractwhen
Fuj
icamet oknowofheri l
lnessandt hatFujiwithhel
dhersalari
esandotherbenefi
tsforMarchand
Apri
l2009whensher efusedt osign. 15

Arl
eneclai
medt hatshewasl ef
twi
thnoot
herrecour
sebutt
osignthenon-
renewalcont
ract
,andit
wasonlyuponsigningthatshewasgi
venhersal
ari
esandbonuses,
inaddi
ti
ontoseparat
ionpay
equi
val
enttofour(4)years. 16

Int
hedeci
sion dat
edSept
ember10,
17
2009,LaborAr
bit
erCorazonC.Borboll
adismissedArl
ene’
s
compl
aint
. Ci
ti
ngSonzav
18
.ABS-
CBN  
andapplyi
ngt
hef our
-
19
f
oldtest
,theLaborArbi
terhel
dthat
Ar
lenewasnotFuj
i
’sempl
oyeebutani
ndependentcont
ract
or. 20

Arl
eneappeal edbeforetheNational LaborRelat
ionsCommi ssion.Ini
tsdecisiondatedMarch5,
2010, t
heNat i
onalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssi
onreversedt heLaborAr bi
ter
’sdecisi
on. 
21
I
theldthat
Arl
enewasar egularemployeewi threspecttotheactivi
tiesf orwhichshewasempl oyedsinceshe
continuousl
yrenderedservi
cest hatwer edeemednecessar yanddesi r
abletoFuj i
’
sbusiness. 
22
The
NationalLaborRelati
onsCommi ssionorderedFujit
opayAr l
enebackwages, computedfrom t
he
dateofherill
egaldismissal
. 
23
Thedi sposit
iveporti
onoft hedeci si
onreads:

WHEREFORE, premisesconsidered,j
udgmenti sherebyrenderedGRANTINGtheinst
antappeal.The
Deci
sionoftheLaborAr bi
terdated19Sept ember2009i sherebyREVERSEDandSETASI DE,anda
newoneisissuedor der
ingrespondents-appel
leest
opaycompl ai
nant
-appel
l
antbackwages
computedfr
om t hedateofheril
legaldismissalunt
ilfi
nali
tyofthi
sDecisi
on.

SOORDERED. 24

Arl
eneandFuj if
il
edseparatemot i
onsf orreconsiderati
on. 
25
Bothmotionswer edeniedbythe
Nati
onal LaborRelati
onsCommi ssi
onf orlackofmer itint
her esol
uti
ondat edApril
26,2010. 
26
From
thedecisionoftheNat i
onalLaborRelationsCommi ssion,
bothparti
esfiledseparatepet
it
ionsfor
cert
iorar
i 
27
bef
oretheCourtofAppeal s.TheCour tofAppeal sconsoli
datedthepetit
ionsand
consideredthefoll
owingissuesforresolution:

1)Whet
herornotEspi
ri
tui
sar
egul
arempl
oyeeoraf
ixed-
ter
m cont
ract
ual
empl
oyee;

2)Whet
herornotEspi
ri
tuwasi
l
legal
l
ydi
smi
ssed;
and

3)Whet
herornotEspi
ri
tui
sent
it
ledt
odamagesandat
tor
ney
’sf
ees. 28

I
nt heassail
eddecision,theCourtofAppeal saf f
irmedtheNat i
onalLaborRel
ati
ons
Commi ssi
onwi t
hthemodi fi
cati
ont hatFujiimmedi at
elyrei
nstateArl
enetoherposi
ti
onas
NewsPr oducerwi t
houtlossofseni orit
yri
ght s,
andpayherbackwages, 13th-
monthpay ,
mid
-yearandyear-endbonuses,sickleav eandv acati
onleavewithpayuntil
rei
nstat
ed,moral
damages, exemplarydamages, at
t orney’
sfees,andlegali
nterestof12%perannum ofthe
totalmonetaryawards. TheCour
29
tofAppeal sruledthat:

WHEREFORE, f
orlackofmer i
t,thepeti
ti
onofFujiTel
evi
sionNetwork,I
nc.andYoshi
kiAokiis
DENIEDandt hepetit
ionofArleneS.Espiri
tuisGRANTED.Accordingl
y,t
heDecisi
ondatedMar ch5,
2010oftheNat i
onalLaborRelationsCommi ssi
on,6t
hDivisi
oninNLRCNCRCaseNo.05- 06811-09
anditssubsequentResolut
iondat edApri
l26,2010areherebyAFFIRMEDwi t
hMODIFICATIONS, as
fol
lows:

Fuj
iTel
evi
sion,
Inc.i
sherebyORDEREDt oimmediat
elyREI
NSTATEArleneS.Espi
ri
tut
oherposi
ti
on
asNewsProducerwithoutl
ossofseni
ori
tyri
ght
sandpr i
vi
legesandt
opayherthefol
l
owing:

1.Backwagesattherateof$1,
900.
00permont
hcomput
edf
rom May5,
2009(
thedat
eof
di
smissal
),unt
ilr
einst
ated;

2.13t
hMont hPayatt
her
ateof$1,
900.
00perannum f
rom t
hedat
eofdi
smi
ssal
,unt
il
rei
nst
ated;
 3.Oneandahalf(11/2)monthspayor$2,
850.
00asmi
dyearbonuspery
earf
rom t
hedat
e
ofdi
smissal
,unt
ilr
einst
ated;

4.Oneandahalf(11/2)monthspayor$2,
850.
00asy
ear
-endbonuspery
earf
rom t
hedat
e
ofdi
smissal
,unt
ilr
einst
ated;

5.Sickl
eaveof30day
swi
thpayor$1,
900.
00pery
earf
rom t
hedat
eofdi
smi
ssal
,unt
il
rei
nstat
ed;
and

6.Vacat
ionleavewit
hpayequi
val
entt
o14day
sor$1,
425.
00perannum f
rom dat
eof
di
smissal,
until
rei
nstat
ed.

7.Theamountof₱100,
000.
00asmor
aldamages;

8.Theamountof₱50,
000.
00asex
empl
arydamages;

9.At
tor
ney
’sf
eesequi
val
entt
o10%oft
het
otal
monet
aryawar
dsher
einst
ated;
and

10.Legal
int
erestoftwelvepercent(12%)perannum oft
het
otal
monet
aryawar
dscomput
ed
fr
om May5,2009, unt
ilt
heirf
ullsati
sfact
ion.

TheLaborAr
bit
erisherebyDIRECTEDtomakeanot
herr
ecomput
ati
onoft
heabov
emonet
ary
awar
dsconsist
entwit
ht heabovedir
ect
ives.

SOORDERED. 30

Inarr
ivi
ngatthedeci
si
on,t
heCour tofAppealsheldthatArl
enewasaregularempl
oyeebecauseshe
wasengagedt oper
for
m workthatwasnecessar yordesi
rabl
einthebusi
nessofFuj
i, 
andt
31
he
successi
verenewal
sofherfi
xed-t
erm cont
ractresul
tedinregul
aremploy
ment .
32

Accor
dingtotheCour tofAppeals,Sonzadoesnotapplyi
nordert
oestabli
shthatArl
enewasan
i
ndependentcontractorbecauseshewasnotcont r
actedonaccountofanypeculi
arabi
li
ty,
speci
al
tal
ent
,orski
ll
. Thef
33
actthatever
ythi
ngusedbyAr l
eneinherworkwasownedbyFuj inegatedt
he
i
deaofjobcontracti
ng.
34

TheCourtofAppealsalsoheldthatAr
lenewasil
legal
l
ydismissedbecauseFujif
ail
edt ocomplywi
th
ther
equi
rementsofsubst ant
iveandprocedur
aldueprocessnecessar
yforherdismissalsi
nceshe
wasaregularemployee.
35

TheCour tofAppealsfoundthatAr
lenedidnotsignthenon-
renewalcont
ractv
olunt
ari
lyandthatt
he
cont
ractwasamer esubterf
ugebyFujitosecureit
sposit
ionthati
twasherchoicenottorenewher
cont
ract.Shewasl eftwit
hnochoicesinceFuji
wasdecidedonsev er
ingheremployment.36

Fuj
ifi
ledamoti
onforr
econsi
der
ati
ont
hatwasdeni
edi
nther
esol
uti
on 
dat
edDecember7,
37
2012f
or
fai
l
uretorai
senewmatter
s. 38

Aggriev
ed, Fuj
ifi
ledt
hispeti
ti
onforrevi
ewandar guedthattheCourtofAppealserredi
naff
ir
ming
withmodi f
icat
iontheNati
onalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssi
on’sdecisi
on,hol
dingthatArl
enewasa
regul
arempl oyeeandthatshewasill
egall
ydismi
ssed.Fujialsoquesti
onedtheawar dofmonet
ary
clai
ms, benefi
ts,
anddamages. 39
Fuj
i pointsoutt hatAr l
enewashi r
edasast ri
nger,anditinfor
medhert hatshewoul dremai n
one. 
40
Shewashi redasani ndependentcont r
actorasdef i
nedi nSonz a. Fujihadnocont r
oloverher 41

work. 
42
Theempl oy mentcont r
actswer eexecut edandr enewedannual l
yuponAr lene’
sinsist
enceto
whichFuj ir
elent edbecauseshehadski llsthatdisti
nguishedherf rom ordinaryempl oyees. Arl
ene 43

andFuj idealtonequal termswhent heynegot i

atedandent eredintotheempl oyment
contracts. Ther
44
ewasnoi ll
egaldismissal becauseshef r
eelyagreednott or enewherf ixed-
term
contractasev idencedbyhere- mai l
cor respondenceswi thYoshiki Aoki. I
nf act,thesi
gningoft he 45

non-renewal cont ractwasnotnecessar yt oterminateherempl oymentsi nce" suchempl oyment

ter
mi nateduponexpi r
ationofhercont ract." Fi
nall
y,Fujihaddeal twithAr
46
leneingoodf ai
th,t
hus,
sheshoul dnothav ebeenawar deddamages. 47

Fuj
iall
egesthatitdidnotneedaper manentr
epor t
ersincethenewsr epor
tedbyArl
enecouldeasi
ly
besecuredfr
om ot herenti
ti
esorfrom t
heint
ernet. Fuji"
nevercontroll
edthemannerbywhichshe48

per
formedherfunct i
ons." I
twasAr l
enewhoinsistedthatFuj
49
iexecuteyearl
yfi
xed-
ter
m contr
acts
sothatshecouldnegot i
ateforannuali
ncr
easesinherpay . 50

Fujipoint
soutt hatArl
enereportedforworkforonlyf
ive(5)day si
nFebruary2009,t
hree(3)day sin
Mar ch2009,andone( 1)dayi nApri
l2009. Despi
tetheprovisioni
nherempl
51
oymentcontractthat
sickleavesinexcessof30day sshal
lnotbepaid,Fuj
ipaidArleneherenti
resalar
yforthemont hsof
Mar ch,Apri
l
,andMay ;f
our(4)monthsofseparati
onpay ;
andabonusf ort
woandahal fmont hsfora
totalofUS$18,050.00. Despit
ehavingrecei
vedt
52
heamountofUS$18, 050.00,Arl
enestil
lfi
ledacase
foril
legaldi
smissal. 53

Fujifurtherar guest hattheci

rcumstanceswouldshowt hatArlenewasnoti l
legall
ydismissed.The
decisiont onotrenewhercont ractwasmut ual
l
yagr eeduponbyt heparti
esasi ndi
catedinAr l
ene’
se
-mail 
54
dat edMar ch11, 2009wher esheconsentedtot henon-renewalofhercont r
actbutrefusedto
signany thing. Aoki
55
i
nformedAr l
eneinane-mail datedMar ch12, 2009thatshedidnotneedt
56
o
signar esignati
onl etterandt
hatFujiwouldpayAr l
ene’ssalaryandbonusunt ilMay2009aswel las
separ ationpay . 57

Arl
enesentane-maildat
edMar ch18,2009wi t
hherversi
onofthenon-
renewalagr
eementthatshe
agr
eedtosignthist
ime. Thisatt
achedv er
sioncont
ainedapr
58
ovi
si
onthatFuj
ishal
lre-
hir
eherifshe
wasstil
li
nter
estedt
owor kforFuji
. ForFuji
,Arl
ene’
se-mail
showedthatshehadt
59
hepowerto
bar
gain. 60

Fuj
ithenposit
sthattheCourtofAppealserr
edwheni theldthattheelementsofanempl oyer
-
employeerel
ati
onshiparepresent,
par
ti
cular
lythatofcontrol
; thatArl
ene’sseparati
onfr
om 61

employmentupont heexpi
rati
onofhercontr
actconstit
utesil
legaldismissal
; thatArl
enei
senti
tl
ed 62

tor
einstat
ement; andthatFujii
sli
abl
et
63
oArlenefordamagesandat tor
ney ’
sfees. 64

Thispeti
ti
onf orrevi
ewoncer t
iorar
i underRule45wasfil
edonFebruary8,2013. OnFebruar
y27, 65

2013,Arl
enef i
ledamani f
estat
ion  stat
ingthatthi
scour
tmaynottakej
66
uri
sdicti
onovert
hecase
sinceFuj
ifai
ledt oauthor
izeCorazonE.Acer dentosi
gnthever
if
icat
ion. Fuj
i f
il
edacommenton 67

themanifest
at i
on onMar ch9,2013.
68

Basedont
hear
gument
soft
hepar
ti
es,
ther
ear
epr
ocedur
alandsubst
ant
ivei
ssuesf
orr
esol
uti
on:

I.Whethert
hepetit
ionf
orrevi
ewshouldbedismissedasCorazonE.Acer
den,
thesi
gnat
ory
oftheveri
fi
cati
onandcert
ifi
cati
onofnonforum shoppi
ngofthepet
it
ion,
hadnoaut
hori
tyt
o
signthever
if
icat
ionandcert
if
icat
iononbehalfofFuj
i;
 II
.Whethert
heCourtofAppealscorrect
lydeter
minedthatnogr
aveabuseofdi scret
ionwas
commi t
tedbytheNati
onalLaborRelati
onsCommi ssi
onwhenitrul
edt hatAr
lenewasa
regul
aremploy
ee,notanindependentcontr
actor,
andthatshewasil
legall
ydi
smi ssed;and

I
II
.WhethertheCour
tofAppeal
sproperl
ymodif
iedtheNat
ionalLaborRel
ati
ons
Commission’
sdeci
sionbyawar
dingrei
nstat
ement,
damages,andattor
ney’
sfees.

Thepet
it
ionshoul
dbedi
smi
ssed.

