▪ Paredes vs FTC

⁃ Paredes is kupal, she issued policies but never followed them, took benefits but never
paid premiums

3. Labor as Protected Class; Presumption of Inherent Inequality

• Perfecto Pascua v. Bank Wise Inc. and Phil. Veterans Bank, G.R. No. 191460 & 191464,
January 31, 2018

• Rosalinda Paredes v. Feed the Children Phils., Inc., G.R. No. 184397, September 9, 2015 Case
law holds that constructive dismissal occurs when there is cessation of work because
continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely; when there is a
demotion in rank or diminution in pay or both; or when a clear discrimination,
insensibility, or disdain by an employer becomes unbearable to the employee.48 The test
is whether a reasonable person in the employee's position would have felt compelled to
give up his position under the circumstances.49

• In this case, petitioner cannot be deemed constructively dismissed. She failed to present
clear and positive evidence that respondent FTCP, through its Board of Trustees,
committed acts of discrimination, insensibility, or disdain towards her which rendered her
continued employment unbearable or forced her to terminate her employment from the
respondent. As settled, bare allegations of constructive dismissal, when uncorroborated by
the evidence on record, cannot be given credence.

⁃ We held that the law and jurisprudence guarantee security of tenure to every employee. However,
in protecting the rights of the workers, the law does not authorize the oppression or self-
destruction of the employer. Social justice does not mean that every labor dispute shall
automatically be decided in favor of labor. Thus, the Constitution and the law equally recognize
the employer's right and prerogative to manage its operation according to reasonable standards
and norms of fair play.65

• It is settled that the law serves to equalize the unequal. The labor force is a special class that is
constitutionally protected because of the inequality between capital and labor. This constitutional
protection presupposes that the labor force is weak. However, the level of protection to labor
should vary from case to case; otherwise, the state might appear to be too paternalistic in
affording protection to labor.66 Petitioner could not expect to have the same level of ardent
protection that the laws bestow upon a lowly laborer be given to her, a high ranking officer of
respondent FTCP. As proven, she was considered on equal footing with her employer and even
had the occasion to demand the renewal of her contract by sending an e-mail to the organization's
founder.

• See: Article 1702, Civil Code;

⁃ Art. 1702. In case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be construed in favor
of the safety and decent living for the laborer.
 • Article 4, Labor Code

⁃ Construction in favor of labor. All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in
favor of labor

• 4. Social Justice as Justification, Const., Article II, Secs.10;

SECTION 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national
development.

• Article XIII, Sec. 1-3;

⁃ SECTION 1. The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect
and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political
inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for
the common good.

⁃ To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property
and its increments.

⁃ SECTION 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic
opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.

⁃ SECTION 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.

⁃ It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and
negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with
law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage.
They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and
benefits as may be provided by law.

⁃ The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers
and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall
enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.

⁃
⁃ The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of
labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns
on investments, and to expansion and growth.

• Article II, Secs. 18 & 20 SECTION 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic
force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.

⁃ SECTION 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages
private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments.

• Compare: 1987 Const., Article II, Sec. 10; 1973 Const., Article II, Sec. 6; 1935 Const., Article II,
Sec. 5

• a. Definition/Balancing of Interest, Article II,Secs.18 & 20

• Calalang v. Williams, G.R. No. 47800, December 2, 1940 - Calalang filed for a writ of
prohibition against Commonwealth Act No. 548 which prohibits animal-drawn vehicles from
passing through certain streets at certain times for a period of 1 year from the date of the opening
of Colgante Bridge. he claims that this infringes upon the consti precept regarding the promotion
of social justice to insure the well being and economic security of all the people.

