G.R. No. 168569. October 5, 2007.

*
PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the Court
SAN MIGUEL FOODS, INC., petitioner, vs. SAN MIGUEL of Appeals.
CORPORATION EMPLOYEES UNION-PTWGO,
respondent. The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.
     De Lima and Meñez Law Offices for petitioner.
Labor Law; Unfair Labor Practice; Jurisdictions; Pleadings      Jaime D. Lauron for respondent.
and Practice; In determining jurisdiction over a case, allegations
made in the complaint, as well as those in the position paper, may be
CARPIO-MORALES, J.:
considered.—A perusal of the complaint shows that, indeed, the
particular acts of ULP alleged to have been committed by SMFI were
not specified; neither were the ultimate facts in support thereof. In The present petition for review on certiorari raises the issue of
_______________ whether respondent’s complaint is one for unfair labor practice
(ULP) over which a Labor Arbiter has jurisdiction.
 SECOND DIVISION. At the time material to the case, respondent, San Miguel
*

134 Corporation Employees Union—PTWGO (the Union), was

the sole bargaining agent of all the monthly paid employees of
134 SUPREME COURT petitioner San Miguel Foods, Incorporated (SMFI). On
REPORTS ANNOTATED November 9, 1992, some employees of SMFI’s Finance
Department, through the Union represented by Edgar
San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Moraleda, brought a grievance against Finance Manager
Miguel Corporation Employees Union- Gideon Montesa (Montesa), for “discrimination, favoritism,
PTWGO unfair labor practices, not flexible [sic], harassment,
its Position Paper, however, the Union detailed the particular promoting divisiveness and sectarianism, etc.,”  before SMFI
1

acts of ULP attributed to SMFI and the ultimate facts in support Plant Operations Manager George Nava in accordance with
thereof. Section 7, Rule V of the New Rules of Procedure of the Step 1 of the grievance machinery adopted in the Collective
NLRC provides: Nature of Proceedings.—The proceedings before Bargaining Agreement (CBA) forged by SMFI and the Union.
the Labor Arbiter shall be non-litigious in nature. Subject to the _______________
requirements of due process, the technicalities of law and
procedure and the rules obtaining in the courts of law shall not 1
 Records, p. 33.
strictly apply thereto. The Labor Arbiter may avail himself of all
reasonable means to ascertain the facts of the controversy speedily, 136
including ocular inspection and examination of well-informed 136 SUPREME COURT REPORTS
persons. (Emphasis and italics supplied) Section 1 of Rule 8 of the
Rules of Court should thus not be strictly applied to a case filed ANNOTATED
before a Labor Arbiter. In determining jurisdiction over a case, San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel
allegations made in the complaint, as well as those in the position
paper, may thus be considered. Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO
The Union sought the “1. review, evaluat[ion] & upgrad[ing
Same; Same; Same; The grievance machinery provision in the of] all Finance staff and 2. promot[ion of] G.Q. Montesa to
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is not an economic other SMC affiliate[s] & subsidiaries.” 2

provision, hence, the second requirement for a Labor Arbiter to At the grievance meeting held on January 14, 1993, SMFI
exercise jurisdiction of an unfair labor practice (ULP) is not present.
informed the Union that it planned to address the grievance
—In Silva v. NLRC, 274 SCRA 159 (1997), instructs that for a ULP
case to be cognizable by the Labor Arbiter, and the NLRC to exercise through a “work management review” which would be
its appel-late jurisdiction, the allegations in the complaint should completed by March 1993, hence, it asked the finance
show prima facie the concurrence of two things, namely: (1) gross personnel to give it their attention and cooperation.
violation of the CBA; AND (2) the violation pertains to the The “work management review” was not completed by
economic provisions of the CBA. (Emphasis and italics supplied) March 1993, however, prompting the Union to, on March 26,
As reflected in the above-quoted allegations of the Union in its 1993, elevate the grievance to Step 2. 3

Position Paper, the Union charges SMFI to have violated the Almost nine months after the grievance meeting was held
grievance machinery provision in the CBA. The grievance machinery or on October 6, 1993, SMFI rendered a “Decision on Step 1
provision in the CBA is not an economic provision, however, hence,
the second requirement for a Labor Arbiter to exercise jurisdiction of
Grievance” stating that it was still in the process of completing
a ULP is not present. the “work management review,”  hence, the Union’s requests
4

could not be granted.