Val
i
dit
yoft
hev
eri
fi
cat
ionandcer
ti
fi
cat
ionagai
nstf
orum shoppi
ng

I
nit
scommentonAr lene’
smanifest
ati
on,Fujial
l
egest hatCor
azonwasaut hor
izedt
osignthe
v
eri
fi
cat
ionandcert
if
icati
onofnon-f
orum shoppingbecauseMr .Shuj
iYanowasempower edunder
t
hesecr
etar
y’scer
ti
fi
catetodel
egatehisauthori
tytosignthenecessar
ypleadi
ngs,i
ncl
udi
ngthe
v
eri
fi
cat
ionandcert
if
icati
onagai
nstforum shopping. 69

Ont heotherhand, Ar
lenepointsout thattheaut hor
it
ygi vent oMr .ShujiYanoandMr .JinEt ointhe
secretar
y’scer
tif
icateisonlyfort hepetiti
onf orcer
tiorar
i beforetheCour tofAppeals. 
70
Fujidi
dnot
att
achanyboar dr esoluti
onauthor i
zi
ngCor azonoranyot herper sont of
ileapet i
ti
onf orrevi
ewon
cert
iorar
iwiththi
scour t
. Shuj
71
i YanoandJi nEtocoul dnotr e-del
egatet hepowert hatwasdel egated
tothem. 
72
I
naddition,t
hespeci alpowerofat t
orneyex ecutedbyShuj iYanoi nfavorofCor azon
i
ndicatedthatshewasempower edtosi gnonbehal fofShuj iYano, andnotonbehal fofFuji.
73

TheRulesofCourtrequir
esthe
submissi
onofveri
fi
cationand
cert
if
icat
ionagai
nstforum shoppi
ng

Rule7,Secti
on4ofthe1997Rul
esofCi
vi
lPr
ocedurepr
ovi
destherequi
rementofver
if
icati
on,whil
e
Secti
on5oft hesamerul
eprov
idest
her
equi
rementofcer
ti
fi
cat
ionagai
nstfor
um shopping.These
secti
onsstate:

SEC.4.Veri
ficati
on.—Exceptwhenother
wisespeci
fi
cal
l
yrequi
redbyl
aworr
ule,
pleadi
ngsneed
notbeunderoath,
ver
if
iedoraccompani
edbyaff
idavi
t.

Apl
eadi
ngisveri
fi
edbyanaffi
davi
tthatt
heaff
ianthasreadt
hepl
eadi
ngandt
hatt
heal
l
egat
ions
t
her
einar
etrueandcor
rectofhi
sknowledgeandbeli
ef.

Apleadi
ngrequiredtobev
erif
iedwhi
chcontai
nsaveri
fi
cati
onbasedon" i
nfor
mat
ionandbel
i
ef,
"or
upon"knowledge,i
nfor
mati
onandbelief
,"orl
acksaproperver
if
icat
ion,
shall
bet
reat
edasan
unsi
gnedpleading.

SEC.5.Certificati
onagai nstforum shoppi ng.—Thepl ai
nti
fforprincipalpartyshallcer
tif
yunderoat h
i
nt hecompl aintor otherinit
iatorypleadingasser t
ingaclai
mf orrelieforinaswor ncer ti
fication
annexedther etoandsi mul t
aneousl yfi
ledt herewith:(
a)thathehasnott heretofor
ecommencedany
acti
onorf i
l
edanycl aimi nvolvi
ngt hesamei ssuesi nanycour t
,tri
bunal orquasi-j
udici
alagencyand,
tothebestofhi sknowl edge, nosuchot heract ionorclai
mi spendingt herein;(
b)ifthereissuch
otherpendingact ionorcl ai
m, acompl etest atementoft hepresentst at
ust hereof;and(c)i fhe
shouldther
eaf t
erlear nthatthesameorsi mi l
aract i
onorclaim hasbeenf i
ledorispendi ng, heshal
l
reportt
hatfactwi thinf i
ve( 5)day stherefrom t othecourtwhereinhi saforesaidcompl ai
ntor
i
nit
iat
orypl
eadi
nghasbeenf
il
ed.

Fail
uretocompl ywi t
ht hef oregoingrequirementsshallnotbecur ablebymer eamendmentoft he
compl ai
ntorot herinit
iatorypl eadingbutshallbecausef orthedismi ssalofthecasewi t
hout
prej
udice,unlessot herwi sepr ovi
ded, uponmot i
onandaf terhearing.Thesubmi ssi
onofaf al
se
cert
ifi
cati
onornon- compl i
ancewi t
hanyoft heundertakingsthereinshal l
consti
tut
ei ndi
rect
contemptof court,withoutpr ejudicetot hecorr
espondingadmi nistrat
iveandcr i
minalact
ions.I
fthe
actsofthepar tyorhi scounsel clearl
yconstit
utewill
fulanddeliberatef or
um shopping,t
hesame
shallbegroundf orsummar ydi smissal wi
thprej
udiceandshal lconstitutedi
rectcontempt,aswell
asacausef oradmi nistrati
v esanct i
ons.

Section4(e)ofRule45  r
74
equi
resthatpeti
ti
onsf orrevi
ewshould"cont
ainasworncerti
fi
cati
on
againstforum shoppingasprovidedinthelastparagraphofsecti
on2,Rul
e42."Sect
ion5oft he
samer ul
epr ovidesthatf
ailur
etocompl ywithanyr equir
ementinSect
ion4issuff
ici
entgroundto
dismissthepet i
ti
on.

Ef
fect
sofnon-
compl
i
ance

Uyv
.Landbank 
discussedt
75
heef
fectofnon-
compl
i
ancewi
thr
egar
dtov
eri
fi
cat
ionandst
atedt
hat
:

[
t]her equirementr egardingv erifi
cat i
onofapl eadingisf ormal,notjuri
sdicti
onal.Suchr equir
ement
i
ssi mpl yacondi tionaffectingt hef orm ofpleadi ng,t
henon- complianceofwhi chdoesnot
necessar il
yr enderthepl eadingf atall
ydef ecti
v e.Veri
ficati
oni ssimplyintendedt osecurean
assur ancet hattheallegationsi nthepl eadingar et r
ueandcor rectandnott hepr oductofthe
i
magi nati
onoramat terofspecul ati
on, andthatt hepleadi ngisfil
edingoodf aith.Thecour tmay
ordert hecor rect
ionoft hepl eadingi fthev eri
ficati
onisl ackingoractont hepleadi ngalthoughi
tis
notv erif
ied,iftheattendingci rcumst ancesar esucht hatst r
ictcompl i
ancewi t
ht herulesmaybe
dispensedwi thinorderthatt heendsofj usti
cemayt herebybeser ved. 
76
(
Citati
onsomi tted)

Shipsi
deI
ncor
porat
edv.Cour
tofAppeals ci
tedt
hedi
77
scussi
oninUyanddi ff
erenti
atedi
tsef
fect
fr
om non-
compli
ancewit
htherequi
rementofcer
ti
fi
cati
onagainstf
orum shopping:

Ont heot herhand, t

hel ackofcer ti
fi
cationagai nstforum shoppingisgenerallynotcur ablebyt he
submi ssionthereofaf t
ert hef i
li
ngoft hepet iti
on.Sect i
on5, Rule45oft he1997Rul esofCi vi
l
Procedur eprovidesthatt hef ail
ureoft hepet it
ionertosubmi ttherequir
eddocument sthatshoul d
accompanyt hepet it
ion,includingthecer t
if
icationagainstforum shopping,shall
besuf fi
cient
groundf orthedi smissalt hereof.Thesamer ul
eappl i
est ocertif
icat
ionsagainstforum shoppi ng
si
gnedbyaper sononbehal fofacor por ati
onwhi char eunaccompani edbypr oofthatsai dsignator
y
i
saut horizedtof il
eapet itiononbehal foft hecor porati
on. 
78
(Emphasi ssuppli
ed)Effect sof
substantialcompl i
ancewi thther equir
ementofv er
ifi
cationandcer ti
fi
cati
onagainstf orum shopping

Alt
hought
hegeneral
rulei
sthatfai
lur
etoatt
achaveri
fi
cat
ionandcer
ti
fi
cat
ionagai
nstfor
um
shoppi
ngi
sagroundfordi
smissal,
ther
earecaseswher
ethiscour
tal
l
owedsubstant
ial
compli
ance.

InLoy
olav.Cour
tofAppeals, 
peti
ti
onerAl
79
anLoy olasubmit
tedtherequi
redcert
if
icat
iononeday
aft
erfi
l
inghi
select
oral
protest
. Thi
scourtconsi
80
deredt
hesubsequentfi
li
ngassubstanti
al
compli
ancesi
ncethepurposeoffi
li
ngthecert
if
icati
onistocurt
ailf
orum shoppi
ng. 81

I
nLDPMar ket
ing,I
nc.v
.Monter, 
Ma.LourdesDel
82
aPeñasi
gnedthev er
if
icat
ionandcert
ifi
cati
on
agai
nstfor
um shoppingbutf
ail
edtoatt
acht heboardr
esol
uti
onindi
cati
ngherauthori
tytosign. 
In 83

amotionforreconsi
der
ati
on,LDPMarketi
ngat t
achedt
hesecret
ary’
scerti
fi
catequot
ingtheboard
resol
utiont hatauthorizedDel aPeña. 
84
Citi
ngShipside,thi
scour tdeemedt hebelatedsubmi ssionas
substantialcompl i
ancesi nceLDPMar keti
ngcompl iedwitht herequir
ement ;
whati tfail
edtodowas
toatt
achpr oofofDel aPeña’ saut hori
tytosign. 
85
Hav t
orManagementPhi ls.
,Inc.v.NationalLabor
Relat
ionsCommi ssi
on 
86
andGener al
Mi l
li
ngCor porati
onv .NationalLaborRelati
ons
Commi ssi on 
87
involv
edpet it
ionsthatwer edismissedf orf
ai l
uretoattachanydocumentshowi ng
thatt
hesi gnator
yont hev eri
fi
cationandcer ti
fi
cati
onagai nstforum-shoppingwasaut hori
zed. 
88
In
bothcases, t
hesecr etary’
scer t
ifi
catewasat tachedt othemot ionforreconsi
deration. 
89
Thiscourt
consi
der edt hesubsequentsubmi ssionofproofindicati
ngaut horit
ytosignassubst antial
compl i
ance. 
90
Alt
resv .Empl eo 
91
summar izedtherulesonv er
ifi
cati
onandcer ti
fi
cationagainstforum
shoppingi nthismanner :

Fortheguidanceofthebenchandbar ,
theCourtrest
atesi
ncapsul
eformthej
uri
sprudent
ial
pronouncements...respect
ingnon-
compliancewithther
equi
rementon,
orsubmissi
onofdefect
ive,
veri
fi
cati
onandcerti
ficati
onagai
nstforum shoppi
ng:

1)Adi
sti
nct
ionmustbemadebet weennon-compli
ancewithther
equir
ementonor
submi
ssi
onofdef
ecti
vever
if
icati
on,andnoncompliancewit
htherequi
rementonor
submi
ssi
onofdef
ecti
vecer
ti
ficat
ionagai
nstforum shoppi
ng.

2)Ast ov eri
fi
cati
on,non-compliancet herewi
thoradefectther
eindoesnotnecessar il
y
renderthepleadingfatal
lydefective.Thecourtmayorderitssubmissionorcorrecti
onoract
ont hepleadingift
heat t
endingci r
cumst ancesar
esucht hatstr
ictcompliancewiththeRul
e
maybedi spensedwithinordert hattheendsofjust
icemaybeser vedthereby.

3)Ver
ifi
cati
onisdeemedsubst
antial
l
ycompli
edwit
hwhenonewhohasampl eknowledge
tosweartothetr
uthoft
heall
egati
onsint
hecomplai
ntorpet
it
ionsi
gnstheveri
fi
cat
ion,and
whenmat t
ersall
egedi
nthepeti
ti
onhavebeenmadeingoodfait
horar
et r
ueandcorrect.

4)Ast ocer
ti
ficati
onagai nstforum shoppi
ng,
non-compliancet
herewit
horadefectther
ein,
unli
keinveri
ficati
on,isgenerall
ynotcurabl
ebyi t
ssubsequentsubmissi
onorcorr
ection
thereof
,unl
esst hereisaneedt or el
axtheRul
eont hegroundof"subst
anti
alcompli
ance"or
presenceof"specialcir
cumst ancesorcompell
ingreasons."

5)Thecerti
ficati
onagai nstfor
um shoppingmustbesi gnedbyall
theplai
nti
ff
sorpet i
ti
oners
i
nacase; otherwise,thosewhodi dnotsignwillbedr
oppedaspar t
iestothecase.Under
reasonabl
eorj ust
ifi
ablecircumstances,however,
aswhenal lt
heplai
nti
ff
sorpet i
ti
oners
shareacommoni nt
erestandi nv
okeacommoncauseofact i
onordefense,t
hesignatur
eof
onlyoneofthem inthecer t
ifi
cati
onagainstfor
um shoppingsubst
anti
all
ycomplieswiththe
Rule.

6)Final
l
y ,
thecerti
fi
cati
onagainstf
orum shoppi
ngmustbeex ecut
edbythepart
y-pl
eader
,
notbyhiscounsel.I
f,however
,forr
easonableorj
usti
fi
ablereasons,t
hepart
y-pl
eaderi
s
unabletosign,hemustexecuteaSpecialPowerofAt
torneydesignat
inghi
scounselof
recordt
osi gnonhisbehal
f. 92

Ther
ewassubstant
ialcompli
ance
byFuj
iTel
evi
sionNetwork,
Inc.

Bei
ngacor por
ati
on,Fujiexerci
sesitspowertosueandbesuedt hroughit
sboardofdirect
orsor
dul
yauthori
zedoffi
cersandagent s.Thus,
thephysi
calactofsi
gningtheveri
fi
cat
ionand
cer
ti
fi
cati
onagainstforum shoppi
ngcanonl ybedonebynaturalpersonsdul
yauthor
izedeitherby
t
hecor
por
ateby
-l
awsoraboar
dresol
uti
on. 93

I
nitspet i
ti
onforrevi
ewoncer t
iorar
i,Fuj
iatt
achedHideakiOta’ssecretary’
scert
ifi
cate, aut
94
hori
zing
ShujiYanoandJi nEtotorepresentandsignforandonbehal fofFuji. Thesecr
95
etar
y’scer t
if
icat
e
wasdul yauthent
icated bySul
96
pici
oConf i
ado,Consul-
GeneralofthePhi l
ippi
nesinJapan.Li kewise
att
achedt othepetit
ioni
st hespecialpowerofattor
neyexecutedbyShuj iYano,aut
horizingCorazon
tosignonhi sbehalf
. 
97
Thev er
if
icati
onandcer t
if
icat
ionagainstforum shoppingwassi gnedby
Corazon.
98

Arlenefi
ledthemani
festati
ondat
edFebr
uary27,2013,ar
gui
ngthatthepeti
ti
onf
orreviewshoul
dbe
dismissedbecauseCorazonwasnotdul
yauthor
izedtosi
gntheveri
fi
cati
onandcer
tif
icati
onagai
nst
forum shopping.

