Republic Act 4726 The Condominium Act, as Amended by R.A. 7899

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4726 June 18, 1966 AN ACT TO DEFINE CONDOMINIUM, ESTABLISH REQUIREMENTS FOR ITS CREATION, AND GOVERN ITS INCIDENTS. Sec. 1. The short title of this Act shall be "The Condominium Act". Sec. 2. A condominium is an interest in real property consisting of separate interest in a unit in a residential, industrial or commercial building and an undivided interest in common, directly or indirectly, in the land on which it is located and in other common areas of the building. A condominium may include, in addition, a separate interest in other portions of such real property. Title to the common areas, including the land, or the appurtenant interests in such areas, may be held by a corporation specially formed for the purpose (hereinafter known as the "condominium corporation") in which the holders of separate interest shall automatically be members or shareholders, to the exclusion of others, in proportion to the appurtenant interest of their respective units in the common areas. The real right in condominium may be ownership or any other interest in real property recognized by law, on property in the Civil Code and other pertinent laws. Sec. 3. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Condominium" means a condominium as defined in the next preceding section. (b) "Unit" means a part of the condominium project intended for any type of independent use or ownership, including one or more rooms or spaces located in one or more floors (or part or parts of floors) in a building or buildings and such accessories as may be appended thereto. (c) "Project" means the entire parcel of real property divided or to be divided in condominiums, including all structures thereon, (d) "Common areas" means the entire project excepting all units separately granted or held or reserved. (e) "To divide" real property means to divide the ownership thereof or other interest therein by conveying one or more condominiums therein but less than the whole thereof. Sec. 4. The provisions of this Act shall apply to property divided or to be divided into condominiums only if there shall be recorded in the Register of Deeds of the province or city in which the property lies and duly annotated in the corresponding certificate of title of the land, if the latter had been patented or registered under either the Land Registration or Cadastral Acts, an enabling or master deed which shall contain, among others, the following: (a) Description of the land on which the building or buildings and improvements are or are to be located; (b) Description of the building or buildings, stating the number of stories and basements, the number of units and their accessories, if any; (c) Description of the common areas and facilities; (d) A statement of the exact nature of the interest acquired or to be acquired by the purchaser in the separate units and in the common areas of the condominium project. Where title to or the appurtenant interests in the common areas is or is to be held by a condominium corporation, a statement to this effect shall be included; (e) Statement of the purposes for which the building or buildings and each of the units are intended or restricted as to use; (f) A certificate of the registered owner of the property, if he is other than those executing the master deed, as well as of all registered holders of any lien or encumbrance on the property, that they consent to the registration of the deed; (g) The following plans shall be appended to the deed as integral parts thereof: (1) A survey plan of the land included in the project, unless a survey plan of the same property had previously bee filed in said office; (2) A diagrammatic floor plan of the building or buildings in the project, in sufficient detail to identify each unit, its relative location and approximate dimensions; (h) Any reasonable restriction not contrary to law, morals or public policy regarding the right of any condominium owner to alienate or dispose of his condominium. The enabling or master deed may be amended or revoked upon registration of an instrument executed by the registered owner or owners of the property and consented to by all registered holders of any lien or encumbrance on the land or building or portion thereof. The term "registered owner" shall include the registered owners of condominiums in the project. Until registration of a revocation, the provisions of this Act shall continue to apply to such property. (Amended by R.A. 7899) Republic Act No. 7899 AN ACT AMENDING SECTION FOUR AND SECTION SIXTEEN OF THE REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED FOUR THOUSAND SEVEN HYNDRED TWENTY-SIX, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “THE CONDOMINIUM ACT”  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: SECTION 1. Section 4, last paragraph of Republic Act No. 4726 is hereby amended as follows: “SECTION 4. x x x “The enabling or master deed may be amended or revoked upon registration of an instrument executed by a simple majority of the registered owners of the property: Provided, That in a condominium project exclusively for either residential or commercial use, simple majority shall be on a per unit of ownership basis and that in the case of mixed use, simple majority shall be on a floor area of ownership basis: Provided, further, That prior notifications to all registered owners are done: and Provided, finally, That any amendment or revocation already decided by a simple majority of all registered owners shall be submitted to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and the city/municipal engineer for approval before it can be registered. Until