FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 233300, September 03, 2020
COCA-COLA FEMSA PHILIPPINES, INC., PETITIONER, V. CENTRAL LUZON REGIONAL SALES EXECUTIVE UNION OF COCA-COLA SAN FERNANDO (FDO) PLANT, RESPONDENT.
D E C I S I O N
REYES, A., JR., J.:
The inclusion as union members of employees who are outside the bargaining unit shall not be a ground to cancel the union registration. The ineligible employees are automatically deemed removed from the list of membership of the union. - Section 6, Rule XIV of Department of Labor and Employment Order 40-F-03-08.
Well established is the rule that the filing of a motion for reconsideration is a prerequisite to the filing of a special civil action for certiorari, subject to certain exceptions, to wit:Here, the basic issue to be resolved by the CA is whether or not there is a ground to cancel the Union's certificate of registration. This is the same issue decided by both the DOLE Regional Office and the BLR. They determined that there is no basis for cancellation as none of the grounds in Article 247, formerly Article 239, of the Labor Code is present. Due to a repetition of issue from the DOLE Regional Office to the BLR up to the CA, this case falls under the second enumeration of exceptions for filing a motion for reconsideration. Thus, the petition for certiorari before the CA may be entertained without a prior motion for reconsideration.
(a) where the order is a patent nullity, as where the court a quo has no jurisdiction;
(b) where the questions raised in the certiorari proceeding have been duly raised and passed upon by the lower court, or are the same as those raised and passed upon in the lower court;
(c) where there is an urgent necessity for the resolution of the question and any further delay
would prejudice the interests of the government or the petitioner or the subject matter of the action is perishable;
(d) where, under the circumstances, a motion for reconsideration would be useless;
(e) where petitioner was deprived of due process and there is extreme urgency for relief;
(f) where, in a criminal case, relief from an order of arrest is urgent and the granting of such relief by the trial court is improbable;
(g) where the proceedings in the lower court are a nullity for lack of due process;
(h) where the proceedings was ex parte or in which the petitioner had no opportunity to object; and
(i) where the issue raised is one purely of law or where public interest is involved. (Emphasis
supplied)
ARTICLE 247. [239] Grounds for Cancellation of Union Registration. — The following may constitute grounds for cancellation of union registration:The above provision was reiterated in Section 3, Rule XIV of DOLE DO 40-F-03-08 dated October 30, 2008.22
(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) Misrepresentation, false statements or fraud in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the election of officers, and the list of voters;
(c) Voluntary dissolution by the members.
SECTION 3. Grounds for Cancellation. — ANY OF the following MAY constitute AS ground/s for cancellation of registration of labor organizations:As correctly and consistently determined by the DOLE Regional Office, the BLR, and the CA, Coca- Cola failed to prove that any of the above grounds were present in this case. There were no misrepresentations, false statements, or fraud in in the adoption, ratification, or amendment of the constitution and by-laws, the minutes of ratification, the list of members who took part in the ratification, in the election of officers, minutes of the election of officers, and the list of voters under Article 247 of the renumbered Labor Code.
(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, the list of members who took part in the ratification;
(b) Misrepresentation, false statements or fraud in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the election of officers, and the list of voters; or
(c) Voluntary dissolution by the members.
Well-settled is the rule that this Court is not a trier of facts and this doctrine applies with greater force in labor cases. Questions of fact are for the labor tribunals to resolve. Only errors of law are generally reviewed in petitions for review on certiorari criticizing decisions of the CA. Also settled is the rule that the findings of the Labor Arbiter, when affirmed by the NLRC and the CA, are binding on the Supreme Court, unless patently erroneous.Thus, the Court sustains the CA's findings and conclusion, as unanimously decided by the DOLE Regional Office and the BLR.
A new provision is hereby added as Section 6 under Rule XIV, to read as:
SECTION 6. Prohibited Grounds for Cancellation of Registration. — The inclusion as union members of employees who are outside the bargaining unit shall not be a ground to cancel the union registration. The ineligible employees are automatically deemed removed from the list of membership of the union.Thus, if there are any managerial employees who are union members, they are automatically removed from the union membership, and the Union continues to be registered.
Endnotes:
1 Penned by Associate Justice Ramon R. Garcia, with Associate Justices Leoncia R. Dimagiba and Henri Jean Paul B. Inting (now a member of this Court), concurring; rollo, pp. 164-174.
2 Id. at 189-190.
3 Penned by Atty. Ana C. Dione (Regional Director of Regional Office No. III); id. at 115-119.
4 Penned by Atty. Benjo Santos M. Bcnavidez (Director IV of Bureau of Labor Relations); id. at 145-150.
5 Id. at 165.
6 Id.
7 Id.
8 Id. at 165-166.
9 Id. at 166.
10 Id.
11 Section 6, Rule XIV of DOLE DO 40-03, Prohibited grounds for cancellation of registration. - The inclusion as union members of employees who are outside the bargaining unit shall not be a ground to cancel the union registration. The ineligible employees are automatically deemed removed from the list of membership of the union.
The affiliation of the rank-and-file and supervisory unions operating within the same establishment to the same federation or national union shall not be a ground to cancel the registration of either union, (as amended by D.O. 40-F-03, 30 October 2008).
12Rollo, pp. 145-150.
13 Id. at 169-170.
14 Id. at 170.
15 In Novateknika Land Corporation v. Philippine National Bank, 706 Phil. 414. 420-421 (2013), it was held that the following are the exceptions to the general rule that the filing of a motion for reconsideration is a prerequisite to the filing of a special civil action for certiorari: ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrarya. Where the order is a patent nullity, as where the court a quo has no jurisdiction;16Rollo, pp. 170-171.
b. Where the questions raised in the certiorari proceeding have been duly raised and passed upon by the lower court, or are the same as those raised and passed upon in the lower court;
c. Where there is an urgent necessity for the resolution of the question and any further delay would prejudice the interests of the government or ihe petitioner or the subject matter of the action is perishable;
d. Where, under the circumstances, a motion for reconsideration would be useless;
e. Where petitioner was deprived of due process and there is an extreme urgency for relief;
f. Where, in a criminal case, relief from an order of arrest is urgent and the granting of such relief
by the trial court is improbable;
g. Where the proceedings in the lower court are a nullity for lack of due process;
h. Where the proceedings was ex parte or in which the petitioner had no opportunity to object; and i. Where the issue raised is one purely of law or where public interest is involved.
17 Art. 238 of the LABOR CODE: Cancellation of registration. - The certificate of registration of any legitimate labor organization, whether national or local, may be cancelled by the Bureau, after due hearing, only on the grounds specified in Article 239 hereof.
18 Art. 239 of the Labor Code: Grounds for cancellation of union registration.- The following
may constitute grounds for cancellation of union registration: ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrarya. 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;19Rollo, p. 171-172.
b. Misrepresentation, false statements, or fraud in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the election of officers, and the list of voters;
c. Voluntary dissolution by the members.
20 Id. at 189-190.
21 706 Phil. 414(2013).
22 Amending Rules III, V, VII, IX, XI, XIV and XV of the Implementing Rules of Book V of the Labor Code of the Philippines (P.D. No. 442, as amended), DOLE Order No. 40-F-03-08, October 30, 2008.
23 734 Phil. 569, 580(2014).
24 Supra note 22.
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