Fuj
ifi
l
edacommentonAr l
ene’
smanifest
ation,st
ati
ngt
hatCor
azonwasproper
lyaut
hor
izedtosi
gn.
Onthebasi
soft
hesecr
etary’
scer
ti
fi
cate,Shuji
Yanowasempoweredtodel
egatehi
saut
horit
y.

Quot
ingt
heboar
dresol
uti
ondat
edMay13,
2010,
thesecr
etar
y'
scer
ti
fi
cat
est
ates:

(a)TheCor porati
onshal lf
il
eaPet it
ionforCer t
ior
ariwiththeCour tofAppeals,against
Phil
ippines’ Nati
onalLaborRel ati
onsCommi ssion("NLRC" )andArleneS.Espiri
tu,pert
aini
ng
toNLRC- NCRCaseNo.LAC00- 002697-09,RABNo.05- 06811-00andent i
tl
ed" Arl
eneS.
Espiri
tuv .FujiTel
ev i
sionNet work,I
nc./
YoshikiAoki",andpar ti
ci
pateinanyot hersubsequent
proceedingt hatmaynecessar il
yari
setherefrom,includingbutnotlimit
edtot hefil
ingof
appealsint heappr opriat
ev enue;

(b)Mr .Shuj
iYanoandMr .Ji
nEt obeaut horized,astheyar
eher ebyaut
hori
zed,
tov er
if
yand
executethecerti
fi
cati
onagainstnonf or
um shoppi ngwhichmaybenecessar yorr
equiredto
beat t
achedtoanypleadingto[sic]submi t
tedt otheCourtofAppeals;
andtheauthori
tyto
sov er
ifyandcerti
fyf
ortheCor porati
oninf avorofthesaidpersonsshall
subsi
standr emai
n
effect
iveunti
ltheter
minati
onoft hesaidcase;

....

(d)Mr.Shuji
YanoandMr .JinEt obeauthori
zed,astheyareherebyaut hori
zed,t
orepresent
andappearonbehalft
he[ sic]Corporat
ioninall
stagesofthe[sic]thiscaseandinanyot her
proceedingt
hatmaynecessar il
yariset
herefor
m[ sic]
,andtoactint heCorporat
ion’
sname,
placeandsteadt
odetermi ne,propose,agr
ee,decide,do,
andper form anyandalloft
he
foll
owing:

1.Thepossibil
i
tyofami
cabl
eset
tl
ementorofsubmi
ssi
ont
oal
ter
nat
ivemodeof
di
sputeresolut
ion;

2.Thesi
mpl
i
ficat
ionoft
hei
ssue;

3.Thenecessi
tyordesi
rabi
l
ityofamendment
stot
hepl
eadi
ngs;

4.Thepossi
bil
i
tyofobt
aini
ngst
ipul
ati
onoradmi
ssi
onoff
act
sanddocument
s;and

5.Suchothermatter
sasmayaidi
nthepr
omptdi
sposi
ti
onoft
heact
ion. 
(Emphasi
s 99

i
nt heor
igi
nal;
Ital
i
csomit
ted)
Shuj
iYanoexecutedaspecialpowerofatt
orneyappoint
ingMs.Ma.CorazonE.Acer
denandMr
.
MoisesA.Rol
ler
aashisattorneys-
in-
fact
. Thespeci
100
alpowerofat
tor
neystat
es:

ThatI,SHUJIYANO, oflegalage,Japanesenat i
onal, wit
hof f
iceaddr essat2- 4-
8Dai ba,Mi nato-Ku,
Tokyo, 137-8088Japan, andbeingther epresentati
veofFuj iTV, INc.,[
sic](evi
dencedbyt heat t
ached
Secretary’sCerti
ficate)oneoft herespondent si nNLRC- NCRCaseNo.05- 06811-00ent it
led"Arlene
S.Espirit
uv .FujiTelevisionNetwork, I
nc./YoshikiAoki "
,andsubsequent lydocketedbef oretheCour t
ofAppeal sasC. A.G. R.S.P.No.114867( Consol i
datedwi thSPNo.114889)doher ebymake,
consti
tut eandappoi ntMs.Ma.Cor azonE.Acer denandMr .Moi sesA.Rol ler
aasmyt rueandl awf ul
att
orney s-i
nfactformeandmyname, pl
aceandst eadt oactandr epresentmei ntheabov e-
ment i
onedcase, withspeci alpowert omakeadmi ssion/sandst ipulati
onsand/ ortomakeand
submitaswel last oacceptandappr ov ecompr omi sepr oposalsuponsucht ermsandcondi t
ions
andundersuchcov enant sasmyat torney-i
n-factmaydeem f it
,andt oengaget heservicesofVi ll
a
JudanandCr uzLawOf ficesasthelegal counsel t
or epresenttheCompanyi ntheSupr emeCour t;

ThesaidAttorneys-i
n-Factareherebyf
urt
herauthor
izedtomake, si
gn,
execut
eanddeli
versuch
papersordocument sasmaybenecessar yinfurt
heranceofthepowerthusgrant
ed,
part
icul
arl
yto
si
gnandexecut et heveri
ficati
onandcert
if
icat
ionofnon-f
orum shoppi
ngneededtobe
fi
led. (
Emphasi
101
sintheor igi
nal)

Initscomment  onAr
102
l
ene’
smani festati
on,Fujiarguest hatShuj i
Yanocoul dfurtherdelegatehi s
authorit
ybecauset heboar dresoluti
onempower edhimt o" actintheCor poration’sname, placeand
steadt odetermine, propose,agree,decided[sic]
, doandper for
m anyandal loft hefoll
owing: ...
suchot hermat t
er sasmayai dinthepr omptdi spositi
onoft heaction." 
103
Tocl arify
,Fujiatt
acheda
veri
ficati
onandcer ti
ficati
onagainstforum shoppi ng,butAr lenequest i
onsCor azon’sauthorit
yt o
sign.Arlenearguest hatt hesecretar
y’scerti
ficat
eempower edShuj iYanot ofileapet i
tionfor
certi
oraribefor
et heCour tofAppeals,andnotapet it
ionf orreviewbef orethiscour t,
andt hatsince
ShujiYano’sauthor i
t ywasdel egatedtohim, hecoul dnotf urtherdelegatesuchpower .Moreov er
,
Corazonwasr epresent ingShujiYanoi nhispersonal capacity,andnoti nhiscapaci tyas
representati
veofFuj i
.

Ar evi
ewoft heboar dr esolut
ionquot edint hesecr etar
y ’
scertif
icateshowst hatFujishall
" f
il
ea
Petit
ionforCer t
ior
ari withtheCour tofAppeal s"  and"
104
parti
cipateinanyot hersubsequent
proceedingthatmaynecessar il
yarisetherefr
om, includingbutnotl imi t
edtothefil
ingofappeal si
n
theappropriat
ev enue,"  andt
105
hatShujiYanoandJi nEtoar eauthorizedtorepresentFuji"
inany
otherproceedingthatmaynecessar il
yar i
setherefor m[sic].
" 
106
Aspoi ntedoutbyFuji,Shuj
i Yanoand
JinEtower ealsoaut horizedto" actintheCor poration’
sname, placeandst eadtodet ermine,
propose,agree,decide, do,andper form anyandal lofthef oll
owing: ...5.Suchothermat tersasmay
aidinthepromptdi sposi ti
onoft heact i
on."
107

Consideri
ngthatthesubsequentpr
oceedi
ngt
hatmayari
sefrom t
hepeti
ti
onforcer
tior
ari
wi t
hthe
CourtofAppealsisthefi
li
ngofapetit
ionf
orr
evi
ewwiththi
scourt
,Fuj
isubst
anti
all
ycompliedwit
h
theprocedur
alrequir
ement.

Ontheissueofwhet
herShuj
iYanoval
i
dlydel
egat
edhi
saut
hor
it
ytoCor
azon,
Art
icl
e1892oft
he
Ci
vi
l CodeofthePhi
l
ippi
nesstat
es:

ART.1892.Theagentmayappointasubst
it
utei
fthepri
nci
pal
hasnotpr
ohi
bit
edhi
mfr
om doi
ngso;
butheshal
lberesponsi
blef
ortheactsoft
hesubsti
tut
e:

(
1)Whenhewasnotgi
vent
hepowert
oappoi
ntone;
 (2)Whenhewasgivensuchpower,butwit
houtdesi
gnati
ngtheperson,andtheperson
appoi
ntedwasnot
or i
ousl
yincompet
entorinsol
vent
.All
actsofthesubstit
uteappoint
ed
agai
nstthepr
ohi
bit
ionofthepri
nci
palshal
lbevoid.

Thesecret
ary
’scer
ti
fi
cat
edoesnotstat
ethatShuj
iYanoisprohi
bit
edfrom appoi
nti
ngasubst
it
ute.
I
nfact,hei
sempoweredtodoact
sthatwil
lai
dintheresol
uti
onofthiscase.

Thi
scourthasrecognizedt
hattherear
einst
anceswhenoffi
ci
alsoremployeesofacorpor
ati
oncan
si
gntheveri
fi
cati
onandcer t
if
icat
ionagai
nstfor
um shoppi
ngwithoutaboardr
esol
uti
on.InCagay
an
Val
leyDr
ugCor porat
ionv.CI
R,  i
twasheldthat
108
:

I
nsum, wehav eheldthatthefoll
owingoff
ici
alsoremployeesofthecompanycansignthe
ver
ifi
cationandcer t
if
icati
onwithoutneedofaboar dr
esol
ution:(
1)theChai
rper
sonoftheBoardof
Dir
ectors,(2)thePresidentofacorpor
ati
on,(3)theGener
al ManagerorAct
ingGener
alManager,
(4)
PersonnelOf f
icer
,and( 5)anEmploymentSpeciali
sti
nalaborcase.

Whiletheabovecases  donotpr
109
ov i
deacompl et
elist
ingofaut hori
zedsi gnatoriestot
he
veri
fi
cati
onandcer ti
fi
cati
onr equir
edbyt herules,t
hedet er
minat i
onoft hesuf fi
ciencyofthe
authori
tywasdoneonacaset ocasebasi s.Therati
onaleappliedinthef oregoingcasesi st
ojust
if
y
theauthori
tyofcorporat
eof f
icersorrepresentati
vesofthecor porat
iont osignt heveri
fi
cati
onor
certi
fi
cateagai
nstforum shopping,being‘inapositi
ont overi
fythetruthfulnessandcor rect
nessof
theall
egati
onsinthepetiti
on.’ 110

Corazon’
saff
idav
it 
stat
111
est
hatsheisthe"of
fi
cemanagerandresi
denti
nter
pret
eroftheManil
a
BureauofFuj
iTel
evi
si
onNet
work,I
nc." andthatshehas"
112
hel
dtheposit
ionfort
helastt
wenty
-thr
ee
years.
"113

Astheoffi
cemanagerf or23years,
Corazoncanbeconsi
der
edashav i
ngknowledgeofal
lmatt
ersin
Fuji
’
sMani l
aBureauOfficeandisinaposit
iontov
eri
fy"t
hetr
uthf
ulnessandt
hecor r
ect
nessofthe
al
legat
ionsint
hePetit
ion." 114

Thus,
Fujisubstant
ial
l
ycompl
i
edwi
tht
her
equi
rement
sofv
eri
fi
cat
ionandcer
ti
fi
cat
ionagai
nst
for
um shopping.

Bef
orer
esolv
ingt
hesubst
anti
vei
ssuesint
hiscase,thi
scour
twi
l
ldi
scusst
hepr
ocedur
al
par
ameter
sofaRule45peti
ti
onf
orrevi
ewinlaborcases.

I
I

Pr
ocedur
alpar
amet
ersofpet
it
ionsf
orr
evi
ewi
nlaborcases

Art
icl
e223oftheLaborCode   doesnotprov
115
i
deanymodeofappeal fordecisionsoftheNat ional
LaborRel
ati
onsCommi ssion.Itmer el
ystat
est hat"[t
]hedecisi
onoftheCommi ssi
onshallbef i
nal
andexecut
oryaf
tert
en( 10)calendarday sfrom recei
ptthereofbythepart
ies."Beingfinal
,itisno
l
ongerappeal
abl
e.Howev er,thef i
nali
tyoft
heNat i
onalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssion’
sdecisions
doesnotmeanthatt
hereisnomor erecoursefortheparti
es.

InSt.Mart
inFuneral
Homev .Nati
onalLaborRel
ati
onsCommi ssion, thi
116
scourtcitedseveral
cases  
andr
117
ej
ect
edt henot
ionthatthi
scourthadnoj ur
isdict
iont oreviewdecisionsoft heNati
onal
LaborRel
ationsCommi ssi
on.Itst
atedthatt
hiscourthadt hepowert or eviewtheact softhe
Nati
onalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssi
ont oseeifi
tkeptwithinit
sj uri
sdictionindecidingcasesand
al
soasaf orm ofcheckandbal ance.  Thi
scour
118
tt
henclar
ifi
edthatj
udicialr
evi
ewofNationalLabor
Relat
ionsCommi ssi
ondecisi
onsshal lbebywayofapet i
ti
onforcer
tiorari
underRul
e65.Citingthe
doctr
ineofhierarchyofcourt
s,itfurt
herrul
edthatsuchpeti
ti
onsshallbefil
edbefor
etheCour tof
Appeals.Fr
om t heCourtofAppeal s,
anaggriev
edpartymayf i
l
eapetiti
onf orr
evi
ewoncer t
iorari
underRule45.

Apeti
ti
onf orcer
ti
orar
iunderRule65isanorigi
nalacti
onwherethei
ssueisli
mit
edtograveabuse
ofdi
scret
ion.Asanorigi
nalact
ion,i
tcannotbeconsideredasacont
inuat
ionoft
heproceedi
ngsof
thel
abortri
bunal
s.

