Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Manila
THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 162401

January 31, 2006

CORAZON ALMIREZ, Petitioner,

vs.
INFINITE LOOP TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, EDWIN R. RABINO and COURT OF
APPEALS, Respondents.
DECISION
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
Corazon Almirez (petitioner) was hired as a Refinery Senior Process Design Engineer for a specific
project by respondent Infinite Loop Technology Corporation (Infinite Loop) through its General
Manager/President-co-respondent Edwin R. Rabino (Rabino) who, by letter 1 dated September 30,
1999 to petitioner, furnished the details of the employment of her services as follows:
Subject: Acceptance of Professional Services
Refinery Senior Process Design Engineer
Dear Ms. Almirez
This is to confirm acceptance of your services as per attached Terms and Conditions. Your
services will commence effective October 18, 1999 up to the completion of the scope of services and
continuation thereof with a guaranty of 12 continuous months as outlined in the attachment or until a
mutually agreed date.
We thank you for considering our company as a valued partner in the advancement of Petroleum
Processing Technology in our country.
x x x x (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
As indicated in the above-quoted portion of Rabinos letter, the terms and conditions attendant to the
acceptance of petitioners "Professional Services" 2 were attached to it reading:
Scope of Professional Services
The Senior Process Design Engineer shall work together with the Process Design Consultant in
performing the scope of services below which includes but are not limited to the following:
1. Prepare the Process Design Terms of Reference or Basis of Design and other data
required for the proposed 1,200,000 BPSD Petroleum Refinery. These data are to be used in

securing the services of a Basic Design Engineering Company as well as part of Project
Accomplishment of Infinite Loop Technology Corp.
2. Review and revise/improve as necessary the existing conceptual process block diagram
or Process Flow Scheme of the proposed petroleum refinery. Various capacity combinations
are to be considered to develop process design modules of 1,200,000 BPSD total capacity.
3. Implement new process technologies that can meet the requirements of Japanese,
Australian and US petroleum product standard by the year 2004. As well as the Philippine
Clean Air Act provisions applicable to the proposed 1,200,000 BPSD petroleum refinery.
Petroleum Product Standards required shall be researched and be part of the Basis of
Design or Term of Reference.
4. Participate in discussions during the solicitation of proposals from Basic Design
Engineering Companies.
5. Review the progress of work being done by the Basic Design Engineering Company and
coordinate with the company management team for an efficient and effective project
implementation.
6. Make reports and recommendations to the company management team regarding work
progress, revisions and improvement of process design on a regular basis as required by
company management team.
7. Represent the Company in technical meetings to be held locally or abroad.
8. Perform other related works that are necessary in completing the Engineering
Procurement and Construction (EPC) bid documents and progress reports relevant to
schedules of deliveries to the Project Proponent as required by the company.
9. Continue related works when the construction stage of this Proposed Refinery will push
through.
10. Serve as technical consultant to Infinite Loop Technology Corp. on other relevant works
or projects when required.
x x x x (Emphasis in the original; underscoring supplied)
Terms of Payments
Professional Fee: US$ 2,000.00 per month (net of tax)
To be paid 50/50 split in US Dollars or
equivalent Peso every 15th and 30th of the month
Length of Service: Guaranteed minimum of 12 continuous months
or up to completion of services, or until a

mutually agreed date.

Reimbursable Expenses:
Work related expenses which include but not
limited to the following:
- Communication Expenses (Cellular
phone, fax, tels)
- Representation Expenses
- Out of town travel expenses
Other Benefits:
- US$ 300.00 per month as transportation
allowance (Engineer to use her
personal car in the performance of
work) to be paid in equivalent pesos
every end of the month.
- Project Bonus at the end of the contract
to be mutually agreed upon by both parties.
Others:
Infinite Loop Technology Corporation to provide
the ff:
- Laptop Computer (Pentium III or best
available model with modems etc.)
- Printer/ Scanner
- Process Simulation Softwares to be identified later (Emphasis in the original; underscoring
supplied)
The letter, as well as the attached documents, bore the signature of petitioner and Rabino.

