CHURCH LABOR CONFERENCE
Statement on Supreme Court’s Decision on FASAP Case
11 October 2011

“The human rights that flow from work are part of the fundamental rights of the person and have their own specific character.”
                Laborem Exercens, 16

Our legal system is deteriorating in terms of addressing the rights and welfare of the workers.  Decisions that do not serve the rights and welfare of the workers and other sectors are piling up.  This is an outright attack on the Dignity of Work.

The Hanjin workers first experience this when their right to occupational  safety is being disregarded which results in continual  loss of many lives.  Their right to self-organization is also not accorded to them.  These are legal questions that are not being addressed by the quasi-judicial body of DOLE-Regional Office.

The highest branch of the judiciary (Supreme Court) which is the last line of defense of the workers to safeguard their dignity has issued various decisions that are anti-workers and anti-people.  Although there is no such thing as a “constructive strike” in our Constitution or Labor Code, it was slammed to the Dusit Hotel workers when they shaved their heads as a sign of their protest.  The Court issued a decision junking the Stock DistributionPlan of Hacienda Luisita and yet asked the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to make a referendum among the workers of the same Hacienda. If the plan is judged as unlawful, then why the referendum?

At present, the Court of Appeals is hearing the decision of DOLE Secretary and the Office of the President on the outright disregard of security of tenure of Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), workers giving the Philippine Airlines (PAL) management the “management prerogative” to outsource the work of 2600 of its employees in spite of the fact that the company is netting profits.

Yet, it seems that these are not enough.  Yesterday, the Supreme Court recalled their decision on the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) that the Philippine Airlines (PAL) illegally terminated the employment of 1,400 flight attendants in 1998.  In a resolution dated October 4, 2011, the men in robes ordered themselves to re-open a labor case that was already decided with finality by the Supreme Court Second Division.  In the said (recalled) decision, the Supreme Court ordered PAL to pay its workers a total amount of P3 billion pesos because of illegal dismissal.

PAL’s legal counsel, Attorney Estelito Mendoza, wrote to the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the Second Division to decide on the case where in fact it should have been the Special Third Division who had the authority to decide the labor case.  Just because of his letter, the Supreme Court decided to recall its earlier decision going back to the process of hearing the case.  To quote the En Banc resolution of the Supreme Court, they said:

“The Court En Banc resolves to accept G.R. No. 178083 (Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines [FASAP] vs. Philippine Airlines, Inc. [PAL], Patria Chiong, et al.) and to take cognizance thereof. The Court En Banc further resolves to recall the resolution dated September 7, 2011 issued by the Second Division in this case,”

Earlier, on October 2009, the special third division of the Supreme Court (composed of Justices Bersamin, Peralta, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, and Minita Chico-Nazario) upheld the decision of Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago penned  on 2008 that the flight stewards and attendants under FASAP of the Philippine Airlines were illegally terminated when PAL implemented its retrenchment program.

We are alarmed that a mere letter from the “highest paid” lawyer (Atty. Estelito Mendoza) can order the Supreme Court to twist their own decision which was handed down “with finality”. This letter is not even a Motion or Manifestation to be considered as legal pleading to merit legal effectivity questioning an issue of technicality on certain case (where in fact, technicality is not binding on labor cases). Even FASAP or its legal counsel was not given a copy or notified according to due process.  Moreover, they were  not given the opportunity to question the said letter.

The experiences of workers from Dusit Hotel, Hacienda Luisita, Hanjin Shipyard and PAL are disheartening.  Unfortunately, they now can only expect questionable justice from the judiciary. A trend is being traced here, a trend that only the powerful and the rich can get a hearing from the government and from its courts.

“Today, therefore, workers all over the world are loud in their demands that they shall, in no circumstances be subjected to arbitrary treatment, as though devoid of intelligence and freedom.  Workers insist on being treated as human beings in every area of human society, whether economic, social, cultural or political.
(Pacem en Terris, 40)

The deprived sectors of our society should show vehement vigilance to this trend. This is no longer just the concern of farmers, workers or urban poor but of the whole civil society. We should register our strong protest! Justice is now arbitrary!

The Church should not remain silent in this travesty of justice. This is no longer a question of legality, but more on the morality of those who are running our government.   We should mobilize our flock in raising our prophetic voice against this form of governance, because we are guided by the teaching that “the Church of the Poor defends and vindicates the rights of the poor even when doing do spells for itself alienation or persecution.” (PCP II)