G.R. No. 92357 July 21, 1993
PHILIPPINE SCOUT VETERANS SECURITY AND INVESTIGATION AGENCY (PSVSIA), GVM SECURITY AND INVESTIGATION AGENCY (GVM) and ABAQUIN SECURITY AND DETECTIVE AGENCY, INC. (ASDA), petitioners, vs. THE HON. SECRETARY OF LABOR RUBEN D. TORRES AND PGA BROTHERHOOD ASSOCIATION-UNION OF FILIPINO WORKERS, respondents.

FACTS

On April 6, 1989, private respondent PGA Brotherhood Association – Union of Filipino Workers (the Union) filed a single petition for Direct Certification/Certification Election among the rank-and-file employees of three separate corporations: Philippine Scout Veterans Security and Investigation Agency (PSVSIA), GVM Security and Investigations Agency, Inc. (GVM), and Abaquin Security and Detective Agency, Inc. (ASDA), collectively referred to as “PGA Security Agency.” The petitioners (the three agencies) opposed the petition, arguing they have separate and distinct corporate personalities and that a single petition for three separate bargaining units was invalid. They claimed the Union’s supporting signatures did not meet the 20% requirement and that implementing rules for R.A. 6715 were absent. The Union countered that the three agencies’ separate personalities were used to circumvent the legal limit on the number of guards a security agency may employ, and that their administration, management, and operations were intertwined, making them a single entity. The Med-Arbiter ruled in favor of the Union, ordering a certification election for the rank-and-file security guards of the three agencies as a single bargaining unit. The Secretary of Labor affirmed this decision. The three agencies filed a Motion for Reconsideration, which was denied, prompting them to file the instant petition for certiorari.

ISSUE

Whether a single petition for certification election can validly be filed by a labor union covering three separate corporations, or whether three separate petitions are required.

RULING

The Supreme Court DISMISSED the petition, affirming the decision of the Secretary of Labor. The Court held that the three security agencies, despite their separate incorporations, operate as a single business entity. The factual findings of labor officials, supported by substantial evidence, revealed that the agencies are managed through the Utilities Management Corporation, with employees drawing salaries from this single entity; they have common and interlocking incorporators and officers; employees have a single Mutual Benefit System and a single compulsory retirement system; security guards could easily transfer between agencies using a common “Request for Transfer” form; they held joint annual ceremonies; and in emergencies, detachment commanders were instructed to contact officers of all three agencies. These circumstances indicated a unitary corporate personality, justifying the piercing of the corporate veil for labor organizing purposes. Consequently, the employees of the three agencies could form a single bargaining unit, and a single petition for certification election was valid. The Court also noted that employers are mere bystanders in certification elections and should not interfere or be treated as adverse parties in such proceedings.