Maternity Children’s Hospital v.

Secretary of Labor
G.R. No. 78909, June 30, 1989

Facts:
Petitioner is a semi-government hospital, managed by the Cagayan de Oro Women’s Club and
Puericulture Center, headed by Mrs. Araneta Dorado, as holdover President. The hospital
derives its finances from the club itself as from paying patients, averaging 130 per month. It is
also partly subsidized by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Cagayan de Oro City
government. Petitioner has forty-one (41) employees. Aside from salary and living allowances,
the employees are given food, but the amount spent therefor is deducted from their respective
salaries.
On May 23, 1986, ten (10) employees of the petitioner employed in different
capacities/positions filed a complaint within the Office of the Regional Director of Labor and
Employment, Region X, for underpayment of their salaries and ECOLAS, which was docketed as
ROX Case No. CW-71-86.
The Regional Director issued and ordered based on the reports of the Labor Standard and
Welfare Officers, directing payment of P723,888.58 representing underpayment of wages and
ECOLAs to all the petitioner’s employees. Petitioner appealed to the Minister of Labor and
Employment which modified the decision as to the period for the payment of ECOLAs only. A
motion for reconsideration was field by petitioner and was denied by the Secretary of Labor.

Issue:
Whether or not the Regional Director exercised jurisdiction over the case and if so, the extent
of coverage of any award that should be forthcoming, arising from his visitorial and
enforcement powers under Article 128 of the Labor Code

Ruling:
NO. This is a labor standards case, and is governed by Art. 128-b of the Labor Code, as amended
by E.O. No. 111. Under the present rules, a Regional Director exercises both visitorial and
enforcement power over labor standards cases, and is therefore empowered to adjudicate
money claims, provided there still exists an employer-employee relationship, and the findings
of the regional office is not contested by the employer concerned. Labor standards refer to the
minimum requirements prescribed by existing laws, rules, and regulations relating to wages,
hours of work, cost of living allowance and other monetary and welfare benefits, including
occupational, safety, and health standards (Section 7, Rule I, Rules on the Disposition of Labor
Standards Cases in the Regional Office, dated September 16, 1987)
Accordingly, this petition should be dismissed, as it is hereby dismissed, as regards all persons
still employed in the Hospital at the time of the filing of the complaint, but granted as regards
those employees no longer employed at that time.