For her services, petitioner received the following amounts on the dates indicated: 3

Voucher date

Amount

11/23/99

Salary for Nov. 1-15, 1999

P20,000.00

12/02/99

Salary for Nov. 15-30, 1999

8,000.00

12/15/99

Full payment for Nov. 15-30

salary

2,000.00

Salary for Dec. 1-15, 1999

10,000.00

1/17/00

Salary for Jan. 1-15, 2000

12,000.00

1/16/00

Salary for Jan. 16-31, 2000

12,500.00

1/20/00

Salary for Jan. 1-15, 2000

12,500.00

---------------

Total

P77,000.00

By letter4 dated February 2, 2000, petitioner conveyed to Infinite Loop through Rabino her
disappointment with the "salary" she was receiving in this wise:
x x x When I agreed with a salary of P30,000.00 monthly, my understanding is that, this amount is
already net of tax x x x. However, when I received my salary for the month of January which is only
partial, (P25,000) and even less because [of] SSS and tax deductions x x x
I understand that tax should be deducted from my salary for your Accounting records but I would like
to ask you not to deduct it from the P30,000.00 salary I am supposed to be receiving. Currently I am

paying my SSS contributions voluntarily so there is no need for the company to pay my monthly
contributions.
I would like to render my service at Infinite Loop based on the contract that I signed and I am willing
to serve astechnical consultant to Infinite Loop on other relevant works or projects while we are
waiting for the Masbate refinery project.
x x x x (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Responding,5 Rabino stated that petitioners letter "was totally different [from] what [they] verbally
agreed [upon]" in her house; that "like any other proposed project, [the Proposed 1,200,000 BPSD
Petroleum Refinery] can be deferred like its present status;" and that since "the financial side for the
engineering design for the proposed [project] is not yet available x x x it would be prudent to
SUSPEND her professional services as Senior Process Design Engineer effective February 7,
2000." Rabino assured petitioner that her professional services would be resumed once they are
provided with the initial payment requested from the project proponent.
By letter6 dated August 9, 2000, petitioner, through counsel, wrote Rabino "to compensate [her with]
the total amount of her contract," thus:
Our client MS. CORAZON S. ALMIREZ has referred to us for appropriate legal action concerning her
contract with your company as a refinery process design engineer.
In the said contract, which was accepted by our said client on September 30, 1999, you stated that
our clients services "will commence effective October 18, 1999 up to the completion of the scope of
the services and continuation thereof with a guaranty of 12 continuous months as outlined in the
attachment or until a mutually agreed date". However, despite your guarantee of at least 12
continuous months of service, you suspended her professional services effective February 7, 2000.
The same is a clear violation of the terms and conditions of the contract. Moreover, you have paid
her only a total amount of SEVENTY FOUR THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED TWENTY NINE & 17/100
PESOS (P74,229.17), which is way below than the agreed professional fee of US $2,000.00 a
month net of tax. On account of your blatant violation of the terms and conditions of the contract, our
client suffered sleepless nights, anxiety and besmirched reputation. She was constrained to resign
from her job as an engineer at the Technoserve International Co., Inc., in view of her contract with
your company.
In view thereof, formal demand is hereby made on you to compensate our client the total amount of
her contract or the amount of US DOLLARS: twenty thousand ($ 20,000.00), MORE OR LESS,
within five (5) days from your receipt hereof, failing which we shall, much to our regret, be
constrained to file the necessary action in court.
x x x x (Underscoring supplied)
Rabino later wrote petitioner, by letter of November 15, 2000, 7 as follows:
Thank you for reminding us about our agreement about this possible landmark project. You all know
that Infinite Loop Tech. Corp. is the lead company in this undertaking in association with other
companies forming a consortium to cope up with the huge financial and technical requirement of this
project. We all have invested a lot of group resources for this, but unfortunately the Project
Proponent, Arrox Resources Corp., have encountered re-organization and have not yet paid us for
this project.

