Case Digest (G.R. No. 161690)
Facts:
S.S. Ventures International, Inc. v. S.S. Ventures Labor Union (SSVLU) and Dir. Hans Leo Cacdac, in his capacity as Director of the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR), G.R. No. 161690, July 23, 2008, Supreme Court Second Division, Velasco Jr., J., writing for the Court.Petitioner S.S. Ventures International, Inc. (Ventures) is a PEZA-registered manufacturer of sports shoes. Respondent S.S. Ventures Labor Union (Union) is a labor organization registered with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). On March 21, 2000 the Union filed with DOLE–Region III a petition for a certification election supported by 542 signatures. Ventures alleged that 82 of those signatures belonged to employees who had been terminated and that those 82 (and three other names) were forged or otherwise wrongly included.
On August 21, 2000 Ventures filed with DOLE–Region III a petition to cancel the Union’s certificate of registration (Case No. RO300-0008-CP-002), invoking Art. 239(a) of the Labor Code alleging fraud, forgery, double entries of signatures, absence of a legitimate organizational meeting, and noncompliance with the 20% membership requirement in Art. 234. The Union denied fraud, asserted the organizational meeting occurred on January 9, 2000, argued the 82 were still qualified members because their dismissals could still be challenged within the one-year prescription, and said the double signatures were inadvertent human error.
Regional Director Ana C. Dione of DOLE–Region III granted Ventures’ petition in a Decision dated April 6, 2001, canceling the Union’s certificate of registration. The Union filed a motion for reconsideration which was forwarded to the BLR; despite Ventures’ Motion to Expunge the purportedly late appeal, the BLR treated the filing as an appeal and, in BLR‑A‑C‑60‑6‑11‑01, reversed Director Dione in a decision dated October 11, 2002, restoring the Union’s registration.
Ventures sought reconsideration before the BLR and then filed a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 with the Court of Appeals (CA‑G.R. SP No. 74749). The Court of Appeals, in a decision dated October 20, 2003 (and a Resolution of January 19, 2004 denying reconsideration), dismissed Ventures’ petition. Ventures filed this petition for review on certiorari un...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the BLR commit grave abuse of discretion or err in admitting and giving due course to the Union’s belated motion for reconsideration/appeal and in permitting counsel whose filing Ventures characterized as forum shopping?
- Was there sufficient fraud, misrepresentation or other irregularity in the Union’s registration papers (including the alleged forged or invalid signatures of 82 dismissed employees and the duplicate signatures) to justify cancellation of the Union’s certificate of registration under Art. 239(a) of the Labor Code?
- Did the inclusion of the 82 dismissed employees and the double signatures render the Union’s membership list insufficient to satisfy the twenty pe...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)