G.R. No. 112141 . May 16, 1995.
PHOENIX IRON AND STEEL CORPORATION, petitioner, vs. SECRETARY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT and PISCOR WORKERS UNION — ALLIANCE OF NATIONALIST AND GENUINE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS (PISCOR-ANGLO), respondents.

FACTS

Private respondent PISCOR Workers Union-ANGLO filed a petition for certification election. Petitioner Phoenix Iron and Steel Corporation challenged the union’s legal personality, prompting the Med-Arbiter to dismiss the petition. The Med-Arbiter found that PISCOR-ANGLO failed to attain legitimate status as it did not comply with mandatory documentary requirements for union affiliation. Specifically, the union did not file books of account, and its constitution, by-laws, and list of members were not attested to by the union president nor verified under oath. The Med-Arbiter also noted irregularities in the notarization of the petition itself.
On appeal, the Secretary of Labor, through Undersecretary Laguesma, reversed the Med-Arbiter’s decision and ordered the immediate conduct of a certification election. The Secretary treated the deficiencies as mere technicalities, ruling that the union had substantially complied with the law by submitting a charter certificate and other documents. The Secretary held that doubts should be resolved in favor of holding a certification election to allow workers to freely express their will.

ISSUE

Whether or not PISCOR-ANGLO is a legitimate labor organization with the legal personality to file a petition for certification election, considering its non-compliance with the attestation and certification requirements under the Labor Code and its Implementing Rules.

RULING

The Supreme Court GRANTED the petition, REVERSED the Secretary of Labor’s resolution, and REINSTATED the Med-Arbiter’s dismissal of the certification election petition. The Court held that the certification and attestation requirements for union registration or affiliation are mandatory and not merely directory. Citing the precedent in Progressive Development Corporation v. Secretary of Labor, the Court ruled that the failure to submit a constitution and by-laws duly verified under oath, and the failure to have the list of members who ratified them attested by the union president, are fatal to the acquisition of legitimate status.
The legal logic is grounded in the protective purpose of these formal requirements. They serve as preventive measures against fraud and afford protection to employees from being misled by unscrupulous unions. The Court emphasized that the policy of facilitating unionization must be balanced with the policy of ensuring the integrity of labor organizations. Since PISCOR-ANGLO failed to submit books of account and its core documents lacked the requisite attestations and verification under oath, it did not attain the status of a legitimate labor organization. Consequently, it lacked the legal personality to initiate a petition for certification election. The Secretary of Labor’s dismissal of these defects as technicalities was a reversible error.