The promotion of social justice, however, is to be achieved not through a mistaken sympathy
towards any given group. Social justice is "neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor
anarchy," but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the
State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be
approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption
by the Government of measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the competent
elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the
interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of
measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying
the existence of all governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex.
(the health and welfare of the people should be the supreme law)

Social justice, therefore, must be founded on the recognition of the necessity of interdependence
among divers and diverse units of a society and of the protection that should be equally and
evenly extended to all groups as a combined force in our social and economic life, consistent
with the fundamental and paramount objective of the state of promoting the health, comfort, and
quiet of all persons, and of bringing about "the greatest good to the greatest number."

b. Foundation: Police Power and State Protection

• St. Luke’s Med. Center Employees Foundation-AFW v. NLRC, G.R. No. 162053, March 7,
2007- Congress passed a law requiring radiologists to acquire a license (pass board) before they
can practice. Petitioner Santos, tried multiple times to pass, but failed. In 1999 she was issued a
“Notice of separation from the company” wherein she was given 30 days to apply to other
openings-> Santos declined. She then complained of illegal dismissal.
 While our laws endeavor to give life to the constitutional policy on social justice and the
protection of labor, it does not mean that every labor dispute will be decided in favor of the
workers. The law also recognizes that management has rights which are also entitled to respect
and enforcement in the interest of fair play. Labor laws, to be sure, do not authorize interference
with the employer's judgment in the conduct of the latter's business. Private respondent is free to
determine, using its own discretion and business judgment, all elements of employment, "from
hiring to firing" except in cases of unlawful discrimination or those which may be provided by
law. None of these exceptions is present in the instant case.

The fact that another employee, who likewise failed to pass the required exam, was allowed by
private respondent to apply for and transfer to another position with the hospital does not
constitute unlawful discrimination. This was a valid exercise of management prerogative,
petitioners not having alleged nor proven that the reassigned employee did not qualify for the
position where she was transferred. In the past, the Court has ruled that an objection founded on
the ground that one has better credentials over the appointee is frowned upon so long as the latter
possesses the minimum qualifications for the position. Furthermore, the records show that Ms.
Santos did not even seriously apply for another position in the company.

c. Limits of Use

• Manila Water v. Del Rosario, G.R. No. 188747, January 29, 2014

pilferage • Toyota Phils., Corp. Workers Association v. NLRC, G.R. Nos.

158786 & 158789, October 19, 2007

B. Legal Bases

1. International Instruments

. a)  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Art. 22; International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Arts. 6, 7, 8, 9; International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Art. 11

. b)  International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions

• International School Alliance of Educators v. Quisumbing, G.R. No. 128845, June 1, 2000

2. 1987 Constitution

a. ArticleII,Secs.9,10,11,13,14,18,20

b. ArticleIII,Secs.1,4,7,8,10,16,18(2)

c. Article XIII, Secs. 1, 2, 3, 13, 14

 3. Civil Code

a. Article19

b. Article21

c. Article 1700

d. Article1701

e. Article1702

4. Labor Code and Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code

5. Collective Bargaining Agreement, Articles 1305-1306, Civil Code • DOLE Phils. v. Pawis ng
Makabayang Obrero, G. R. No. 146650, January 13, 2003

• Cirtex Employees v. Cirtex, G.R. No. 190515, November 15, 2010

6. Past Practices

• Netlink v. Delmo, G.R. No. 160827, June 18, 2014

• American Wire and Cable Daily Rated Employees Union v. American Wire and Cable, Co., Inc.,
G.R. No. 155059. April 29, 2005

• Wesleyan University v. Faculty, G.R. No. 181806, March 12, 2014

7. Company Policies

• China Banking Corp. v. Borromeo, G.R. No. 156515, October 19, 2004

C. State Policy Towards Labor

1. Social justice Does not favor a specific group. It favors the welfare of ALL people. However,
in Labor,

a. ArticleII,Sec.10,1987Constitution

b. ArticleXIII,Sec.2,1987Constitution

c. Article 218 [211], Labor Code

• See Manila Water v. Del Rosario, G.R. No. 188747, January 29, 2014
• See Toyota Phils., Corp. Workers Association v. NLRC, G.R. Nos. 158786 & 158789, October
19, 2007