Ontheotherhand,apet
iti
onforrevi
ewoncer ti
or ariunderRul
e45i samodeofappealwherethe
i
ssueislimit
edtoquest
ionsoflaw.Inlaborcases, aRule45petit
ioni
sli
mitedtor
evi
ewingwhether
theCourtofAppeal
scorrect
lydeter
minedthepr esenceorabsenceofgraveabuseofdiscr
eti
onand
deci
dingotherj
uri
sdi
cti
onalerr
orsoftheNat i
onal LaborRelat
ionsCommission. 119

I
nOdangov .NationalLaborRel ationsCommi ssion, t
120
hiscour texpl
ainedt hatapeti
tionforcerti
orar
i
i
sanex t
raordinaryr emedyt hatis" avail
ableonlyandr estr
icti
v el
yintr
ul yexcepti
onalcases"  and
121

thatitssoleof fi
ce" isthecor r
ectionofer rorsofjuri
sdicti
oni ncludi
ngcommi ssionofgraveabuseof
discreti
onamount ingtolackorex cessofj uri
sdict
ion.
"  Apet
122
iti
onforcer t
iorar
idoesnotincludea
reviewoff indingsoff actsincet hef indi
ngsoft heNational LaborRelationsCommi ssionare
accor dedfinalit
y. 
123
Incaseswher et heaggrievedpartyassai l
st heNationalLaborRelati
ons
Commi ssion’sfindings,heorshemustbeabl et oshowt hatt heCommi ssion"act
edcapr i
ciouslyand
whimsi call
yori nt otaldi
sregardofev i
dencemat eri
altothecont r
oversy." 124

Whenadeci si
onoftheCour tofAppeal
sunderaRul
e65pet
it
ioni
sbroughtt
othi
scour
tbywayofa
pet
it
ionforrevi
ewunderRule45, onl
yquest
ionsofl
awmaybedeci
dedupon.Ashel
dinMer
alco
I
ndustr
ialv.Nati
onalLaborRelat
ionsCommissi
on: 125

ThisCourtisnotat r
ieroffacts.Well-
sett
ledist herulethatt
hejuri
sdicti
onoft hisCourti
napet i
ti
on
forrevi
ewoncer ti
orariunderRule45oft heRev isedRul esofCourti
slimitedtor evi
ewingonlyerr
ors
oflaw,notoffact,unlessthefactualf
indi
ngscompl ainedofarecompl etel
ydev oidofsupportfr
om
theevidenceonrecor d,ortheassail
edjudgmenti sbasedonagr ossmi sapprehensionoffacts.
Besides,fact
ualfi
ndingsofquasi -
judi
cialagenciesliketheNLRC,whenaf f
ir
medbyt heCourtof
Appeals,areconcl
usiv euponthepar t
iesandbi ndingont hi
sCourt. 126

Car
eerPhi
li
ppi
nesv.Ser
na, 
cit
ingMont
127
oyav
.Tr
ansmed, 
i
sinst
ruct
iveont
hepar
amet
ersof
128

j
udi
cial
rev
iewunderRul
e45:

Asarul
e,onl
yquest
ionsofl
awmayber ai
sedi
naRule45peti
ti
on.I
nonecase,wediscussedthe
par
ti
cul
arpar
ameter
sofaRule45appealfr
om t
heCA’sRul
e65decisi
ononalaborcase,asfol
lows:

I
naRul e45review, weconsi dert hecorr
ectnessoft heassailedCAdeci si
on, incont rastwi t
ht he
revi
ewf orj
urisdicti
onalerrort hatweunder takeunderRul e65.Fur thermore,Rul e45l i
mit sust ot he
revi
ewofquest ionsofl awr aisedagainsttheassai ledCAdeci sion.Inruli
ngf orlegal corr ectness, we
havet ovi
ewt heCAdeci sionint hesamecont extthatthepet it
ionf orcert
iorariitruleduponwas
presentedtoit;wehav et oexami net
heCAdeci sionf r
om t hepr i
sm ofwhet heri tcor rectl
y
determinedthepr esenceorabsenceofgr aveabuseofdi scretionint heNLRCdeci sionbef or eit,
not
ont hebasi
sofwhet hertheNLRCdeci si
onont hemer i
tsofthecasewascor rect.I
not herwor ds,we
havet obekeenlyawar et hattheCAunder tookaRul e65r eview, notareviewonappeal ,oftheNLRC
decisi
onchallengedbef oreit.  (Emphasi
129
sint heoriginal)
Justi
ceBr i
on’
sdi ssenti
ngopinioni
nAbot tLaborat
ori
es, PhiI
ippi
nesv .Aicar
az  di
scussedt
130
hati
n
peti
tionsforr
eviewunderRul e45,"t
heCour tsi
mplydet ermineswhet herthelegal
correctnessofthe
CA’sf i
ndi
ngthatt heNLRCr ul
ing...hadbasisinfactandi nIaw." Int
131
hiskindofpeti
tion,t
heproper
questiontoberaisedis,"Di
dtheCAcor rectl
ydeter
mi newhet hertheNLRCcommi ttedgraveabuse
ofdiscret
ioni
nrul ingonthecase?" 132

Just
iceBr
ion’
sdi
ssent
ingopi
nional
sol
aiddownt
hef
oll
owi
nggui
del
i
nes:

IftheNLRCr ul
inghasbasisi
nt heevidenceandt heappli
cabl
el awandj ur
isprudence,t
hennogr av
e
abuseofdi screti
onexist
sandt heCAshoul dsodecl ar
eand,accor di
ngly,
dismissthepet i
ti
on.If
graveabuseofdi scret
ionexi
sts,thentheCAmustgr antthepetit
ionandnullif
ytheNLRCr ul
ing,
enteringatthesamet i
met heruli
ngthati sj
ust
if
iedundertheev i
denceandt hegov erni
nglaw, r
ules
andj uri
spr
udence.InourRule45r eview,thi
sCour tmustdenythepetit
ionifitfi
ndsthattheCA
correctl
yacted.  (
Emphasi
133
sintheoriginal)

Thesepar
amet
ersshal
lbeusedi
nresol
vi
ngt
hesubst
ant
ivei
ssuesi
nthi
spet
it
ion.

I
II

Det
ermi
nat
ionofempl
oymentst
atus;
bur
denofpr
oof

I
nt hiscase,thereisnoquestionthatAr
lenerenderedservi
cestoFuji
.Howev er
,Fujial
legesthat
Arlenewasani ndependentcontr
actor,
whileArleneal
legesthatshewasar egularemployee.To
resolvethisi
ssue, weascert
ainwhetheranempl oy
er-
employeerelat
ionshi
pexistedbetweenFuji
andAr lene.

Thi scourthasoftenusedthefour-
fol
dt esttodeterminetheexistenceofanemployer
-empl
oyee
relati
onship.Underthefour
-f
oldtest,
the" contr
oltest"i
sthemosti mportant
. Astohowt
134
he
element sinthefour-
fol
dtestareproven,thiscourthasdiscussedthat:

[t
]hereisnohar dandfastruledesi
gnedtoestabl
isht
heafor
esai del
ements.Anycompetentand
rel
ev antevi
dencetoprov etherel
ati
onshipmaybeadmitt
ed.Identi
fi
cati
oncards,
cashvouchers,
socialsecuri
tyregi
str
ation,appoi
ntmentlet
ter
soremploymentcontract
s,payr
oll
s,or
gani
zati
on
charts,andpersonnell
ists,
serveasevidenceofempl
oyeestatus. 135

Ift
hefact soft hi
scasev is-
à- v
isthefour -
fol
dtestshowt hatanempl oyer-
empl oyeer el
ati
onship
exi
sted, wethendet ermi net hestatusofAr l
ene’
sempl oyment,i.
e.,
whet hershewasar egul
ar
employ ee.Relati
vet othis,weshal lanalyzeArl
ene’sfixed-t
erm contractanddet ermi newhetherit
supportsherar gumentt hatshewasar egul
arempl oyee,ortheargumentofFuj ithatshewasan
i
ndependentcont ractor.Weshal lscrutini
zewhethert henatureofAr lene’
swor kwasnecessar yand
desi
rabl etoFuji’
sbusi nessorwhet herFujionl
yneededt heout putofherwor k.I
ft hecir
cumstances
showt hatArlene’swor kwasnecessar yanddesirabletoFuji,t
henshei spresumedt obearegular
employ ee.Thebur denofpr ovingthatshewasani ndependentcont ractorl
ieswithFuj i.

I
nlaborcases,t
hequantum ofpr
oofrequiredissubst
anti
alevidence. "
Subst
anti
al
136
evidence"has
beendefi
nedas"suchamountofr el
evantevidencewhi
char easonablemindmightacceptas
adequat
etojusti
fyaconcl
usion.
" 137

IfArl
enewasar egularemployee,wethendeter
minewhethershewasill
egal
l
ydismissed.In
compl ai
ntsf
oril
legaldi
smissal,t
heburdenofproofi
sontheemployeetoprovethefactof
dismissal
. Oncet
138
heemployeeestabl
ishest
hefactofdi
smissal
,support
edbysubstanti
alevi
dence,
thebur
denofproofshi
ft
stotheempl
oyert
oshowt
hatt
her
ewasaj
ustoraut
hor
izedcausef
ort
he
dismi
ssal
andthatdueprocesswasobser
ved. 139

I
V

Whethert
heCour
tofAppeal
scor
rect
lyaff
ir
medtheNati
onal
Labor
Rel
ati
onsCommissi
on’
sfi
ndi
ngthatArl
enewasaregul
aremploy
ee

Fujiallegest hatAr lenewasani ndependentcont ract or,ci

ti
ngSonzav .ABS- CBNandr elyingont he
foll
owi ngf acts: (1)shewashi redbecauseofherski ll
s;(2)hersal arywasUS$1, 900.00, whi chi s
highert hant henor mal r
at e;(
3)shehadt hepowert obar gainwi thherempl oyer ;and(4)hercont ract
wasf oraf ixedt erm.Accor di
ngt oFuj i,t
heCour tofAppeal ser redwheni tr ul
edt hatAr l
enewas
forcedt osi gnthenon- r
enewal agreement ,consi deringt hatshesentanemai lwi thanot herv ersi
onof
thenon- renewal agr eement . 
140
Fur t
her ,sheisnotent i
tl
edt omor al damagesandat tor
ney ’
sf ees
becausesheact edi nbadf ai
thwhenshef i
ledal aborcompl aintagai nstFuj iaft erreceiving
US$18, 050.00r epr esentinghersal aryandot herbenef i
ts. Arlenear
141
guest hatshewasar egul ar
empl oy eebecauseFuj ihadcont rol andsuper v i
sionov erherwor k.Thenewsev entsthatshecov ered
wer eal lbasedont hei nstructi
onsofFuj i. 
142
Shemai ntainsthatt hesuccessi ver enewal ofher
empl oy mentcont r
act sforf our(4)y earsindicatest hatherwor kwasnecessar yanddesi r able. 
143
I
n
addi t
ion, Fuji
’spay mentofsepar ati
onpayequi v
al enttoone( 1)mont h’spaypery earofser vice
i
ndi catest hatshewasar egularempl oyee. 
144
Tof urthersuppor therar gumentt hatshewasnotan
i
ndependentcont r
act or,shest atest hatFujiownst hel aptopcomput erandmi ni-camer at hatshe
usedf orwor k. 
145
Ar leneal soarguest hatSonzai snotappl i
cablebecauseshewasapl ainr epor t
erfor
Fuji,unl i
keJaySonz awhowasanewsanchor ,talkshowhost ,andwhoenj oyedacel ebr i
ty
status. 
146
Onheri llness, Ar l
enepoi ntsout t
hati twasnotagr oundf orherdi smissal becauseher
attendi ngphy siciancer t
ifiedthatshewasf i
tt owor k. 147

Arl
eneadmi tsthatshesignedthenon-r
enewalagreementwit
hqui t
clai
m, notbecausesheagr eedt
o
i
tsterms,butbecauseshewasnoti napositi
ontor ej
ectt
henon-renewal agreement.Furt
her
,she
badlyneededthesalarywithhel
dforhersust
enanceandmedi cat
ion.  Shepositsthather
148

acceptanceofseparati
onpaydoesnotbarf i
li
ngofacompl ai
ntforil
legaldismissal. 149

Ar
ti
cle280oft
heLaborCodepr
ovi
dest
hat
:

Art
.280.Regul arandcasual employment.Thepr ovisionsofwr i
tt
enagr eementt othecontrar
y
notwithst
andingandr egar
dlessoftheor alagreementoft heparties,anempl oymentshallbe
deemedt ober egul arwheretheempl oyeehasbeenengagedt oper form acti
v i
ti
eswhichareusual
ly
necessaryordesi rableint
heusual busi
nessort radeoft heempl oy er,
exceptwher etheempl oy
ment
hasbeenf ixedf oraspecif
icprojectorundertakingt hecompl eti
onort erminati
onofwhi chhasbeen
determinedatt het i
meoft heengagementoft heempl oyeeorwher ethewor korservicestobe
perfor
medi sseasonal i
nnatureandt heempl oymenti sforthedur ati
onoft heseason.

Anempl oymentshal
lbedeemedt obecasuali
fiti
snotcov er
edbyt heprecedi
ngparagraph;
Provi
ded,That,
anyempl oy
eewhohasr ender
edatleastoneyearofservi
ce,whethersuchservi
ceis
conti
nuousorbroken,shal
lbeconsi
deredaregul
aremployeewithrespecttotheacti
vi
tyinwhich
heisemployedandhisemploymentshall
conti
nuewhilesuchacti
vi
tyexist.

Thisprovi
sionclassif
iesemployeesint
or egular,
project,
seasonal,andcasual
.Itfur
therclassif
ies
regul
arempl oyeesint
ot wokinds:(
1)those" engagedt oper
form activ
iti
eswhichareusually
necessar
yordesi rabl
eintheusualbusinessort radeoftheempl oyer"
;and(2)casualempl oyees
whohav e"renderedatleastoneyearofservice,whethersuchser v
iceisconti
nuousorbr oken."
Anothercl
assi
fi
cat
ionofempl
oyees,
i.
e.,
employ
eeswi thf
ixed-t
erm cont
ract
s,wasr
ecogni
zedi
n
BrentSchool
,I
nc.v
.Zamora wheret
150
hi
scour
tdiscussedthat:

Logical
ly,t
hedecisi
vedetermi
nantinthet er
m employmentshouldnotbetheacti
vi
ti
esthatthe
empl oy
eeiscall
edupontoper for
m,butt hedaycert
ainagreeduponbytheparti
esfort
he
commencementandt er
mi nat
ionoftheiremploy
mentr el
ati
onshi
p,adaycertai
nbei
ngunderstoodt
o
be"thatwhichmustnecessaril
ycome, alt
houghitmaynotbeknownwhen. "  (
Emphasi
151
sinthe
ori
ginal)

Thi
scourtfurt
herdi
scussedthatt
her
eareemploy
mentcontr
act
swhere"af
ixedter
misanessential
andnatural
appurt
enance" suchasov
152
er
seasemploy
mentcont
ract
sandof
ficer
sineducat
ional
i
nsti
tut
ions.153

Dist
inct
ionsamongf ixed-
ter
m
employees,independentcontract
ors,
andregularempl oyees

GMANetwork,
Inc.v
.Pabr
iga  
expoundedt
154
hedoct
ri
neonf
ixedt
erm cont
ract
slai
ddowni
nBr
ent
in
t
hefol
l
owingmanner:

Cognizantoft
hepossi bi
l
ityofabuseintheutil
i
zationoffixedterm employmentcontracts,we
emphasizedinBrentt
hatwher efr
om thecir
cumst ancesitisapparentthattheper
iodshav ebeen
i
mposedt oprecludeacquisit
ionoft
enurial
securit
ybyt heempl oyee,t
heyshouldbest ruckdownas
cont
rarytopubli
cpolicyormor al
s.Wethuslaiddowni ndicati
onsorcriteri
aunderwhich" t
erm
employment"cannotbesai dtobeincir
cumv enti
onofthel awonsecur ityoft
enure,namely:

1)Thef i
xedperi
odofemploymentwasknowi nglyandvol
unt
ari
lyagr
eeduponbythepar
ti
eswithout
anyforce,dur
ess,ori
mproperpressur
ebeingbroughtt
obearupontheemploy
eeandabsentany
othercir
cumstancesvi
ti
ati
nghisconsent
;or

2)Itsati
sfact
ori
lyappearsthatt
heemployerandtheemploy
eedeal
twit
heachot
heronmor
eorl
ess
equalter
mswi thnomor aldominanceexer
cisedbythef
ormerort
helat
ter
.