Same; Same; Same; Since the seniority rule in the promotion The Union thereupon filed a complaint on October 20,
of employees has a bearing on salary and benefits, it may, following 1993 before the National Labor Relations Commission
a liberal construction of Article 261 of the Labor Code, be (NLRC), Arbitration Branch, against SMFI,  its President 5

considered an “economic provision” of the Collective Bargaining

Amadeo P. Veloso, and its Finance Manager Montesa for
Agreement (CBA), an unfair labor practice (ULP) over which the
Labor Arbiter has jurisdiction.—Article 4 of the Labor Code
“unfair labor practice, [and] unjust discrimination in matters of
provides that “All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of promotion . . . ”  It prayed that SMFI et al. be ordered to
6

the provisions of this Code, including implementing rules and promote the therein named employees “with the corresponding
regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.” Since the seniority pay increases or adjustment including payment of salary
rule in the promotion of differentials plus attorney’s fees[,] and to cease and desist
135 from committing the same unjust discrimination in matters of
promo-tion.” 7

VOL. 535, OCTOBER 135 _______________

5, 2007
2
 Ibid.
San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San 3
 Id., at pp. 35-39.
Miguel Corporation Employees Union- 4
 Id., at pp. 65-66.
5
 NLRC-NCR No. 00-10-06543-93; Records at pp. 2-4.
PTWGO 6
 Id., at p. 3.
employees has a bearing on salary and benefits, it may, 7
 Ibid.
following a liberal construction of Article 261 of the Labor Code, be
considered an “economic provision” of the CBA. As above-stated, 137
the Union charges SMFI to have promoted less senior employees, VOL. 535, OCTOBER 5, 2007 137
thus bypassing others who were more senior and equally or more
qualified. It may not be seriously disputed that this charge is a gross
San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel
or flagrant violation of the seniority rule under the CBA, a ULP over Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO
which the Labor Arbiter has jurisdiction.
Instead of filing a position paper as required by the Labor for the relief desired in strict observance of the doctrine on the hierarchy of
courts.
Arbiter, SMFI et al. filed a motion to dismiss,  contending that
8

15
 Penned by Justice Roberto A. Barrios, and concurred in by Justices
the issues raised in the complaint were grievance issues and, Bienvenido L. Reyes and Edgardo F. Sundiam, CA Rollo, pp. 259-267.
therefore, “should be resolved in the grievance machinery 16
 Rollo, pp. 47-50.
provided in [the] collective bargaining agreements [sic]of the
139
parties or in the mandated provision of voluntary arbitration
which is also provided in the CBA.”  The Union opposed the
9
VOL. 535, OCTOBER 5, 2007 139
motion to dismiss. San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel
In its Position Paper, the Union specified acts of ULP of Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO
SMFI, et al. under Article 248, paragraphs (e) and (i) of the tion for ULP, the Union having merely contended that SMFI
Labor Code  which Article reads:
10