At the moment, the former Chairman of Arrox Resources Corp. is still in contact with us. We all hope
that this project will push thru after our country would overcome all the peace and order, economic
and political crisis we are encountering now.
We all hope that you would bear with us. We would inform you soonest once any development from
the project proponent would be relayed to us.
On December 12, 2000, petitioner filed a complaint against Infinite Loop and Rabino before the
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) for "breach of contract of employment," praying that
judgment be rendered in her favor ordering Infinite Loop to pay:
(1) $22,000.00 or its peso equivalent representing salaries and wages;
(2) P300,000.00 as and for moral damages;
(3) P100,000.00 as and for exemplary damages; and
(4) 10% of the total claim as and for attorneys fees.
Infinite Loop moved to dismiss8 petitioners complaint on the ground that the NLRC has no
jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter, there being no employee-employer relationship
between them as the contract they entered into was one of services and not of employment.
By Resolution of November 14, 2001, the Labor Arbiter, finding that paragraph No. 6 of the Scope of
Professional Services of petitioner showed that "the companys management team exercises control
over the means and methods in the performance of [petitioners] duties as Refinery Process Design
Engineer," held that there existed an employer-employee relationship between the parties.
The Labor Arbiter thus ordered Infinite Loop and Rabino to jointly and severally pay petitioner the
sum of US$ 24,000.00 in its peso equivalent at the date of payment less advances in the amount
of P77,000.00 plus 5% thereof by way of attorneys fees. It dismissed petitioners claim for damages,
however.9
Infinite Loop and Rabino (hereafter respondents) appealed to the NLRC. By Resolution 10 dated
September 19, 2002, the NLRC, finding that employer-employee relation between the parties indeed
existed, dismissed respondents appeal.
Before the Court of Appeals to which respondents elevated the case, they argued that the NLRC:
I.
x x x ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OF JURISDICTION AND ERRED IN NOT
FINDING THAT THE LABOR ARBITER HAS NO JURISDICTION OVER THE CAUSES OF ACTION
PLEADED IN THE COMPLAINT, I.E., NON PAYMENT OF PROFESSIONAL FEE AND BREACH OF
CONTRACT.
II.
x x x COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OF JURISDICTION
AND COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN NOT FINDING THAT [PETITIONER] IS NOT AN
EMPLOYEE OF [INFINITE LOOP].

III.
x x x SERIOUSLY ERRED IN NOT FINDING THE ENVISIONED ENGAGEMENT OF [PETITIONER]
AS A REFINERY PROCESS ENGINEER IS CO-TERMINOUS WITH THE PROJECT, WHICH
PROJECT DID NOT MATERIALIZE.11(Underscoring supplied)
The appellate court, finding that "[petitioner] was hired to render professional services for a specific
project" and her "primary cause of action is for a sum of money on account of [Infinite Loops]
alleged breach of contractual obligation to pay her agreed professional fee," held by Decision 12 dated
October 20, 2003 that no employer-employee relationship existed between the parties, hence, the
NLRC and the Labor Arbiter have no jurisdiction over the complaint. It accordingly reversed the
NLRC decision and dismissed petitioners complaint.
Hence, the present petition, petitioner contending that the appellate court erred when it:
A.
x x x INCONSISTENTLY RULED THAT THERE WAS NO EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE PARTIES BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT CITED THAT [PETITIONER] IS A PROJECT
EMPLOYEE. MOREOVER, THE ASSAILED JUDGMENT IS BASED ON MISAPPRECIATION OF
FACTS.
B.
x x x FAILED TO CONSIDER THE RELIEF MENTIONED IN [PETITIONERS] COMPLAINT FOR
PAYMENT OF SALARY x x x
C.
x x x RULED THAT THE SEPARATION FROM SERVICE OF [PETITIONER] BECAUSE OF THE
PROJECTS DISCONTINUANCE DID NOT RESULT TO ILLEGAL DISMISSAL. 13
To ascertain the existence of an employer-employee relationship, jurisprudence has invariably
applied the four-fold test, to wit: (1) the manner of selection and engagement; (2) the payment of
wages; (3) the presence or absence of the power of dismissal; and (4) the presence or absence of
the power of control. Of these four, the last one, the so called "control test" is commonly regarded as
the most crucial and determinative indicator of the presence or absence of an employer-employee
relationship.14
Under the control test, an employer-employee relationship exists where the person for whom the
services are performed reserves the right to control not only the end achieved, but also
the manner and means to be used in reaching that end.15
From the earlier-quoted scope of petitioners professional services, there is no showing of a power of
control over petitioner. The services to be performed by her specified what she needed to achieve
but not on how she was to go about it.
Contrary to the finding of the Labor Arbiter, as affirmed by the NLRC, above-quoted paragraph No. 6
of the "Scope of [petitioners] Professional Services" requiring her to "[m]ake reports and
recommendations to the company management team regarding work progress, revisions and
improvement of process design on a regular basis as required by company management team" does