Thesei ndications,whichmustber eadtoget her,

maket heBrentdoctri
neapplicableonlyinaf ew
specialcaseswher eintheemploy erandempl oyeeareonmor eorlessinequal footi
ngi nenteri
ng
i
ntot hecont ract.Thereasonforthi sisevident:whenaprospecti
veempl oyee,onaccountofspeci al
skil
lsormar ketforces,i
sinaposi tiontomakedemandsupont hepr ospecti
veempl oyer,such
prospectiveempl oyeeneedslesspr otect
iont hantheordi
naryworker.Lesserlimit
ationsont he
parti
es’ f
reedom ofcont r
actarethusr equiredfortheprot
ecti
onoft heempl oyee. (
155
Citati
ons
omitted)

Foraslongast hegui
deli
nesl
aiddowni
nBr
ent
aresat
isf
ied,
thi
scour
twi
l
lrecogni
zet
hev
ali
dit
yof
thefi
xed-t
erm cont
ract
.

I
nLabay ogv.M.Y.SanBiscui
ts,
Inc.
, t
hiscour
tuphel
156
dthef
ixedt
erm employ
mentofpeti
ti
oner
s
becausefr
om theti
met heywerehir
ed,t
heywerei
nfor
medthatthei
rengagementwasforaspeci
fi
c
peri
od.Thiscour
tstat
edt hat
:

[
s]i
mplyput,pet
it
ioner
swerenotregularemploy
ees.Whiletheiremploy
mentasmi xer
s,packer
sand
machineoperat
orswasnecessaryanddesirabl
eintheusual busi
nessofr
espondentcompany,they
wereemployedtemporar
il
yonly
,duringperi
odswhent herewashei ght
eneddemandf orpr
oduction.
Consequent
ly,t
herecouldhavebeennoill
egaldi
smi
ssalwhenthei
rserv
iceswereter
minatedon
expir
ati
onofthei
rcontr
acts.Therewasevennoneedfornot
iceofter
minati
onbecausetheyknew
exactl
ywhentheircont
ract
swoul dend.Cont
ract
sofemploymentf
oraf i
xedper
iodterminat
eon
thei
rownattheendofsuchper iod.

Contr
act
sofemploymentf
orafi
xedperi
odarenotunlawful
.Whatisobj
ect
ionabl
eisthepracti
ceof
somescrupul
ousempl
oyer
swhot r
ytocir
cumventthelawprot
ecti
ngworkersfr
om thecapri
ci
ous
ter
minat
ionofempl
oyment. 
(Ci
tat
ionomi
157
tt
ed)

Caparosov.Cour tofAppeal s 
158
upheldthev al
idityoft hef i
xed-t
erm cont ractofempl oyment.
CaparosoandQui ndi panwer ehir
edasdel iverymenf orthree(3)mont hs.Att heendoft hethi
rd
month,theywerehi redonamont hlybasi
s.Int otal,theywer ehir
edf orfive( 5)months.Theyfil
eda
complaintf
oril
legal dismi ssal. Thi
159
scourtruledt hatt herewasnoev idencei ndi
catingthatt
hey
werepressuredintosi gningt hefixed-t
erm cont r
act s.Therewasl ikewisenopr oofthatthei
r
employerwasengagedi nhi r
ingwor kersforfive( 5)mont hsonl y
topr eventr egul
ari
z at
ion.I
nthe
absenceofthesef act s,
thef ixed-
term contractswer euphel dasvalid. 
160
Ont heotherhand,an
i
ndependentcont ractorisdef inedas:

...onewhocar r
iesonadisti
nctandindependentbusinessandundert
akestoperf
ormthej
ob,wor
k,
orserv
iceonitsownaccountandunderone’ sownr esponsi
bil
i
tyaccor
dingtoone’
sownmanner
andmet hod,
freefrom t
hecontr
olanddirect
ionofthepr i
nci
palinal
lmatter
sconnect
edwit
hthe
perf
ormanceoft heworkexceptastotheresul
tsthereof. 161

Invi
ewoft he"dist
inctandindependentbusi
ness"ofindependentcont
ract
ors,
noemployer
-
employeerel
ationshipexist
sbetweenindependentcontr
actorsandthei
rpri
nci
pal
s.I
ndependent
cont
ractor
sarer ecognizedunderArti
cle106oftheLaborCode:

Art
.106.Contr
actororsubcont
ract
or.Wheneveranemployerenter
sint
oacontractwi
thanot
her
personf
ortheperfor
manceoft hef
ormer’
swor k,t
heemployeesofthecont
ract
orandofthel
att
er’
s
subcont
ract
or,i
fany,shal
lbepaidi
naccordancewitht
hepr ovi
si
onsofthi
sCode.

....

TheSecr etaryofLaborandEmpl oymentmay ,byappropriater

egulat
ions,rest
rictorpr
ohi bi
tthe
contr
acting-outoflabortoprotecttheri
ghtsofwor kersestabl
ishedundert hi
sCode.Inso
prohi
bit
ingorr estr
icti
ng,hemaymakeappr opri
atedist
incti
onsbetweenl abor-
onlycontracti
ngand
j
obcont racti
ngaswel lasdifferent
iat
ionswithinthesetypesofcontract
inganddet erminewho
amongt hepar ti
esinvolvedshallbeconsideredtheempl oyerf
orpurposesoft hisCode,topr ev
ent
anyviol
at i
onorcircumv enti
onofanypr ovisi
onoft hi
sCode.

Thereis"labor
-onl
y "contr
acti
ngwher et hepersonsupplyi
ngwor kerstoanempl oyerdoesnothav e
substanti
alcapit
alorinvestmentint hef orm oftool
s,equi
pment ,machiner
ies,
wor kpr emises,
amongot hers,andt heworkersrecruitedandpl acedbysuchper sonareperfor
mi ngact i
vi
tieswhi
ch
aredirect
lyrel
atedt othepri
ncipalbusi nessofsuchempl oyer
.Insuchcases, t
heper sonor
i
ntermediaryshallbeconsideredmer elyasanagentoft heempl oyerwhoshallber esponsibl
etothe
workersinthesamemannerandext entasi fthelat
ter
weredirectl
yempl oy
edbyhi m.

InDepar
tmentOr
derNo.18-
A,Ser
iesof2011,
oft
heDepar
tmentofLaborandEmpl
oyment
,a
cont
ract
ori
sdefi
nedashavi
ng:

Sect
ion3....
 ....

(c)...anarr
angementwher ebyapr
inci
palagreestoputoutorfar
m outwit
hacontr
actort
he
performanceorcomplet
ionofaspecifi
cjob,
wor korser
vicewit
hinadefi
nit
eorpr
edetermi
ned
peri
od, r
egar
dlessofwhethersuchj
ob,workorservi
ceistobeperfor
medorcompletedwit
hin
oroutsi
dethepremisesofthepri
nci
pal.

Thisdepar
tmentorderalsostat
est hatthereisat ri
l
ateralrelat
ionshipi
nlegit
imatejobcontr
acti
ng
andsubcontr
acti
ngarrangementsamongt heprinci
pal,contractor,
andempl oyeesofthecontr
actor
.
Thereisnoemployer-
empl oy
eerelati
onshi pbetweent hecont r
actorandprinci
pal whoengagesthe
contr
actor
’sser
vices,
butthereisanempl oyer
-empl oyeerelati
onshipbetweent hecontr
act
orand
workershi
redtoaccompl i
shthewor kforthepr i
ncipal
. 162

Juri
sprudencehasrecognizedanotherki
ndofi
ndependentcontract
or:
indi
vi
dualswi t
huniqueskil
ls
andtalent
sthatsetthem apartf
rom ordi
nar
yemployees.Therei
snot r
il
ater
alrelat
ionshi
pinthi
s
casebecausetheindependentcontract
orhi
mselforhersel
fperf
ormsthewor kforthepri
ncipal
.In
otherwords,t
herel
ationshipi
sbilat
eral
.

I
nOr ozcov.Cour
tofAppeals, Wi
163
lhel
minaOrozcowasacol umnistforthePhi
li
ppineDail
yInqui
rer
.
Thiscourtr
uledt
hatshewasani ndependentcont
ract
orbecauseofher" tal
ent
,skil
l,
exper
ience,
and
heruniquevi
ewpointasafeministadvocate.
" Inaddi
164
ti
on,thePhili
ppineDail
yInquir
erdi
dnothav e
thepowerofcontr
ol ov
erOrozco, andsheworkedatherownpl easure. 165

Sembl ant
ev .CourtofAppeals inv
166
ol
vedamasiador andasent
167
enciador. Thiscourtruledt
168
hat
"peti
ti
onersper f
ormedtheirf
unctionsasmasi
adorandsentenci
adorfreefr
om thedirecti
onand
controlofr
espondent s" 
169
andthatthemasi
adorandsentenci
ador"r
eliedmainlyontheir‘expert
ise
thatischaracter
ist
icofthecockfi
ghtgambl
ing.
’" Hence,
170
noemployer-empl
oyeer el
ati
onshi p
exist
ed.

Bernartev.Phil
ippi
neBasketbal
lAssoci
ati
on  i
171
nvol
vedabasketbal
l r
efer
ee.Thiscour
trul
edthat"
a
ref
ereei sanindependentcont
ract
or,whosespecialski
l
lsandindependentjudgmentar
erequi
red
specif
icall
yforsuchpositi
onandcannotpossiblybecontr
oll
edbyt hehir
ingpart
y." 172

I
nthesecases,
theworker
swerefoundt
obei
ndependentcontr
actorsbecauseoft
hei
runi
queski
ll
s
andtal
ent
sandt hel
ackofcont
rol
overt
hemeansandmet hodsintheperf
ormanceoft
hei
rwork.

Inot
herwords,t
herear
edif
fer
entki
ndsofi
ndependentcontr
actor
s:t
hoseengagedi
nlegi
ti
mat
ejob
cont
racti
ngandthosewhohaveuni
queski
l
lsandtal
entsthatsett
hem apar
tfr
om or
dinar
y
employees.

Sincenoempl oyer
-empl
oyeer
elat
ionshi
pexi
stsbet
weenindependentcont
ract
orsandt
hei
r
principal
s,t
hei
rcontr
act
saregovernedbyt
heCivi
lCodeprovi
si
onsoncont r
actsandot
her
applicabl
elaws.
173

Acont r
acti
sdefi
nedas" ameetingofmindsbet weent wopersonswherebyonebindshi
msel f
,wit
h
respecttot
heother,
togivesomethi
ngort orendersomeser vice." Par
ti
esaref
174
r
eetosti
pulateon
termsandcondit
ionsincontr
actsaslongast hese"arenotcontrarytol
aw,moral
s,goodcustoms,
publi
corder,
orpubli
cpoli
cy." Thi
spr
175
esupposest hatthepart
iestoacontractar
eonequalfooti
ng.
Theycanbargai
nont er
msandcondi t
ionsuntiltheyareabl
etor eachanagreement.

Ont
heot
herhand,
cont
ract
sofempl
oymentar
edi
ff
erentandhav
eahi
gherl
evel
ofr
egul
ati
on
becauset
heyareimpressedwithpubl
i
cint
erest
.Ar
ti
cleXI
II
,Sect
ion3oft
he1987Const
it
uti
on
provi
desf
ull
protect
iontolabor
:

ARTI
CLEXI
II
.SOCI
ALJUSTI
CEANDHUMANRI
GHTS

....

LABOR

Sect
ion3.TheStat
eshal
laf
for
dful
lpr
otect
iont
olabor
,local
andover
seas,or
gani
zedand
unor
ganized,
andpromot
eful
lempl
oymentandequal
it
yofemploymentoppor
tuni
ti
esf
orall
.

Itshallguar
anteetheri
ghtsofal l
wor ker
stoself-or
gani
zati
on,col
lecti
vebargai
ningandnegotiati
ons,
andpeacef ulconcer
tedacti
viti
es,incl
udingtheri
ghttostr
ikei
naccor dancewit
hl aw.Theyshall
be
entit
ledtosecurit
yoftenur
e, humanecondi ti
onsofwork,andaliv
ingwage.Theyshal lal
so
parti
cipateinpoli
cyanddecision-
maki ngprocessesaff
ecti
ngthei
rrightsandbenefit
sasmaybe
providedbylaw.

TheSt ateshall
promot ethepri
ncipl
eofsharedresponsibi
li
tybetweenworkersandemploy
ersand
thepreferent
ialuseofv ol
unt
arymodesi nsett
li
ngdi sput
es,i
ncludi
ngconcil
i
ation,
andshal
lenf
orce
thei
rmut ualcompliancether
ewithtofosteri
ndustr
ialpeace.

TheStat
eshallr
egul
atetherel
ati
onsbetweenwor
kersandemployer
s,recogni
zingtheri
ghtofl
abor
toi
tsj
ustshareint
hefrui
tsofproducti
onandt
heri
ghtofent
erpri
sestoreasonableret
urnson
i
nvest
ments,andtoexpansi
onandgr owth.

