108 SCRA 757 Political Law Delegation of Power Completeness Test

In 1981, there was an ongoing labor dispute between the Free Telephone Workers Union
(the Union) and the Philippine Long Distance Company. Eventually, the Minister of Labor
(Blas Ople) assumed jurisdiction over the issue pursuant to Article 264 of the Labor Code.
The Union assailed the provisions of Article 264 as it averred that it is an undue delegation
of power by Congress to the Minister of Labor. They averred that by granting discretion to
the Minister of Labor to whether or not refer a labor dispute for compulsory arbitration to the
National Labor Relations Commission, it also effectively granted the Minister to make or
unmake the law on free collective bargaining.
ISSUE: Whether or not such provision is an undue delegation of power.
HELD: No. In the first place, this issue is not yet ripe for adjudication as the Minister of
Labor was yet to take on the entirety of the case. There is still no ground to rule that there is
an unconstitutional application of the law.
The Union failed to make out a case of undue delegation of legislative power. There could
be, however, an unconstitutional application. For while the Constitution allows compulsory
arbitration, it must be stressed that the exercise of such competence cannot ignore the
basic fundamental principle and state policy that the state should afford protection to labor.
But as to whether or not there is an unconstitutional application of the law, that is yet to be
determined since the Minister of Labor has not yet made a factual determination of the labor
dispute in issue.
There is no undue delegation in this case. The law in issue is complete and it set a sufficient
standard. The law cannot be any clearer, the coverage being limited to strikes or lockouts
adversely affecting the national interest.