The Lion-Tiger Mosquito Killer Case: EXCULPATING THE EMPLOYER FROM A CHARGE OF NON-COMPLIANCE WITH AN ECONOMIC PROVISION OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
Francis V. Sobreviñas* More than two (2) decades ago, our Supreme Court applied a civil law concept in resolving a labor dispute, holding that the Civil Code has always recognized, and continues to recognize, the validity and propriety of contracts and obligations with a fixed or definite period, and imposes no restraints on the freedom of the parties to fix the duration of a contract, whatever its object, be it species, goods or services, except the general admonition against stipulations contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or public policy. Just four (4) months ago, the same tribunal employed a similar approach when, in another labor litigation, it laid down certain guidelines to determine the employer’s obligation to grant certain benefits....
Describing and Delineating Unfair Labor Practice: Revisiting the Rule from Royal Interocean Lines to T&H Shopfitters
Francis V. Sobrevinas There is a well-known Latin maxim: Respice, Adspice, Prospice (Examine the past, examine the present, examine the future). Guided by this wise saying, the present article will briefly examine some selected cases and attempt to trace the inception and development of the doctrine that unfair labor practice (ULP) relates to the commission of acts that transgress the workers’ right to organize. In law school, we learned that a ULP is an unlawful act by the employer or labor union, defined as such under the Labor Code, which unduly interferes with one another’s rights and prerogatives. As specified in Articles 248 and 249 of the Labor Code, the prohibited acts must necessarily relate to the workers’ right to self-organization and to the...
Temporibus Inserviendum:* IN TERMINATION DISPUTES, THE REGULAR COURTS FOR CORPORATE OFFICERS AND THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION FOR NON-CORPORATE OFFICERS
Francis V. Sobreviñas** November 22, 2013 marked the 100th birth anniversary of Cecilia Muñoz Palma, the first woman associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, who is best remembered for questioning the imposition of martial law and denouncing human rights violations. Madam Justice Palma later on became President of the Constitutional Commission and, through her leadership and wise counsel, the Commission succeeded in drafting a constitution that is the embodiment of the ideals and aspirations of the sovereign Filipino people: pro-people, pro-country and pro-God. She also wrote the decision in People v. Mariano[1] wherein the etymology of the term...