registration of a revocation, the provisions of this Act shall continue to apply to such property”. SECTION 2. Section 16 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: “SEC. 16. A condominium corporation shall not, during its existence, sell, exchange, lease or otherwise dispose of the common areas owned or held by it in the condominium project unless authorized by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the register owners: Provided, that prior notifications to all registered owners are done: and Provided, further, That the condominium corporation may expand or integrate the project with another upon the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the registered owners, subject only to the final approval of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.” SECTION 3. Effectivity – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15 days after its complete publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation. Approved, (Sgd.) EDGARDO J. ANGARA                                (Sgd.) JOSE DE VENECIA, JR.     President of the Senate                               Speaker of the House of  Representatives This Act which is a consolidation of the House Bill No. 12384 and Senate Bill No. 2042 was finally passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on February 15, 1995. (Sgd) EDGARDO E. TUMANGAN                        (Sgd) CAMILO L. SABIO Secretary of the Senate                             Secretary General House of Representatives Approved: February 23, 1995 (Sgd) FIDEL V. RAMOS President of the Philippines Sec. 5. Any transfer or conveyance of a unit or an apartment, office or store or other space therein, shall include the transfer or conveyance of the undivided interests in the common areas or, in a proper case, the membership or shareholdings in the condominium corporation: Provided, however, That where the common areas in the condominium project are owned by the owners of separate units as co-owners thereof, no condominium unit therein shall be conveyed or transferred to persons other than Filipino citizens, or corporations at least sixty percent of the capital stock of which belong to Filipino citizens, except in cases of hereditary succession. Where the common areas in a condominium project are held by a corporation, no transfer or conveyance of a unit shall be valid if the concomitant transfer of the appurtenant membership or stockholding in the corporation will cause the alien interest in such corporation to exceed the limits imposed by existing laws. Sec. 6. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the enabling or master deed or the declaration of restrictions, the incidents of a condominium grant are as follows: (a) The boundary of the unit granted are the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, ceilings, windows and doors thereof. The following are not part of the unit bearing walls, columns, floors, roofs, foundations and other common structural elements of the building; lobbies, stairways, hallways, and other areas of common use, elevator equipment and shafts, central heating, central refrigeration and central air-conditioning equipment, reservoirs, tanks, pumps and other central services and facilities, pipes, ducts, flues, chutes, conduits, wires and other utility installations, wherever located, except the outlets thereof when located within the unit. (b) There shall pass with the unit, as an appurtenance thereof, an exclusive easement for the use of the air space encompassed by the boundaries of the unit as it exists at any particular time and as the unit may lawfully be altered or reconstructed from time to time. Such easement shall be automatically terminated in any air space upon destruction of the unit as to render it untenantable. (c) Unless otherwise, provided, the common areas are held in common by the holders of units, in equal shares, one for each unit. (d) A non-exclusive easement for ingress, egress and support through the common areas is appurtenant to each unit and the common areas are subject to such easements. (e) Each condominium owner shall have the exclusive right to paint, repaint, tile, wax, paper or otherwise refinish and decorate the inner surfaces of the walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors bounding his own unit. (f) Each condominium owner shall have the exclusive right to mortgage, pledge or encumber his condominium and to have the same appraised independently of the other condominiums but any obligation incurred by such condominium owner is personal to him. (g) Each condominium owner has also the absolute right to sell or dispose of his condominium unless the master deed contains a requirement that the property be first offered to the condominium owners within a reasonable period of time before the same is offered to outside parties; Sec. 7. Except as provided in the following section, the common areas shall remain undivided, and there shall be no judicial partition thereof. Sec. 8. Where several persons own condominiums in a condominium project, an action may be brought by one or more such persons for partition thereof by sale of the entire project, as if the owners of all of the condominiums in such project were co-owners of the entire project in the same proportion as their interests in the common areas: Provided, however, That a partition shall be made only upon a showing: (a) That three years after damage or destruction to the project which renders material part thereof unit for its use prior thereto, the project has not been rebuilt or repaired substantially to its state prior to its damage or destruction, or (b) That damage or destruction to the project has rendered one-half or more of the units therein untenantable