Apar
tfr
om t
heconst
it
uti
onal
guar
ant
eeofpr
otect
iont
olabor
,Ar
ti
cl
e1700oft
heCi
vi
lCodest
ates:

ART.1700.Therel
ati
onsbet weencapitalandlaborarenotmer el
ycontractual.Theyareso
i
mpressedwithpubli
cint
er estt
hatl
aborcont r
actsmusty iel
dtot hecommongood.Ther ef
ore,such
cont
ract
saresubjectt
ot hespecial
lawsonl aborunions,col
lecti
vebargaining,str
ikesandlockouts,
cl
osedshop,wages,workingcondit
ions,hoursoflaborandsimi l
arsubj
ects.

Incontractsofemploy ment,theempl oyerandt heempl oyeearenotonequal footi

ng.Thus, iti
s
subjecttoregul
atoryr evi
ewbyt helabort r
ibunalsandcour t
sofl aw.Thel awservest oequal izethe
unequal.Thelaborfor ceisaspecialclasst hati
sconst i
tut
ional
lyprot ectedbecauseoft hei nequal
it
y
betweencapi t
alandl abor. Thi
176
spresupposest hatthelaborforceisweak.Howev er,thelev elof
protecti
ont ol
aborshoul dvaryfrom caset ocase;otherwise,t
hest atemi ghtappeartobet oo
paternal
ist
icinaffor
di ngprot
ectiontolabor .AsstatedinGMANet wor k,
Inc.v.Pabriga,ther uli
ngin
Brentappliesi
ncaseswher eitappearst hattheempl oyerandempl oy eear eonequal footing. 
177
Thi
s
recognizesthefactthatnotallworkersar eweak.Tor ei
ter
atethedi scussi oninGMANet wor kv.
Pabr i
ga:

Thereasonfort hi
si sevi
dent:whenaprospect
iveemployee,onaccountofspeci
alskil
lsormar
ket
for
ces,isi
naposi tiontomakedemandsupont heprospectiv
eemployer,
suchprospectiv
eemploy
ee
needslessprotectionthantheordi
nar
ywor ker
.Lesserl
imitati
onsonthepart
ies’
freedom of
contr
actarethusr equir
edfortheprot
ecti
onoftheempl oyee. 178

Thelevel
ofprotect
iont
olabormustbedeterminedonthebasi
softhenat
ureoft
hewor
k,
qual
i
f i
cat
ionsoftheemploy
ee,andotherr
elevantci
rcumst
ances.
Forexampl e,aprospectiveempl oy
eewi thabachelor’sdegr eecannotbesai dtobeonequal f
ooti
ng
wit
hagr ocerybaggerwi thahi ghschooldiploma.Empl oyeeswhoqual if
yforjobsrequir
ingspeci
al
quali
ficati
onssuchas" [having]aMast er
’sdegree"or"[having]passedt heli
censureexam"are
di
fferentfrom empl oyeeswhoqual i
fyforjobsthatrequir
e" [beinga]highschoolgraduate;
wit
hpl easingpersonalit
y."Inthesesituat
ions,i
tisclearthatt hosewithspecialqual
if
icati
onscan
bargainwi ththeempl oyeronequal footi
ng.Thus,thelevel ofpr ot
ect
ionaffordedtothese
employ eesshouldbedi f
ferent.

Fuji
’
sar gumentt hatAr l
enewasani ndependentcont ractorunderaf i
xed- t
erm cont racti s
contradict
ory.Empl oy eesunderfi
xed- t
erm contractscannotbei ndependentcont ractor sbecausein
fi
xed-term contracts,anempl oyer
-empl oyeerelationshi
pexi sts.Thet estint hiski ndofcont ractis
notthenecessi tyanddesi r
abil
i
tyoft heempl oyee’sactivi
ties,"butthedaycer tainagr eeduponby
thepar t
iesforthecommencementandt erminationoftheempl oymentr el
at i
onshi p." 
179
Forregular
empl oyees,thenecessi t
yanddesirabil
it
yoft heirwor kintheusual courseoft heempl oyer’
s
businessar ethedet ermi ni
ngfact
or s.Ontheot herhand, independentcont ract orsdonothav e
empl oyer-
empl oyeer elati
onshi
pswi ththei
rpr i
ncipals.Hence, bef or
ethest at usofempl oymentcan
bedet ermined,theexi stenceofanempl oyer
-empl oyeerelationshipmustbeest abl i
shed.

Thefour-
fol
dtest  canbeusedi
180
ndetermini
ngwhet
heranemployerempl
oyeerel
ati
onshi
pexist
s.
Theelementsofthef our-
fol
dtestar
et hefol
lowi
ng:(
1)t
heselect
ionandengagementofthe
employee;(
2)thepay mentofwages;(3)thepowerofdi
smissal
;and(4)t
hepowerofcontrol
,which
i
sthemosti mportantelement. 181

The"
powerofcont
rol
"wasexpl
ainedbyt
hiscour
tinCor
por
al,
Sr.v
.Nat
ional
LaborRel
ati
ons
Commissi
on: 182

Thepowertocontr
olrefer
stotheex
istenceofthepowerandnotnecessar i
l
ytotheact
ualexerci
se
ther
eof
,norisi
tessenti
alfort
heemployertoactuall
ysuper
visetheperf
ormanceofdut
iesofthe
employ
ee.Iti
senoughthattheempl
oy erhastherightt
owiel
dt hatpower. (
Cit
ati
onomitt
ed)
183

Orozcov.Cour
tofAppeal
sfur
therel
uci
dat
edt
hemeani
ngof"
powerofcont
rol
"andst
atedt
he
fol
lowi
ng:

Logicall
y,theli
neshoul dbedrawnbetweenrul
esthatmer elyserv
easguidel
inestowardsthe
achi
ev ementoft hemut uall
ydesi
redresul
twit
houtdict
atingthemeansormet hodstobeempl oyed
i
nat tai
ningit,
andt hosethatcontr
olorfi
xthemethodologyandbi ndorr
estr
ictt
hepartyhiredtothe
useofsuchmeans.Thef ir
st,whi
chaim onl
ytopromotet heresul
t,cr
eat
enoempl oyer-
empl oy
ee
rel
ationshipunli
ket hesecond,whi
chaddressboththeresultandthemeansusedt oachiev
ei t
...
.  (
Ci
184
t
ationomitted)

InLocsi
n,etal
.v.Phi
l
ippineLongDist
anceTel
ephoneCompany, t
he"powerofcont
185
rol
"wasdefined
as"[t
he]r
ightt
ocontrolnotonl
ytheendtobeachi
evedbutal
sothemeanstobeusedinreachi
ng
suchend."186

Her
e,theCour
tofAppeal
sappl
i
edSonzav.ABS-CBNandDumpitMur
il
lov.CourtofAppeal
s i
n 187

det
ermini
ngwhet
herArl
enewasani
ndependentcont
ract
ororar
egul
aremployee.

I
ndecidingSonzaandDumpit
-Muri
l
lo,thi
scour
tusedt
hefour
-fol
dtest.Bothcasesinvol
ved
newscaster
sandanchor
s.However,Sonzawashel
dtobeanindependentcontr
actor,
whileDumpi
t-
Muri
ll
owashel dtobearegul
aremployee.
Compari
sonoftheSonzaand
Dumpit
-Muri
ll
ocasesusi
ng
thef
our-
fol
dtest

SonzawasengagedbyABS- CBNi nv i
ewofhis"uni
queskill
s,t
alentandcel ebrit
ystat
usnot
possessedbyordinaryemployees." Hiswor
188
kwasf orr
adioandtelevi
sionpr ograms.  Ontheot
her
189

hand,Dumpi t
-Muri
ll
owashi redbyABCasanewscast erandco-anchor. Sonza’
190
stal
entfee
amount edto₱317,000.00permont h,whi
chthi
scour tf
oundtobeasubst antialamountthat
i
ndicatedhewasani ndependentcontract
orr
atherthanaregul
arempl oyee.  Meanwhi
191
l
e,Dumpit
-
Muril
lo’smonthl
ysalarywas₱28, 000.00,
averylowamountcompar edtowhatSonzar ecei
ved. 192

Sonzawasunabl etopr ovethatABS- CBNcouldt erminatehisser v

icesapartfr
om breachofcontr
act
.
Therewasnoi ndi
cationt hathecouldbet erminatedbasedonj ustorauthori
zedcausesunderthe
LaborCode.Inaddit
ion, ABS-CBNcont inuedtopayhi stalentfeeundertheiragreement,ev
enthough
hi
spr ogramswerenol ongerbr oadcasted. Dumpi
193
t-
Mur i
llowasf oundtohav ebeenil
l
egall
y
di
smi ssedbyherempl oyerwhent heydi dnotrenewhercont r
actonherf ourt
hy earwit
hABC. 194

InSonza,thi
scourtruledthatABS-
CBNdi dnotcontr
olhowSonzadel i
veredhisli
nes,howhe
appearedontel
ev i
si
on, orhowhesoundedonr adio. Al
lthatSonz
195
aneededwashi stalent
. Further, 196

"ABS-CBNcouldnott erminat
eordiscipl
ineSONZAev enifthemeansandmet hodsofper f
ormance
ofhiswork...didnotmeetABS- CBN’ sapproval
." I
nDumpi
197
t-
Muri
ll
o,thedut i
esandresponsibi
l
ities
enumer at
edinhercont r
actwasacl eari
ndicat
ionthatABChadcont r
olov erherwork. 198

Appl
i
cat
ionoft
hef
our
-f
oldt
est

TheCour tofAppealsdidnoter rwheni tr eli

edonther ul
inginDumpi t
-Mur i
ll
oandaf fir
medt heruli
ng
oftheNat i
onalLaborRelationsCommi ssi onfi
ndi
ngt hatArlenewasar egularempl oyee.Arl
enewas
hir
edbyFuj iasanewspr oducer ,butt
her ewasnoshowi ngt hatshewashi redbecauseofuni que
ski
llsthatwoul ddisti
ngui
shherf r
om or dinaryemployees.Nei therwast hereanyshowi ngthatshe
hadacel ebr i
tyst
atus.Hermont hl
ysalar yamount i
ngt oUS$1, 900.00appear stobeasubst anti
al
sum, especiall
yifcompar edt ohersal
ar ywhenshewasst i
llconnectedwi thGMA.  Indeed,
199
wages
mayi ndicatewhetheronei sanindependentcont r
actor.Wagesmayal soindicatethatanempl oyeeis
abletobar gainwiththeempl oyerforbet terpay.Howev er,
wagesshoul dnotbet heconclusi
vefactor
i
ndet ermi ni
ngwhet heronei sanempl oy eeorani ndependentcont ractor.

Fujihadthepowert odi
smi ssArlene,asprov
idedforinparagr
aph5ofherpr ofessi
onalemployment
contract
. 
200
Hercont
ractalsoindicat
edthatFujihadcontr
oloverherworkbecauseshewasr equi
red
towor kforei
ght(8)hoursf r
om Mondayt oFri
day ,
alt
houghonf l
exi
blet
ime.  Sonzawasnot
201

requir
edt oworkforei
ght( 8)hours,whi
leDumpi t
-Muri
ll
ohadt obeinABCtodobot hon-ai
randof f
-
airt
asks.

Onthepowert ocont
rol
,Arl
eneallegedt
hatFuj
igaveheri
nst
ructi
onsonwhatt
orepor
t. 
Eventhe 202

modeoft r
ansport
ati
onincarr
yingoutherf
uncti
onswascontrol
l
edbyFuji
.Par
agr
aph6ofher
cont
ractstat
es:

6.Duri
ngthet raveltocarryoutwork,
ifthereischangeofplaceorchangeofplaceofwork,t
hetrai
n,
bus,orpublictransportshal
lbeusedforthetrip.Ift
heEmployeeusesthepri
vatecarduri
ngthe
workandt hereisanacci dentt
heEmpl oyershallnotber
esponsibl
eforthedamage,whichmaybe
causedtot heEmpl oyee.
203

Thus,
theCour
tofAppeal
sdi
dnoter
rwheni
tuphel
dthef
indi
ngsoft
heNat
ional
LaborRel
ati
ons
Commi
ssi
ont
hatAr
lenewasnotani
ndependentcont
ract
or.

Havingestablishedthatanempl oyer
-employeerel
ati
onshipexi
stedbetweenFujiandArl
ene,thenext
questi
onsf orresolut
ionarethefoll
owing:DidtheCourtofAppealscorrect
lyaf
fi
rmtheNational
LaborRelationsCommi ssionthatArl
enehadbecomear egularemployee?Wast henat
ureof
Arl
ene’swor knecessaryanddesi r
ableforFuji
’
susualcourseofbusiness?

Ar
lenewasar egularempl
oyee
wi
thafixed-
term contr
act

Thet estfordeter
miningregul
aremploymentiswhetherther
eisareasonableconnecti
onbet ween
theempl oyee’
sactivi
ti
esandt heusualbusi
nessoftheemployer
.Arti
cle280providest
hatthe
natureofwor kmustbe" necessar
yordesirabl
eintheusualbusi
nessortradeoftheempl oy
er"as
thetestfordetermini
ngregularemploy
ment .Asst
atedinABS-CBNBr oadcast
ingCorporati
onv .
Nazar eno:
204

Indet er
mi ningwhet heranempl oymentshoul dbeconsi der
edr egul
arornon- r
egular,t
heappl i
cable
testisther easonableconnect i
onbet weent hepar ti
cul
aractivi
typerformedbyt heempl oyeein
relat
iontot heusual busi nessort r
adeoft heempl oyer
.Thest andard,suppliedbyt helawitsel
f,i
s
whet herthewor kunder takenisnecessaryordesi r
ableintheusual businessort r
adeoft he
empl oyer,af actthatcanbeassessedbyl ooki ngintothenatureoftheser vicesrenderedandi ts
relat
iontot hegener al schemeunderwhi cht hebusinessort r
adei spursuedi ntheusual course.Iti
s
disti
nguishedf r
om aspeci fi
cundertaki
ngt hati sdiv
orcedfrom thenor mal acti
vit
iesrequired
i
ncar ryi
ngont hepar t
icularbusinessortrade.205

Howev er
,theremaybeasituat
ionwhereanempl
oyee’
sworkisnecessarybutisnotal
ways
desi
rablei
ntheusualcour
seofbusinessoft
heemploy
er.I
nthi
ssit
uation,t
hereisnoregul
ar
employment .