was guilty thereof without specifying the ultimate facts upon

“Art. 248. Unfair labor practices of employers.—It shall be unlawful
for an employer to commit any of the following unfair labor
which it was based. It cites Section 1 of Rule 8 of the Rules of
practices: Court as applying suppletorily to the proceedings before the
xxxx Labor Arbiter, which Section reads:
(e) To discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other “Section 1. In general.—Every pleading shall contain in a methodical
terms and conditions of employment in order to encourage or and logical form, a plain concise and direct statement of the ultimate
discourage membership in any labor organization. x x x facts on which the party pleading relies for his claim . . .”
xxxx
(i) To violate a collective bargaining agreement. Alleging that the Union failed to comply with this Rule, SMFI
x x x x” concludes that the Labor Arbiter has no jurisdiction over its
complaint.
By Order of February 18, 1994, the Labor Arbiter granted A perusal of the complaint shows that, indeed, the
SMFI et al.’s motion to dismiss and ordered the remand of the particular acts of ULP alleged to have been committed by
case to the grievance machinery for completion of the SMFI were not specified; neither were the ultimate facts in
proceed-ings.  The Union appealed the said order to the NLRC
11
support thereof. In its Position Paper, however, the Union
by “Motion for Reconsideration/Appeal”  which its Second
12
detailed the particular acts of ULP attributed to SMFI and the
Division granted and accordingly ordered the Labor Arbiter to ultimate facts in support thereof.
continue the proceedings on the Union’s complaint.  SMFI, et 13
Section 7, Rule V of the New Rules of Procedure of the
_______________ NLRC provides:
Nature of Proceedings.—The proceedings before the Labor
8
 Id., at pp. 20-29. Arbiter shall be non-litigious in nature. Subject to the requirements
9
 Id., at pp. 26-27.
of due process, the technicalities of law and procedure and the
10
 Id., at pp. 46-54.
11
 Id., at pp. 81-82. rules obtaining in the courts of law shall not strictly apply
12
 Id., at pp. 87-89. thereto. The Labor Arbiter may avail himself of all reasonable means
13
 CA Rollo, pp. 32-35. to ascertain the facts of the controversy speedily, including ocular
inspection and examination of well-informed persons.” (Emphasis
138 and italics supplied)
138 SUPREME COURT REPORTS
Section 1 of Rule 8 of the Rules of Court should thus not be
ANNOTATED strictly applied to a case filed before a Labor Arbiter. In
San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel determining jurisdiction over a case, allegations made in the
Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO complaint, as well as those in the position paper, may thus be
al. filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the NLRC order but considered.
140
it was denied, hence, they filed a petition for certiorari with
this Court. After the parties and the Solicitor General had filed 140 SUPREME COURT REPORTS
their respective pleadings, this Court, by Resolution of January ANNOTATED
25, 1999, referred the case to the Court of Appeals pursuant San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel
to St. Martin Funeral Home v. NLRC. 14

By Decision of July 31, 2002,  the Court of Appeals

15
Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO
denied SMFI et al.’s petition for certiorari, it holding that the As stated above, the Union, in its Position Paper, mentioned
Labor Arbiter has jurisdiction over the complaint of the Union, the particular acts of ULP and the ultimate facts in support
they having violated the seniority rule under the CBA by thereof. Thus it alleged:
“This is a complaint for unfair labor practices pursuant to Article 248
appointing and promoting certain employees which amounted
(e) and (i) of the Labor Code, as amended, which reads:
to a ULP. 16

Art. 248. Unfair labor practices of employers.—It shall be unlawful for an

Before this Court, SMFI lodged the present petition for employer to commit any of the following unfair labor practices:
review on certiorari, faulting the appellate court in xxxx
A. (e) To discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other
terms and conditions of employment in order to encourage or discourage
membership in any labor organization.
. . . FINDING THAT THE LABOR ARBITER HAS
JURISDICTION OVER THE COMPLAINT OF RESPONDENT xxxx
UNION (i) to violate a collective bargaining agreement.

