G.R. No. 49677. May 4, 1989.
TRADE UNIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES AND ALLIED SERVICES (TUPAS), petitioner, vs. NATIONAL HOUSING CORPORATION (NHC) and ATTY. VIRGILIO SY, as Officer-in-Charge of the Bureau of Labor Relations, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner TUPAS, a legitimate labor organization, filed a petition for a certification election among the rank-and-file employees of respondent National Housing Corporation (NHC). The NHC is a government-owned or controlled corporation with its shares entirely owned by government financial institutions. The Med-Arbiter dismissed the petition, ruling that employees of government corporations were prohibited from forming unions for collective bargaining under the implementing rules of the Labor Code. The Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) initially reversed this dismissal and ordered an election. However, upon the NHC’s motion for reconsideration, BLR Officer-in-Charge Virgilio Sy set aside that order, prompting TUPAS to file this certiorari petition.
The core dispute hinges on the right of NHC employees to form a union and seek a certification election. A prior case involving NHC had ruled its employees were governed by civil service laws under the 1973 Constitution, which embraced all government instrumentalities. The present petition tests the applicability of that ruling under the new constitutional framework.

ISSUE

Whether the employees of the National Housing Corporation, a government-owned or controlled corporation, have the right to form a union and participate in a certification election for collective bargaining.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court granted the petition, annulled the BLR resolution, and ordered the conduct of a certification election. The legal logic turns on the distinction in the 1987 Constitution regarding civil service coverage. The 1973 Constitution embraced all government-owned or controlled corporations within the civil service, as held in National Housing Corporation vs. Juco. However, the 1987 Constitution explicitly limits the civil service to government-owned or controlled corporations “with original charters,” meaning those created by special law or act of Congress.
The NHC, while government-owned, was incorporated under the general Corporation Law (Act No. 459) pursuant to Executive Order No. 399. It does not possess an original charter. Consequently, it is excluded from the ambit of the civil service under the 1987 Constitution. Its employees are therefore governed by the Labor Code, not civil service laws. The constitutional right to self-organization for all workers, including those in the public sector, is expressly guaranteed. Since NHC employees are not civil service employees, the prohibition cited by the Med-Arbiter no longer applies. Their right to unionize for collective bargaining is recognized, and the proper mechanism to determine their exclusive bargaining representative is a certification election conducted under the Labor Code provisions. The Court’s ruling aligns with the constitutional intent to differentiate between traditional civil service positions and employees of corporations operating under corporate form.