InSanMiguel Corporati
onv .Nati
onalLaborRel
ationsCommi ssi
on, Franci
scodeGuzmanwas
206

hir
edtorepairfurnacesatSanMi guelCorporat
ion’sMani
laglasspl
ant.Hehadasepar at
econtr
act
forev
eryfurnacet hatherepair
ed.Hef i
ledacompl ai
ntf
oril
l
egal di
smissalt
hree(3)year
saf
terthe
endofhislastcont r
act. I
nr
207
ul
ingthatdeGuzmandi dnotatt
ainthestatusofaregul
arempl
oyee,
thi
scourtexplained:

Notethatt heplantwher epri

vater espondentwasempl oyedf oronlysev enmont hsi sengagedi nt he
manuf actureofgl ass,anintegral componentoft hepackagi ngandmanuf acturingbusi nessof
peti
ti
oner .Thepr ocessofmanuf acturi
ngglassr equiresaf urnace,whichhasal i
mi tedoper ati
nglife.
Peti
ti
onerr esortedt ohiri
ngpr ojectorf i
xedterm empl oyeesi nhav i
ngsai dfurnacesr epairedsince
sai
dact i
vit
yisnotr egularl
yper formed.Saidf urnacesar etober epair
edorov er hauledonl yi
ncaseof
needandaf terbeingusedcont i
nuousl yforav aryingper iodoff i
v e(5)toten(10)y ears.In1990, one
ofthef urnacesofpet it
ionerrequi redrepai
randupgr ading.Thi swasanunder takingdi stinctand
separatef r
om pet it
ioner'
sbusinessofmanuf acturinggl ass.Fort hi
spur pose,pet i
tionermusthi r
e
workerst ounder t
aket hesaidr epai randupgrading....

....

Clear
ly,
priv
aterespondentwashi r
edforaspecifi
cproj
ectthatwasnotwit
hinther egul
arbusiness
ofthecorporat
ion.Forpet
it
ionerisnotengagedinthebusi
nessofrepai
ri
ngfurnaces.Althoughthe
acti
vi
tywasnecessar ytoenablepeti
ti
onertoconti
nuemanuf act
uri
nggl
ass,thenecessityther
efor
aroseonlywhenapar ti
cul
arfurnacereachedtheendofit
slif
eoroperat
ingcycle.Or,asinthe
secondunder t
aki
ng,whenapar ti
cularfur
nacer equir
edanemer gencyrepai r
.Inotherwords,the
undertaki
ngswhereprivaterespondentwashi redpr i
mar i
lyashel per/br
icklayerhavespecifi
edgoals
andpur poseswhi
char efulf
il
ledoncet hedesignatedwor kwascompl eted.Mor eover,
such
undertaki
ngswerealsoidentifi
ablyseparateanddi st
inctfrom theusual, ordinar
yorregularbusi
ness
operati
onsofpeti
ti
oner, whi
chi sglassmanuf acturi
ng.Theseunder taki
ngs, thedurati
onandscope
ofwhichhadbeendet erminedandmadeknownt opr i
vater espondentatt het i
meofhi semployment,
cl
earlyindi
catedt
henat ureofhisempl oymentasapr ojectempl oyee. 208

Fuj
iisengagedint
hebusinessofbroadcasti
ng, i
ncludi
ngnewspr
ogr
ammi
209
ng. 
Iti
sbasedi
n 210

Japan  andhasov
211
er
seasoffi
cestocoverint
ernat
ionalnews. 212

Basedont herecor
d,Fuj
i’
sManil
aBur eauOf
fi
ceisasmalluni
t andhasaf ewempl
213
oy ees. 
Assuch, 214

Arl
enehadt odoallact
ivi
ti
esrel
atedtonewsgat
heri
ng.Alt
houghFuji
insi
ststhatAr
lenewasa
st
ringer
,ital
legest
hatherdesi
gnati
onwas"NewsTalent/
Report
er/
Producer.
" 215

Anewspr oducer"plansandsupervisesnewscast...[
and]wor k[s]withreport ersi
nthefiel
d
planningandgat heri
nginformati
on...." Arl
ene’st
asksi
216
ncluded" [
m] oni
tori
ngand[ g]
ett
ing[n]ews
[
s]tories,[
r]eport
ingintervi
ewingsubjectsinfr
ontofavideocamer a,"  "
theti
217
mel ysubmissionof
newsandcur r
entev entsreport
spertaini
ngtothePhil
i
ppines[,
]andt raveli
ng[ sic]t
o[Fuj
i’
s]regional
officeinThai l
and." 
218
Shealsohadtor epor
tforworki
nFuj i
’
sof f
iceinMani l
af rom Monday sto
Fridays,eight(8)hour sperday. Shehadnoequi
219
pmentandhadt ouset hef acili
ti
esofFujito
accompl ishhert asks.

TheCour tofAppealsaff
ir
medt hefi
ndingoftheNat ionalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssionthatthe
successi
v erenewal
sofAr l
ene’
scontracti
ndi
catedt henecessityanddesirabil
it
yofherwor kinthe
usualcourseofFuji
’sbusi
ness.Becauseofthis,
Arlenehadbecomear egularempl oyeewiththe
ri
ghttosecur i
tyoft
enure. TheCour
220
tofAppealsruledt hat
:

Here,Espiri
tuwasengagedbyFuj iasast i
nger[ sic]ornewspr oducerf oritsMani l
aBureau.Shewas
hir
edf ortheprimarypurposeofnewsgat heri
ngandr eport
ingtothetelevisionnetwork’s
headquar t
ers.Espi
ri
tuwasnotcont r
actedonaccountofanypecul i
arabi l
i
tyorspeci altalentand
skil
lthatshemaypossesswhi chthenetworkdesi r
est omakeuseof .Parent het
ical
ly,i
fitweretrue
thatEspiri
tuisanindependentcontr
actor,asclaimedbyFuj i,t
hefactthatev eryt
hingthatsheusest o
perform herjobisownedbyt hecompanyi ncl
udi ngt helaptopcomput erandmi nicamer adiscounts
theideaofj obcontr
acti
ng.221

Moreover,
theCourtofAppeal
sexplai
nedthatFuji’
sargumentthatnoempl oyer
-employ ee
rel
ati
onshi
pexist
edi nv
iewofthefi
xed-t
erm contractdoesnotpersuadebecausefixed-term
contr
actsofemploymentarest
ri
ctl
yconstrued. Further,t
hepi
ecesofequi
222
pmentArleneusedwere
all
ownedbyFuj i
,showi
ngthatshewasar egularempl oy
eeandnotani ndependentcont ract
or. 223

TheCour tofAppealsl
ikewisecit
edDumpit-
Muril
l
o,whichi
nvolvedfixed-term cont
ract
sthatwer
e
successivel
yrenewedforfour(4)year
s. Thi
scourthel
dt
224
hat"[
t]hi
sr epeatedengagementunder
contractofhi
reisindi
cati
veofthenecessi
tyanddesi
rabi
li
tyofthepet i
ti
oner ’
sworkinpri
vate
respondentABC’sbusiness." 225

Withr egardtoFuj
i’
sargumentthatAr l
ene’
scontractwasf oraf i
xedter
m, t
heCourtofAppeal
scit
ed
Phil
ipsSemi conduct
ors,I
nc.v.Fadri
quela  andheldthatwher
226
eanemployee’
scontr
act"hadbeen
continuouslyext
endedorrenewedt othesameposi ti
on,witht hesameduti
esandremainedinthe
empl oywi t
houtanyint
err
upti
on," thensuchempl
227
oyeeisar egularempl
oyee.Theconti
nuous
renewal isaschemet opr
eventregulari
zat
ion.Onthisbasis,theCourtofAppeal
sruledi
nfavorof
Ar
lene.

Asst
atedi
nPr
ice,
etal
.v.I
nnodat
aCor
p.,
etal
.: 228

Theempl oymentst atusofaper soni sdefi

nedandpr escri
bedbylawandnotbywhatt heparti
essay
i
tshoul dbe.Equallyi mpor tanttoconsideristhatacont r
actofemploymentisimpressedwithpubli
c
i
nt er
estsucht hatlaborcont r
actsmusty i
eldtothecommongood.Thus, prov
isi
onsofappl i
cable
statutesaredeemedwr i
tteni ntothecontract
,andthepar ti
esarenotatli
bert
ytoinsulat
e
themsel v
esandt hei rrel
ationshipsfrom theimpactofl aborl
awsandr egul
ati
onsbysi mply
contracti
ngwit heachot her . 
229
(
Cit
ationsomi t
ted)

Arlene’
scontr
actindi
cat
ingafi
xedter
m di
dnotaut omati
cal
lymeanthatshecoul
dneverbea
regularempl
oyee.Thi
sispreci
sel
ywhatArti
cle280seekstoavoi
d.Therul
ingi
nBrentremai
nsas
theexcepti
onrathert
hanthegener
alr
ule.

Further,anempl oyeecanbear egularemployeewi t

hafixed-t
erm cont r
act.Thel awdoesnot
precludet hepossibil
i
tythataregularempl oy
eemayoptt ohav eaf i
xed-term contractforval
id
reasons.Thi swasr ecogni
zedinBr ent:Foraslongasitwast heempl oyeewhor equested,or
bargained, t
hatthecontracthavea" defi
nit
edat eofter
mi nat
ion,"orthatthefixed-term contr
actbe
freel
yent eredi
ntobyt heempl oyerandt heempl oy
ee,t
hent hev al
idi
tyoft hefixed-ter
m contractwi
ll
beuphel d.
230

Whet
hert
heCour
tofAppeal
scor
rect
lyaf
fi
rmed

t
heNat
ional
LaborRel
ati
onsCommi
ssi
on’
sfi
ndi
ngofi
l
legal
dismi
ssal

Fuji
arguesthattheCour tofAppeal
ser r
edwhenitheldthatArlenewasil
legal
l
ydismissed,i
nviewof
thenon-r
enewal cont
ractv ol
unt
ari
lyexecutedbythepar
ties.Fujial
soar
guesthatArl
ene’scont
ract
merelyexpi
red;hence,shewasnoti l
legal
lydismi
ssed. 231

Arl
eneall
egesthatshehadnochoi
cebutt
osi
gnt
henon-
renewal
cont
ractbecauseFuj
iwi
thhel
dher
sal
aryandbenefi
ts.

Wi
thr
egar
dtot
hisi
ssue,
theCour
tofAppeal
shel
d:

Wecannotsubscr ibet
oFuj i
’
sassert
ionthatEspi
ri
tu’
scontractmer el
yexpir
edandt hatshe
voluntar
ilyagr
eednottorenewthesame.Ev enacursor
yper usalofthesubjectNon-Renewal
Contractreadi
lyshowsthatthesamewassi gnedbyEspir
ituunderpr ot
est
.Whati sapparenti
sthat
theNon- RenewalCont
ractwascraft
edmer el
yasasubterfuget osecureFuj
i’sposi
ti
ont hati
twas
Espiri
tu’
schoicenottorenewhercontract
. 232

Asaregul
aremployee,
Arl
enewasenti
tl
edt osecur
it
yoftenureandcoul
dbedi
smi
ssedonl
yforj
ust
oraut
hori
zedcausesandaft
ert
heobservanceofdueprocess.

Ther
ightt
osecuri
tyoft
enur
eisguar
ant
eedunderAr
ti
cleXI
II
,Sect
ion3oft
he1987Const
it
uti
on:
ARTI
CLEXIII
.SOCI
ALJUSTICEANDHUMANRI GHTS

....
 LABOR

....

Itshallguar
anteetheri
ghtsofal l
wor ker
stoself-or
gani
zati
on,col
lecti
vebargai
ningandnegotiati
ons,
andpeacef ulconcer
tedacti
viti
es,incl
udingtheri
ghttostr
ikei
naccor dancewit
hl aw.Theyshall
be
entit
ledtosecurit
yoftenur
e, humanecondi ti
onsofwork,andaliv
ingwage.Theyshal lal
so
parti
cipateinpoli
cyanddecision-
maki ngprocessesaff
ecti
ngthei
rrightsandbenefit
sasmaybe
providedbylaw.

Art
icl
e279oft
heLaborCodeal
sopr
ovi
desf
ort
her
ightt
osecur
it
yoft
enur
eandst
atest
he
fol
l
owing:

Art.279.Securi
tyoft enure.
Incasesofregularemployment,theemployershallnotter
minatethe
servi
cesofanempl oy eeexceptforajustcauseofwhenaut hori
zedbythisTitl
e.Anempl oyeewho
i
sunj ust
lydismissedf rom workshall
beent i
tl
edt orei
nst
atementwithoutlossofseniori
tyri
ghtsand
otherpri
vil
egesandt ohi sfull
backwages, i
nclusi
veofall
owances,andt ohisotherbenefi
tsorthei
r
monet ar
yequivalentcomput edfrom theti
mehi scompensat i
onwaswi thhel
dfr om hi
m uptothe
ti
meofhi sactual r
einstatement.

Thus,onther
ighttosecur
it
yoftenur
e,noemploy
eeshal
lbedi
smissed,unl
essther
earej
ust
oraut
hori
zedcausesandonlyaf
tercompli
ancewit
hpr
ocedur
alandsubstant
iveduepr
ocessi
s
conduct
ed.

Evenpr
obat
ionar
yemploy eesareent
it
ledtother
ightt
osecur
it
yoft
enur
e.Thi
swasexpl
ainedi
n
Phil
i
ppi
neDail
yInqui
rer
,Inc.v.Magti
bay,Jr
.: 233

Withi
nthelimitedlegalsi
x-monthpr obati
onaryperiod,probationaryemployeesar
esti
ll
enti
tl
edto
secur
ityoftenure.Iti
sexpresslyprovidedi
nt heafore-quotedAr ti
cle281thatapr
obati
onar
y
employeemaybet erminat
edonl yont wogr ounds:(a)forjustcause,or(b)whenhefai
lst
oquali
fy
asaregularempl oyeeinaccordancewi threasonablestandardsmadeknownbyt heemployert
othe
employeeatthet i
meofhi sengagement . 
234
(Cit
ati
onomi t
ted)

Theexpirati
onofArl
ene’scontractdoesnotnegatethefindi
ngofil
legaldismissal byFuji
.The
mannerbywhi chFuj
i i
nformedAr l
enethathercontr
actwouldnolongerber enewedi stantamount
toconstruct
ivedi
smissal.Tomakemat t
ersworse,Arl
enewasaskedt osignal ett
erofresignat
ion
prepar
edbyFuj i
. Theexi
235
st
enceofaf i
xed-
ter
m contractshoul
dnotmeant hatt herecanbeno
i
ll
egaldismissal
.Dueprocessmustst il
lbeobservedinthepre-
ter
mi nati
onoff ixed-t
erm contr
actsof
employment .

