SUNIO V NLRC (1984)

EM Ramos & Co., Inc (EMRACO) and Cabugao Ice

Plant, Inc. (CIPI), sister corporations, sold an ice
plant to Rizal Development and Finance, Corp.
(RDFC). To secure RDFC’s payment of the purchase
price, the ice plant was mortgaged to EMRACO-CIPI.
Because of the sale, EMRACO-CIPI terminated all of
theire employees, including private respondents.
Later, RDFC sold the ice plant, subject to the
mortgage in favor of EMRACO-CIPI, to petitioner
Ilocos Commercial Corp. (ICC).
When RDFC and ICC defaulted on the payment of
the balance of the purchase price, EMRACO-CIPI
extrajudicially foreclosed the ice plant. It then sold it
to Nilo Villanueva, subject to RDFC’s right of
redemption. Nilo Villanueva rehired private
respondents.
When RDFC redeemend the ice plant, private
respondents were again dismissed. Thus, the latter
filed complaints against the petitioner corporation,
and its President and General manager, Alberto
Sunio, for illegal dismissal.
The Assistance Regional Director of the Ministry of
Labor and Employment ordered petitioners to
reinstate private respondents. NLRC affirmed.
Petitioner Sunio, who owned ½ of ICC, was made
jointly and severally liable with ICC and CIPI for the
payment of backwages.

RATIO: A corporation is invested by law with a

personaloty separate and distinct from those of
the persons composing it as well as from that of
any other legal entity to which it may be related.
Mere ownership by a single stockholder or by
anotehr coporation of all or nearly all of the capital
stock of a corporation is not tiself sufficient
ground for disregarding the separate corporate
personality. Therefore, Sunio should not have been
made personally liable for the payment of
backwages to private respondents.