and that condominium owners holding in aggregate more than thirty percent interest in the common areas are opposed to repair or restoration of the project; or (c) That the project has been in existence in excess of fifty years, that it is obsolete and uneconomic, and that condominium owners holding in aggregate more than fifty percent interest in the common areas are opposed to repair or restoration or remodeling or modernizing of the project; or (d) That the project or a material part thereof has been condemned or expropriated and that the project is no longer viable, or that the condominium owners holding in aggregate more than seventy percent interest in the common areas are opposed to continuation of the condominium regime after expropriation or condemnation of a material portion thereof; or (e) That the conditions for such partition by sale set forth in the declaration of restrictions, duly registered in accordance with the terms of this Act, have been met. Sec. 9. The owner of a project shall, prior to the conveyance of any condominium therein, register a declaration of restrictions relating to such project, which restrictions shall constitute a lien upon each condominium in the project, and shall insure to and bind all condominium owners in the project. Such liens, unless otherwise provided, may be enforced by any condominium owner in the project or by the management body of such project. The Register of Deeds shall enter and annotate the declaration of restrictions upon the certificate of title covering the land included within the project, if the land is patented or registered under the Land Registration or Cadastral Acts. The declaration of restrictions shall provide for the management of the project by anyone of the following management bodies: a condominium corporation, an association of the condominium owners, a board of governors elected by condominium owners, or a management agent elected by the owners or by the board named in the declaration. It shall also provide for voting majorities quorums, notices, meeting date, and other rules governing such body or bodies. Such declaration of restrictions, among other things, may also provide: (a) As to any such management body; (1) For the powers thereof, including power to enforce the provisions of the declarations of restrictions; (2) For maintenance of insurance policies, insuring condominium owners against loss by fire, casualty, liability, workmen's compensation and other insurable risks, and for bonding of the members of any management body; (3) Provisions for maintenance, utility, gardening and other services benefiting the common areas, for the employment of personnel necessary for the operation of the building, and legal, accounting and other professional and technical services; (4) For purchase of materials, supplies and the like needed by the common areas; (5) For payment of taxes and special assessments which would be a lien upon the entire project or common areas, and for discharge of any lien or encumbrance levied against the entire project or the common areas; (6) For reconstruction of any portion or portions of any damage to or destruction of the project; (7) The manner for delegation of its powers; (8) For entry by its officers and agents into any unit when necessary in connection with the maintenance or construction for which such body is responsible; (9) For a power of attorney to the management body to sell the entire project for the benefit of all of the owners thereof when partition of the project may be authorized under Section 8 of this Act, which said power shall be binding upon all of the condominium owners regardless of whether they assume the obligations of the restrictions or not. (b) The manner and procedure for amending such restrictions: Provided, That the vote of not less than a majority in interest of the owners is obtained. (c) For independent audit of the accounts of the management body; (d) For reasonable assessments to meet authorized expenditures, each condominium unit to be assessed separately for its share of such expenses in proportion (unless otherwise provided) to its owners fractional interest in any common areas; (e) For the subordination of the liens securing such assessments to other liens either generally or specifically described; (f) For conditions, other than those provided for in Sections eight and thirteen of this Act, upon which partition of the project and dissolution of the condominium corporation may be made. Such right to partition or dissolution may be conditioned upon failure of the condominium owners to rebuild within a certain period or upon specified inadequacy of insurance proceeds, or upon specified percentage of damage to the building, or upon a decision of an arbitrator, or upon any other reasonable condition. Sec. 10. Whenever the common areas in a condominium project are held by a condominium corporation, such corporation shall constitute the management body of the project. The corporate purposes of such a corporation shall be limited to the holding of the common areas, either in ownership or any other interest in real property recognized by law, to the management of the project, and to such other purposes as may be necessary, incidental or convenient to the accomplishment of said purposes. The articles of incorporation or by-laws of the corporation shall not contain any provision contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the enabling or master deed, or the declaration of restrictions of the project. Membership in a condominium corporation, regardless of whether it is a stock or non-stock corporation, shall not be transferable separately from the condominium unit of which it is an appurtenance. When a member