not "show that the companys management team exercises control over the means and methods in
the performance of her duties as Refinery Process Design Engineer." Having hired petitioners
professional services on account of her "expertise and qualifications" as petitioner herself proffers in
her Position Paper,16 the company naturally expected to be updated regularly of her "work progress,"
if any, on the project for which she was specifically hired.
In bolstering her contention that there was an employer-employee relationship, petitioner draws
attention to the pay slips and Infinite Loops deduction of her SSS, Philhealth, and withholding tax,
and to the designation of the payments to her as "salaries."
The deduction from petitioners remuneration of amounts representing SSS premiums, Philhealth
contributions and withholding tax, was made in the only payslip issued to petitioner, that for the
period of January 16-31, 2000,17 the other amounts of remuneration having been documented by
cash vouchers. Such payslip cannot prove the existence of an employer-employee relationship
between the parties.
The cases of Equitable Banking Corp. v. NLRC18 and Nagusara v. NLRC19 should be differentiated
from the present case, as the employers in these two cases did not only regularly make similar
deductions from the therein complainants remuneration but also registered and declared the
complainants with the SSS and Medicare (Philhealth) as their employees.
As for the designation of the payments to petitioner as "salaries," it is not determinative of the
existence of an employer-employee relationship. "Salary" is a general term defined as "a
remuneration for services given." It is the above-quoted contract of engagement of services-letter
dated September 30, 1999, together with its attachments, which is the law between the parties. Even
petitioner concedes rendering service "based on the contract," 20 which, as reflected earlier, is bereft
of a showing of power of control, the most crucial and determinative indicator of the presence of an
employer-employee relationship.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED for lack of merit.
Costs against petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
CONCHITA CARPIO MORALES
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING
Associate Justice
Chairman
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
ATT E S TATI O N

DANTE O. TINGA
Associate Justice

I attest that the conclusions in the above Decision were reached in consultation before the case was
assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Courts Division.
LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING
Associate Justice
Chairperson
C E R TI F I C ATI O N
Pursuant to Article VIII, Section 13 of the Constitution, and the Division Chairmans Attestation, it is
hereby certified that the conclusions in the above Decision were reached in consultation before the
case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Court.
ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN
Chief Justice

Footnotes
1

NLRC records, p. 16.

Id. at 17-18.

Annexes "B" to "B-5," NLRC records, pp. 19-21.

Annex "C," NLRC records, p. 22.

Annex "D," NLRC records, p. 23.

Annex "E," NLRC records, p. 24.

Annex "F," NLRC records, p. 26.

NLRC records, pp. 28-32.

Id. at 53-54.

10

Id. at 371-385.

11

CA rollo, p. 10.

Penned by Justice Eugenio S. Labitoria with Justices Mercedes Gozo-Dadole and Rosmari
D. Carandang, concurring; Court of Appeals (CA) rollo, pp. 185-192.
12

13

Rollo, pp. 22-23.

Abante Jr., v. Lamadrid Bearing & Parts Corp., G.R. No. 159890, May 28, 2004, 430 SCRA
368, 379 (citations omitted).
14

15

Ibid.

16

NLRC Records, pp. 9 and 11.

17

Id. at 21.

18

339 Phil 541, 559 (1997).

19

352 Phil 854, 861-862 (1998).

20

Annex "C," NLRC records, p. 22.