B. and which was committed by herein respondents as follows:

. . . FINDING THAT SMFI’S ALLEGED VIOLATION OF 1. 1.large scale and wanton unjust discrimination in
THE CBA CONSTITUTES UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE. matters of promotion, particularly upon the
following members of complainant: Ellen Ventura,
The jurisdiction of Labor Arbiters, enumerated in Article 217
Julie Geronimo, Ronnie Cruz, Rita Calasin, Romy
of the Labor Code, includes complaints for ULP.
de Peralta, Malou Alano, And E. M. Moraleda, all
SMFI argues that the allegations in the Union’s complaint
assigned with the Finance Department or
filed before the Labor Arbiter do not establish a cause of ac-
_______________ respondent SMFI.
2. 2.gross and blatant violations by respondent SMFI
 G.R. No. 130866, September 16, 1998, 295 SCRA 494. [T]he Court En
14 of Section 5, Article III (Job Security) and
Banc declared that all appeals from the NLRC to the Supreme Court [petition Section 4, Article VIII (Grievance Machinery) of
for certiorari under Rule 65 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure] should the current collective bargaining agreement
henceforth be initially filed in the Court of Appeals as the appropriate forum
(CBA) between complainant and respondent SMFI,
 which provisions of said CBA are hereunder quoted proceedings thereon, the appellate court’s said finding may be
for easy reference.” (Emphasis and italics supplied) taken to have been made only for the purpose of determining
jurisdiction.
On the questioned promotions, the Union did not allege that WHEREFORE, the Petition is DENIED.
they were done to encourage or discourage membership in a SO ORDERED.
labor organization. In fact, those promoted were members of      Quisumbing (Chairperson), Carpio, Tinga and Vela
the complaining Union. The promotions do not thus amount to sco, Jr., JJ., concur.
ULP under Article 248(e) of the Labor Code.
Petition denied.
As for the alleged ULP committed under Article 248(i),
Notes.—What determines the nature of an action and
for violation of a CBA, this Article is qualified by Article 261
correspondingly the court which has jurisdiction over it are the
of
141
allegations made by the plaintiff. (Tamano vs. Ortiz, 291
SCRA 584 [1998])
VOL. 535, OCTOBER 5, 2007 141 The right to self-organization of employees must not be
San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel interfered with by the employer on the pretext of exercising
Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO management prerogative of disciplining its employees. (Cole-
143
the Labor Code, the pertinent portion of which latter Article
reads:
“x x x violations of a Collective Bargaining VOL. 535, OCTOBER 5, 2007 143
Agreement, except those which are gross in character, shall no Albay Electric Cooperative,
longer be treated as unfair labor practice and shall be resolved as Incorporated, vs. Security Pacific
grievances under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. For
purposes of this article, gross violations of Collective Bargaining Assurance Corporation
Agreement shall mean flagrant and/or malicious refusal to gio de San Juan de Letran vs. Association of Employees and
comply with the economic provisions of such agreement.” Faculty of Letran, 340 SCRA 587 [2000])
(Emphasis and italics supplied)

Silva v. NLRC instructs that for a ——o0o——

“ULP case to be cognizable by the Labor Arbiter, and the NLRC to
exercise its appellate jurisdiction, the allegations in the complaint
should show prima facie the concurrence of two things, namely: (1)
gross violation of the CBA; AND (2) the violation pertains to the
economic provisions of the CBA.”  (Emphasis and italics supplied)
17

As reflected in the above-quoted allegations of the Union in its

Position Paper, the Union charges SMFI to have violated the
grievance machinery provision in the CBA. The grievance
machinery provision in the CBA is not an economic provision,
however, hence, the second requirement for a Labor Arbiter to
exercise jurisdiction of a ULP is not present.
The Union likewise charges SMFI, however, to have
violated the Job Security provision in the CBA, specifically
the seniority rule, in that SMFI “appointed less senior
employees to positions at its Finance Department,
consequently intentionally by-passing more senior employees
who are deserving of said appointment.”
Article 4 of the Labor Code provides that “All doubts in
the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of this
Code, including implementing rules and regulations, shall be
_______________

17
 G.R. No. 110226, June 19, 1997, 274 SCRA 159, 173.

142
142 SUPREME COURT REPORTS
ANNOTATED
San Miguel Foods, Inc. vs. San Miguel
Corporation Employees Union-PTWGO
resolved in favor of labor.” Since the seniority rule in the
promotion of employees has a bearing on salary and benefits,
it may, following a liberal construction of Article 261 of the
Labor Code, be considered an “economic provision” of the
CBA.
As above-stated, the Union charges SMFI to have
promoted less senior employees, thus bypassing others who
were more senior and equally or more qualified. It may not be
seriously disputed that this charge is a gross or flagrant
violation of the seniority rule under the CBA, a ULP over
which the Labor Arbiter has jurisdiction.
SMFI, at all events, questions why the Court of Appeals
came out with a finding that it (SMFI) disregarded the
seniority rule under the CBA when its petition before said
court merely raised a question of jurisdiction. The Court of
Appeals having affirmed the NLRC decision finding that the
Labor Arbiter has jurisdiction over the Union’s complaint and
thus remanding it to the Labor Arbiter for continuation of