THE HERITAGE HOTEL MANILA VS.

NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS IN THE HOTEL, RESTAURANT AND ALLIED

INDUSTRIES-HERITAGE HOTEL MANILA SUPERVISORS CHAPTER (NUWHRAINHHMSC) G.R. No. 178296, January 12, 2011

FACTS:
The respondents petition for certification election was granted. Petitioner then discover
ed that respondent had failed to submit to the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) its ann
ual financial report for several years and the list of its members since it filed its registr
ation papers in 1995. Consequently, it filed a Petition for Cancellation of Registration o
f respondent, on the ground of the non-submission of the said documents. Petitioner p
rayed that respondents Certificate of Creation of Local/Chapter be cancelled and its n
ame be deleted from the list of legitimate labor organizations. It further requested the s
uspension of the certification election proceedings. Nevertheless, the certification electi
on pushed through and the respondent won.
The Regional Director of DOLE-NCR and DOLE Secretary both held that constitutional
ly guaranteed freedom of association and right of workers to self-organization outweigh
ed respondents noncompliance with the statutory requirements to maintain its status
as a legitimate labor organization.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the failure to comply with the statutory requirement(filing financial rep
orts and the list of its members) sufficient ground for the cancellation of registration of
the respondent as a labor union.

HELD:
No, the noncompliance should not be a ground for the cancellation. Articles 238 and 2
39 of the Labor Code provide that failure to file financial reports and the list of its me
mbers are grounds for the cancellation of Union Organization. However, consideration
must be taken of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Article XIII, Section 3 of the C
onstitution, i.e., the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective
bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities. Labor authorities shoul
d bear in mind that registration confers upon a union the status of legitimacy and the
concomitant right and privileges granted by law to a legitimate labor organization, part
icularly the right to participate in or ask for certification election in a bargaining unit.
Thus, the cancellation of a certificate of registration is the equivalent of snuffing out th
e life of a labor organization. For without such registration, it loses as a rule its righ
ts under the Labor Code.
Furthermore, that the Labor Codes provisions on cancellation of union registration an
d on reportorial requirements have been recently amended by Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9
481, An Act Strengthening the Workers Constitutional Right to Self-Organization, Ame
nding for the Purpose Presidential Decree No. 442, As Amended, Otherwise Known as
the Labor Code of the Philippines, which says that failure to file financial reports and li
st of union members shall not be a ground for cancellation of union registration but sh

all subject the erring officers or members to suspension, expulsion from membership,
or any appropriate penalty