BENJAMIN C. JUCO, petitioner, vs.

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS

COMMISSION and NATIONAL HOUSING CORPORATION, respondents. G.R.
No. 98107 August 18, 1997

FACTS:
Petitioner Benjamin C. Juco was hired as project engineer of NHC (National Housing
Corporation). On May 14, 1975, he was separated from the service for having been
implicated in a crime of theft and/or malversation of public funds. Juco filed a
complaint for illegal dismissal against NHC with the Department of Labor. Labor
Arbiter rendered a decision dismissing complaint on the ground that NLRC had no
jurisdiction over the case. Juco then elevated the case to NLRC which rendered a
decision reversing decision of Labor Arbiter. NHC appealed before this SC. Juco filed
with CSC a complaint for illegal dismissal, with preliminary mandatory injunction.
NHC moved for dismissal of complaint on the ground that CSC has no jurisdiction
over case. CSC having no jurisdiction dismissed the case. Subsequently, Juco filed
with NLRC a complaint for illegal dismissal with prelim mandatory injunction. Labor
Arbiter Manuel R. Caday rendered a decision declaring that Jucos dismissal was
illegal as there was evidence in the record that the criminal case against Juco was
fabricated, prompting the trial court to dismiss the charges against him and ruled
furthermore that Jucos complaint filed was not barred by prescription. NHC
appealed before NLRC in which the decision was later on reversed by the NLRC the
decision of Labor Arbiter Caday on the ground of lack of jurisdiction.
ISSUE
Whether or not, NLRC or CSC has jurisdiction over the case.
HELD:
The NLRC has jurisdiction over the case.
Article IX, Section 2 (1) of the 1987 Constitution provides:
The civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities
and agencies of the Government, including government owned and
controlled corporations with original charters.
It was held in NASECO v NLRC that the Supreme Court occasionally had to apply the
present Constitution in deciding whether or not the employees of NASECO are
covered by the Civil Service Law or the Labor Code notwithstanding that the case
arose at the time when the 1973 Constitution was still in effect. It was ruled that the

NLRC has jurisdiction over the employees of NASECO on the ground that it is the
1987 Constitution that governs because it is the Constitution in place at the time of
the decision. Furthermore, the new phrase "with original charter" means that
government-owned and controlled corporations refer to corporations chartered by
special law as distinguished from corporations organized under the Corporation
Code. Thus, NASECO which had been organized under the general incorporation
statute and a subsidiary of the National Investment Development Corporation,
which in turn was a subsidiary of the Philippine National Bank, is excluded from the
purview of the Civil Service Commission. The National Housing Corporation is a
government owned corporation organized in 1959 in accordance with Executive
Order No. 399, otherwise known as the Uniform Charter of Government Corporation,
dated January 1, 1959. Its shares of stock are and have been one hundred percent
(100%) owned by the Government from its incorporation under Act 1459, the former
corporation law. The government entities that own its shares of stock are the
Government Service Insurance System, the Social Security System, the
Development Bank of the Philippines, the National Investment and Development
Corporation and the People's Home site and Housing Corporation. Considering the
fact that the NHA had been incorporated under Act 1459, the former corporation
law, it is but correct to say that it is a government-owned or controlled corporation
whose employees are subject to the provisions of the Labor Code. This observation
is reiterated in the recent case of Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services
(TUPAS) v. National Housing Corporation, where the Supreme Court held that the
NHA is now within the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor and
Employment, it being a government-owned and/or controlled corporation
without an original charter. Furthermore, it was also held that the workers or
employees of the NHC (now NHA) undoubtedly have the right to form unions or
employee's organization and that there is no impediment to the holding of a
certification election among them as they are covered by the Labor Code. Thus,
the NLRC erred in dismissing petitioner's complaint for lack of jurisdiction
because the rule now is that the Civil Service now covers only
government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters.
Having been incorporated under the Corporation Law, its relations with its
personnel are governed by the Labor Code and come under the jurisdiction
of the National Labor Relations Commission.

WHEREFORE, the decision of the NLRC in NLRC NCR-04-02036089 dated March 14, 1991 is
hereby REVERSED and the Decision of the Labor Arbiter dated May 21, 1990 is REINSTATED.