I
nadditi
on,theCourtofAppeal
sandtheNati
onalLaborRel
ati
onsCommissi
onfoundthatAr
lene
wasdismissedbecauseofherheal
thcondi
ti
on.I
nthenon-r
enewalagr
eementexecut
edbyFujiand
Ar
lene,i
tisstat
edthat:

WHEREAS, theSECONDPARTYi sundergoi

ngchemotherapywhichpr event
sherfrom cont
inui
ngto
eff
ecti
vel
yper f
orm herf
uncti
onsunderthesaidCont
ractsuchast hetimelysubmissi
onofnewsand
curr
enteventsreport
spert
aini
ngtothePhil
ippi
nesandtravel
l
ing[sic]totheFIRSTPARTY’sregi
onal
off
icei
nThai l
and. (Emphasi
236
ssuppl
ied)

Di
seaseasagr
oundf
ort
ermi
nat
ioni
srecogni
zedunderAr
ti
cl
e284oft
heLaborCode:
Art.284.Diseaseasgr oundf ortermination.Anempl oyermayterminatetheservi
cesofanempl oyee
whohasbeenf oundtobesuf f
eri
ngf rom anydi seaseandwhosecont inuedemploymenti s
prohibi
tedbyl aworispr ej
udicialt
ohi sheal t
haswel lastotheheal
thofhi sco-employees:Pr
ovi
ded,
Thathei spaidseparationpayequi valenttoatl eastone(1)monthsalaryortoone-hal
f(1/2)month
salaryforeveryyearofservice,whichev erisgreater,
afracti
onofatleastsix(
6)mont hsbeing
consideredasone( 1)whol ey ear.

BookVI
,Rul
e1,
Sect
ion8oft
heOmni
busRul
esI
mpl
ement
ingt
heLaborCodepr
ovi
des:

Sec.8.Di
seaseasagr oundf ordismissal.
–Wher etheempl oyeesuffersfrom adiseaseandhi s
conti
nuedemploymenti spr ohi bi
tedbyl aworpr ejudi
cialt
ohi shealt
hort othehealthofhi s
coemployees,
theempl oy ershal lnotterminatehisempl oymentunlesst herei
sacer t
if
icati
onbya
competentpubli
cheal t
haut horit
ythatthedi seaseisofsuchnat ureoratsuchast aget hati
tcannot
becuredwithi
naper iodofsi x(6)mont hsev enwi t
hpropermedi caltr
eat ment.I
fthedi seaseor
ail
mentcanbecur edwi thint heperiod,theempl oyershallnotter
minatet heemploy eebutshal l
ask
theemployeetotakeal eav e.Theempl oyershallrei
nstatesuchempl oyeet ohisformerposi t
ion
i
mmedi atel
yupont herest orati
onofhi snor mal heal
th.

Fordi smissalunderArti
cle284tobeval
i
d,tworequir
ement smustbecompl i
edwit
h:(1)the
empl oyee’sdiseasecannotbecuredwit
hinsi
x(6)mont hsandhis"conti
nuedemploymenti s
prohibitedbylaworpr ej
udici
alt
ohishealt
haswel l
astot heheal
thofhisco-empl
oyees";and(2)
certi
ficati
onissuedbyacompet entpubl
icheal
thauthori
tythatevenwit
hpropermedicaltreat
ment,
thediseasecannotbecur edwit
hinsi
x(6)months. Thebur
237
denofprov
ingcompli
ancewi ththese
requisit
esisont heempl oyer
. Noncompl
238
i
anceleadstotheconclusi
onthatthedi
smissal was
i
llegal.
239

Thereisnoev i
denceshowi ngthatAr lenewasaccor dedduepr ocess.Afterinformingherempl oy er
ofherlungcancer,shewasnotgi vent hechancet opresentmedi calcert
ifi
cates.Fuj i i
mmedi ately
concludedthatArl
enecoul dnol ongerper form herdutiesbecauseofchemot herapy .Itdidnotask
herhowhercondi ti
onwoul daffectherwor k.Neitherdiditsuggestforhert ot akeal eav e,ev
en
thoughshewasent itl
edt osickleav es.Wor se,
itdidnotpr esentanycer t
ifi
catef r
om acompet ent
publi
chealthauthori
ty.WhatFuj i didwast oinf
orm hert hathercontractwoul dnol ongerber enewed,
andwhenshedi dnotagr ee,hersal arywaswi t
hheld.Thus, theCourtofAppeal scor rectl
yuphel dthe
fi
ndingoftheNat i
onal LaborRel ati
onsCommi ssionthatforf ai
lur
eofFuj itocompl ywi thdue
process,Ar
lenewasi l
legallydismi ssed.240

VI

WhethertheCour tofAppeal
sproperl
ymodified
theNati
onal LaborRelat
ionsCommi ssi
on’
sdecisi
on
whenitawardedreinst
atement,damages,andatt
orney’
sfees

TheNat i
onalLaborRel ati
onsCommi ssi
onawar dedsepar ati
onpayi nl ieuofreinstatement ,
ont he
groundt hatthefil
ingoft hecompl aintforill
egal dismissal mayhav eser i
ouslystrai
nedr elat
ions
betweent heparties.Backwageswer ealsoawar ded,tobecomput edf r
om dat eofdi smissaluntilthe
fi
nali
tyoft heNat i
onal LaborRelationsCommi ssion’sdecision.Howev er,onl
ybackwageswer e
i
ncludedi nthedisposi t
iveporti
onbecauset heNat ionalLaborRel ationsCommi ssionr ecognized
thatArlenehadr eceivedseparationpayi nt heamountofUS$7, 600.00.TheCour tofAppeal s
affi
rmedt heNat i
onal LaborRelationsCommi ssion’sdecisionbutmodi fi
editbyawar di
ngmor aland
exempl arydamagesandat t
orney’sfees, andal lotherbenef i
tsAr l
enewasent i
tl
edt ounderher
contractwithFuji.TheCour tofAppeal sal soor deredreinstatement ,reasoningt hatthegrounds
whensepar
ati
onpaywasawar
dedi
nli
euofr
einst
atementwer
enotpr
oven. 241

Ar
ti
cle279oft
heLaborCodepr
ovi
des:

Art.279.Securi
tyoft enure.I
ncasesofr egul
aremployment, t
heemployershallnotterminat
ethe
servi
cesofanempl oy eeexceptforajustcauseorwhenaut hori
zedbythisTit
le.Anempl oyeewho
i
sunj ust
lydismissedf rom workshall
beent i
tl
edt orei
nst
atementwithoutlossofseniori
tyri
ghtsand
otherpri
vil
egesandt ohi sful
lbackwages, i
nclusi
veofall
owances,andtohi sotherbenefi
tsorthei
r
monet ar
yequivalentcomput edfrom thetimehiscompensat i
onwaswi t
hheldfrom him uptothe
ti
meofhi sactual r
einstatement.(Emphasissuppli
ed)

TheCour tofAppeal
s’modif
icationoftheNati
onalLaborRelat
ionsCommi ssi
on’
sdeci
sionwas
properbecausethel
awitselfprovidest
hati
ll
egall
ydismissedemployeesareent
it
ledt
o
rei
nstat
ement ,
backwagesincludingall
owances,
andallotherbenef
it
s.

Onr einst
at ement,t
heNat i
onal LaborRelationsCommi ssionorderedpaymentofseparationpayi n
l
ieuofr einstatement,r
easoning" t
hatthef i
li
ngoft heinstantsuitmayhav eser
iousl
yabr adedt he
rel
ationshipoft heparti
essoast orenderreinst
atementi mpr acti
cal
." TheCour
242
tofAppeal s
reversedt hisandorderedrei
nst at
ementont hegroundt hatsepar at
ionpayinl
ieuofrei
nst at
ementi s
all
owedonl yinseverali
nstancessuchas( 1)whent heempl oyerhasceasedoperat
ions; (
2)when
theempl oy ee’
spositi
onisnol ongerav ai
lable;(
3)strai
nedr elati
ons;and(4)asubstant
ialperiodhas
l
apsedf r
om dat eoffil
i
ngtodat eoff i
nali
ty. 243

Ont
hismat
ter
,Qui
j
anov
.Mer
cur
yDr
ugCor
p. 
i
sinst
ruct
ive: 244

Wel
l
-entr
enchedisther
ulet
hatani
l
legal
l
ydi
smi
ssedempl
oyeei
sent
it
ledt
orei
nst
atementasa
mat
terofri
ght....

Topr otectlabor ’
ssecur it
yoft enure,weemphasi zethatthedoctr
ineof"st
rai
nedrelati
ons"shouldbe
str
ictl
yappl iedsoasnott odepr i
veani l
legal
lydismissedemployeeofhisri
ghtt
or einst
atement.
Everylabordi sput ealmostal waysr esul
tsin"st
rainedrel
ati
ons"andthephrasecannotbegi venan
overarchingi nterpretat
ion,otherwi
se, anunjust
lydismissedemployeecanneverbe
rei
nstated. 
245
(Cit
ationsomi tt
ed)

TheCour tofAppealsreasonedt hatst r

ainedrel
ati
onsar eaquestionoffactt
hatmustbesuppor ted
byev idence. Noev
246
idencewaspr esentedbyFujitoprovethatrei
nstat
ementwasnol ongerfeasible.
Fuj
i didnotallegethatitceasedoper ationsorthatArl
ene’sposi
t i
onwasnol ongeravail
able.Nothing
i
nt her ecordsshowst hatArlene’
sr einstat
ementwoul dcauseanat mosphereofantagonism inthe
wor kplace.Arl
enefil
edhercompl aintin2009.Five(5)yearsar
enoty etasubstanti
alperi
od  tobar
247

rei
nst atement.

Ont heawar dofdamages, Fujiarguest hatAr l

enei snot enti
tledtotheawar dofdamagesand
att
or ney’sfeesbecauset henon- renewal agreementcont ainedaqui tcl
aim, whichAr l
enesigned.
Quitclaimsi nlaborcasesdonotbari l
legal l
ydismi ssedempl oyeesfrom fi
linglaborcompl aintsand
moneycl aim.Asexpl ai
nedbyAr lene,shesi gnedt henon-renewal agreementoutofnecessi ty.In
LandandHousi ngDev el
opmentCor porationv .Esquill
o, 
248
t
hiscour texplai
ned: Wehav eher etofore
explainedt hatthereasonwhyqui tclai
msar ecommonl yfrowneduponascont rarytopubl i
cpol icy
,
andwhyt heyareheldtobei neff
ectivetobarcl ai
msf orthef ul
lmeasur eoft hewor kers’l
egal r
ights,
i
st hef actthattheempl oyerandt heempl oyeeobv i
ouslydonotst andont hesamef ooti
ng.The
empl oyerdr ovetheempl oyeet othewal l
.Thel attermusthav et ogetholdofmoney .Because, outof
ajob, hehadt of acethehar shnecessi ti
esofl ife.Het husf oundhi mselfinnoposi t
iont oresist
moneypr
off
ered.Hi
s,t
hen,
isacaseofadher
ence,
notofchoi
ce. 249

Withregar
dtotheCourtofAppeal s’awar dofmoralandexemplar
ydamagesandat torney’
sf ees,
thi
scourthasrecogni
zedinseveral casesthatmoraldamagesareawar ded"whent hedismissali
s
att
endedbybadf ai
thorfraudorconst it
utesanactoppressi
vetolabor,orisdoneinamanner
contr
arytogoodmor al
s,goodcust omsorpubl i
cpolicy
." Ontheot
250
herhand, exemplarydamages
maybeawar dedwhent hedismissal waseffect
ed"inawanton,oppressiv
eormal evolentmanner." 251

TheCourtofAppealsandNat i
onalLaborRelati
onsCommi ssi
onf
oundt hatafterArlenehad
i
nformedFujiofhercancer,
shewasi nformedthatther
ewouldbeproblemsi nrenewi nghercontract
onaccountofhercondit
ion.Thi
sinformationcausedArl
enementalanguish,seri
ousanx iet
y,and
woundedfeel
ingsthatcanbegleanedf rom t
hetenorofheremai
ldatedMar ch11, 2009.Apor ti
on
ofheremailr
eads:

IWASSOSURPRI SED...thatatati
mewhenIam atmyl owest,bei
ngsickandveryweak, y
ou
suddenlycametodeli
vert
omet heNEWSt hatyouwill
nol ongerrenewmycont r
act. Iknewthi
swi
l
l
1awp++i
1

comebutInev ert
houghtt
haty ouwil
lbeso‘heart
less’andinsensit
ivet
odeli
verthatnewsjusta
mont haft
erIi
nfor
medy outhatIam si
ck.Iwasaskingf orpati
enceandunderst
andingandy our
responsewasnottoRENEW mycont ract
. 252

Apar
tfrom Arl
ene’
sillegaldismissal,t
hemannerofherdi smissal
wasef f
ect
edi
nanoppressi
ve
appr
oachwi t
hhersalaryandot herbenefit
sbeingwi t
hheldunti
lMay5,2009,
whenshehadnoother
choi
cebuttosignthenon- renewal contr
act.Thus,t
herewaslegalbasi
sfort
heCour
tofAppeal
sto
modif
yt heNati
onalLaborRel ati
onsCommi ssion’
sdecisi
on.

Howev er,Arlenerecei
vedhersalaryf orMay2009.  Consi
253
deri
ngt hatt hedat eofheri l
legaldismissal
wasMay5, 2009, t
254
hi
samountmaybesubt ract
edfrom thetotal monet aryaward.Wi thregardto
theawar dofat tor
ney’
sfees,Ar t
icl
e111oft heLaborCodest atest hat" [
i]ncasesofunl awful
withholdi
ngofwages, t
heculpabl epar tymaybeassessedat torney ’
sf eesequivalenttot enpercent
oftheamountofwagesr ecovered. "Likewise,t
hiscourthasrecogni zedt hat"
inactionsforrecov er
y
ofwagesorwher eanempl oyeewasf or cedtoli
ti
gateand,thus, i
ncurexpensest opr otecthisri
ghts
andinterest,theawardofat t
orney ’
sf eesi sl
egall
yandmor all
yjustifi
abl e." 
255
Duetoheri ll
egal
dismissal,Arlenewasforcedt oli
tigate.

I
nt hedi
sposit
ivepor
ti
onofit
sdecision,t
heCourtofAppealsawardedl
egali
nter
estattherateof
12%perannum.  Inv
256
i
ewofthiscourt’
srul
ingi
nNacarv .Gal
ler
yFrames, t
helegali
nter
257
estshal
lbe
reducdt
oar ateof6%perannum fr
om July1,2013unti
lful
lsat
isf
acti
on.

WHEREFORE, t
hepetit
ionisDENI ED.Theassai
ledCourtofAppealsdeci
siondatedJune25, 2012is
AFFIRMEDwi ththemodificati
onthatbackwagesshal
lbecomput edfrom June2009.Legalinter
est
shal
l becomputedatther ateof6%perannum ofthetotalmonetaryawar
df rom dat
eoffinali
tyof
thi
sdecisionunti
lful
lsat
isfacti
on.

SOORDERED.