Title
Del Rosario vs. ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.
Case
G.R. No. 202481
Decision Date
Sep 8, 2020
Workers sought regularization or challenged illegal dismissal from ABS-CBN; rulings varied on employer-employee relationship, regularization, and dismissal validity.

Case Summary (G.R. No. 202481)

PETITIONERS AND RESPONDENTS

Petitioners: Approximately 95 workers, later reduced to 75, who initially filed regularization claims and, in many instances, subsequent illegal dismissal cases.
Respondent: ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, a domestic franchisee operating a nationwide television and radio network.

KEY DATES AND PROCEEDINGS

• Engagement of technical workers: mid-1990s to early 2000s, continuous rehiring through an “Internal Job Market System.”
• Labor Arbiter decisions (2002–2004): mixed findings on regular status.
• National Labor Relations Commission rulings (2008–2009): some grant of regularization, some dismissals.
• Court of Appeals decisions (2011–2016): eight consolidated petitions for certiorari under Rule 45, resulting in both affirmances and reversals.
• Supreme Court decision (En Banc, September 8, 2020): resolution of eight consolidated Rule 45 petitions.

APPLICABLE LAW

• 1987 Philippine Constitution: guarantees security of tenure, just and humane conditions of work, and right to self-organization.
• Labor Code of the Philippines (Articles 294–295, on security of tenure and definition of regular employment; Article 106 on contractor liability).
• Department of Labor and Employment Policy Instruction No. 40 (broadcast industry rules on station vs. program employees).
• Jurisprudential doctrines: four-fold test for employer-employee relationship; economic realities test; work-pool principles.

ISSUES PRESENTED

  1. Validity of procedural defenses: failure to file motions for reconsideration, forum shopping and invocation of stare decisis.
  2. Applicability of this Court’s minute resolution in Jalog v. NLRC to non-parties.
  3. Existence of an employer-employee relationship under the four-fold test and economic realities.
  4. Classification as regular vs. project (or seasonal) employees under Article 295.
  5. Nature and effect of ABS-CBN’s Internal Job Market System as a work pool.
  6. Legality of dismissals and entitlement to reinstatement, backwages and other benefits.

PROCEDURAL POSTURE AND RULINGS BELOW

The consolidated petitions challenged eight Court of Appeals rulings: two on regularization (G.R. Nos. 202481; 202495–97) and six on illegal dismissal (G.R. Nos. 210165; 219125; 222057; 224879; 225101; 225874). The network raised procedural defects and substantive non-employee status as defenses. The CA in some divisions dismissed cases for lack of jurisdiction or held workers guilty of forum shopping; in others it declared them regular employees or denied illegal dismissal claims.

RULING ON MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION

The failure to file motions for reconsideration before the CA was excused. The issues in certiorari were identical to those passed upon by the NLRC, making reconsideration futile. In labor cases, rigid application of technical rules is avoided when it would frustrate substantial justice, especially where workers’ livelihoods are at stake.

RULING ON FORUM SHOPPING

Workers who initially filed regularization claims and later illegal dismissal cases did not commit forum shopping. The causes of action and reliefs sought were distinct: regularization addresses status and benefits; illegal dismissal addresses unlawful termination and attendant reliefs. The test of identity of cause—whether the same evidence would support both actions—was not met.

RULING ON JALOG DECISION

A Court of Appeals decision affirmed by a minute resolution is binding only as to the same parties and subject matter. Jalog involved different litigants; its holding could not be mechanically applied to the consolidated petitions.

EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS

The Supreme Court reaffirmed the four-fold test: (1) selection and engagement; (2) payment of wages; (3) power of dismissal; and (4) power of control. The “control test” is paramount and examines whether the employer had authority over not just the result of the work but also the means and methods. Absent such control, and when remuneration depends solely on results, the relationship may be one of independent contracting. Where control is implied rather than actually exercised, it is sufficient if the employer retains the right to control.

REGULAR EMPLOYEE STATUS

Under Article 295 of the Labor Code, an employee is “regular” if engaged in activities usually necessary or desirable in the employer’s usual business or trade, regardless of contrary written agreements. Work that is seasonal or project-based must have a definite scope or duration established at hiring. Jurisprudence (Begino; Nazareno) has held that broadcast workers performing core production functions—camerawork, lighting, sound engineering—are regular employees when their services are indispensable to content generation, even if hired on successive project engagements.

INTERNAL JOB MARKET SYSTEM AS WORK POOL

ABS-CBN’s “Internal Job Market System” functioned as a work pool from which the company continuously drew accredited technical personnel for successive productions. While members were free to seek outside work during lulls, uninterrupted rehiring for essential tasks rendered them regular work-pool employees. Under Maraguinot and later cases, such conti



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