FOR:

JUAN DE LA CRUZ,

FROM:

KARLA ROSE GUTIERREZ

DATE:

September 9, 2015

RE:

Illegal Dismissal of a Red Cross Employee

INQUIRY
Where can a dismissed Red Cross employee file his complaint for

illegal dismissal?

BRIEF ANSWER
You can file at the National Labor Relations Commission.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is the government
agency that generally regulates all issues, matters and policies related
to labor and employment. When filing a complaint relating to labor,
there is a particular agency under DOLE that especially handles
complaints. This is the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC),
a quasi-judicial agency mandated to arbitrate and resolve labor and
management disputes that involve local or overseas workers. In a case
wherein the NLRC cannot act because of doubt of his jurisdiction, one
can file in the Supreme Court to ask whether where can file a
complaint of illegal dismissal.
DISCUSSION
The peculiarity of your case stems from the nature of the
organization you belong to. According to Liban vs. Gordon, Although
the Philippine National Red Cross is neither a subdivision, agency, or
instrumentality of the government, nor a GOCC or a subsidiary

thereof . . . so much so that respondent, under the Decision, was

correctly

allowed

to

hold

his

position

as

Chairman

thereof

concurrently while he served as a Senator, such a conclusion

does not ipso facto imply that the PNRC is a private corporation
within the contemplation of the provision of the Constitution, that
must

be

organized

under

the

Corporation

Code. [T]he sui

generis character of PNRC requires us to approach controversies

involving the PNRC on a case-to-case basis. In a case wherein it is an
employee filing a grievance against the PNRC necessarily falls under
the NLRC because if we consider the rationale of Liban vs. Gordon,
the challenge on the validity of certain provisions of the PNRC Charter
is the only reason why the decision is penned that way. It was
because in that case, the PNRC, the entity most adversely affected by
this declaration of unconstitutionality, which was not even originally a
party to the case of Liban vs. Gordon, was being compelled, as a
consequence of the Decision, to suddenly reorganize and incorporate
under the Corporation Code, after more than sixty (60) years of
existence in this country. The concern of the Court was that
adherence to the Geneva Convention and respect to the unique status
of the PNRC in consonance with its treaty obligations. The Geneva
Convention has the force and effect of law. Under the Constitution,
the

Philippines

adopt

the

generally

accepted

principles

of

international law as part of the law of the land. This constitutional

provision must be reconciled and harmonized with Article XII, Section
16 of the Constitution, instead of using the latter to negate the former.
However, in an Illegal Dismissal Complaint, it is the laborer
advancing his rights and he is not challenging the existence of the
PNRC nor the validity of its charter, but rather its accountability to
the laborer. Our Constitution also puts a premium on the rights of
the common laborer and the special status of the PNRC should not be
used as a blanket protection to shield labor complaints. Admittedly
however, there has been no decisive ruling on the matter.

RECOMMENDATION
File a case in the NLRC. If the NLRC dismisses your complaint
based on a doubt on the personality of the PNRC, file a case in the
Supreme Court to clarify the personality of the PNRC.