G.R. No. 238263 - Department of Trade and Industry vs. Steelasia Manufacturing Corp.

Petitioner Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is a non-stock, non-profit educational institution.
Respondent Asian Institute of Management Faculty Association (AFA) is a registered labor organization composed of AIM faculty members (Certificate of Registration No. NCR-UR-12-4076-2004).

On May 16, 2007, AFA filed a petition for certification election to represent a bargaining unit of 40 AIM faculty members (DOLE Case No. NCR-OD-M-0705-007).
AIM opposed, claiming AFA members were managerial employees and thus ineligible to form a union.

On July 11, 2007, AIM filed a petition for cancellation of AFA’s certificate of registration alleging misrepresentation and that union members were managerial employees prohibited from organizing (DOLE Case No. NCR-AOD-0707-001-LRD).

August 30, 2007 - DOLE Mediator-Arbiter denied certification election petition, declaring AIM faculty as managerial employees.
AFA appealed to DOLE Secretary who reversed and set aside the denial through decisions in February and May 2009, ordering certification election.
Meanwhile, DOLE Regional Director granted AIM’s cancellation petition in February 2009, ordering AFA’s delisting.
AFA appealed to the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR), which reversed DOLE Regional Director’s order and upheld AFA’s registration in December 2009. AIM’s motion for reconsideration was denied in March 2010.

AIM filed a Petition for Certiorari with the CA challenging DOLE Secretary’s decision on certification election (CA G.R. SP No. 109487).
On October 22, 2010, the CA ruled that AIM’s faculty are managerial employees based on Article 212(m) of the Labor Code, rendering AFA’s registration and certification election invalid.
AFA sought reconsideration which the CA denied; an appeal to the Supreme Court was docketed as G.R. No. 197089 and remains pending.
AIM also filed a Petition for Certiorari before the CA challenging the BLR’s decision upholding AFA’s certificate of registration (CA-G.R. SP No. 114122).
On January 8, 2013, the CA denied AIM’s petition, ruling the grounds cited by AIM for cancellation were not among those allowed under Article 239 of the Labor Code.
AIM’s motion for reconsideration was denied in June 2013.
Petitioner elevated the case to the Supreme Court via the present Petition for Review on Certiorari.
The Supreme Court resolved to give due course to the Petition but ordered consolidation of this case with G.R. No. 197089 governing the managerial status issue.

Whether the members of the Asian Institute of Management Faculty Association are managerial employees disqualified from joining, assisting, or forming a labor organization under Article 245 of the Labor Code.
Whether the Asian Institute of Management Faculty Association’s certificate of registration may be cancelled solely on the ground that its members are managerial employees.
Whether the Court of Appeals gravely erred in affirming the Bureau of Labor Relations’ decision denying the cancellation of respondent’s certificate of registration.