or stockholder ceases to own a unit in the project in which the condominium corporation owns or holds the common areas, he shall automatically cease to be a member or stockholder of the condominium corporation. Sec. 11. The term of a condominium corporation shall be co-terminus with the duration of the condominium project, the provisions of the Corporation Law to the contrary notwithstanding. Sec. 12. In case of involuntary dissolution of a condominium corporation for any of the causes provided by law, the common areas owned or held by the corporation shall, by way of liquidation, be transferred pro-indiviso and in proportion to their interest in the corporation to the members or stockholders thereof, subject to the superior rights of the corporation creditors. Such transfer or conveyance shall be deemed to be a full liquidation of the interest of such members or stockholders in the corporation. After such transfer or conveyance, the provisions of this Act governing undivided co-ownership of, or undivided interest in, the common areas in condominium projects shall fully apply. Sec. 13. Until the enabling or the master deed of the project in which the condominium corporation owns or holds the common area is revoked, the corporation shall not be voluntarily dissolved through an action for dissolution under Rule 104 of the Rules of Court except upon a showing: (a) That three years after damage or destruction to the project in which the corporation owns or holds the common areas, which damage or destruction renders a material part thereof unfit for its use prior thereto, the project has not been rebuilt or repaired substantially to its state prior to its damage or destruction; or (b) That damage or destruction to the project has rendered one-half or more of the units therein untenantable and that more than thirty percent of the members of the corporation, if non-stock, or the shareholders representing more than thirty percent of the capital stock entitled to vote, if a stock corporation, are opposed to the repair or reconstruction of the project, or (c) That the project has been in existence in excess of fifty years, that it is obsolete and uneconomical, and that more than fifty percent of the members of the corporation, if non-stock, or the stockholders representing more than fifty percent of the capital stock entitled to vote, if a stock corporation, are opposed to the repair or restoration or remodeling or modernizing of the project; or (d) That the project or a material part thereof has been condemned or expropriated and that the project is no longer viable, or that the members holding in aggregate more than seventy percent interest in the corporation, if non-stock, or the stockholders representing more than seventy percent of the capital stock entitled to vote, if a stock corporation, are opposed to the continuation of the condominium regime after expropriation or condemnation of a material portion thereof; or (e) That the conditions for such a dissolution set forth in the declaration of restrictions of the project in which the corporation owns of holds the common areas, have been met. Sec. 14. The condominium corporation may also be dissolved by the affirmative vote of all the stockholders or members thereof at a general or special meeting duly called for the purpose: Provided, That all the requirements of Section sixty-two of the Corporation Law are complied with. Sec. 15. Unless otherwise provided for in the declaration of restrictions upon voluntary dissolution of a condominium corporation in accordance with the provisions of Sections thirteen and fourteen of this Act, the corporation shall be deemed to hold a power of attorney from all the members or stockholders to sell and dispose of their separate interests in the project and liquidation of the corporation shall be effected by a sale of the entire project as if the corporation owned the whole thereof, subject to the rights of the corporate and of individual condominium creditors. Sec. 16. A condominium corporation shall not, during its existence, sell, exchange, lease or otherwise dispose of the common areas owned or held by it in the condominium project unless authorized by the affirmative vote of all the stockholders or members. (As amended by R.A. 7899) SECTION 2. Section 16 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: “SEC. 16. A condominium corporation shall not, during its existence, sell, exchange, lease or otherwise dispose of the common areas owned or held by it in the condominium project unless authorized by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the register owners: Provided, that prior notifications to all registered owners are done: and Provided, further, That the condominium corporation may expand or integrate the project with another upon the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the registered owners, subject only to the final approval of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.” Sec. 17. Any provision of the Corporation Law to the contrary notwithstanding, the by-laws of a condominium corporation shall provide that a stockholder or member shall not be entitled to demand payment of his shares or interest in those cases where such right is granted under the Corporation Law unless he consents to sell his separate interest in the project to the corporation or to any purchaser of the corporation's choice who shall also buy from the corporation the dissenting member or stockholder's interest. In case of disagreement as to price, the procedure set forth in the appropriate provision of the Corporation Law for valuation of shares shall be followed. The corporation shall have two years within which to pay for the shares or furnish a purchaser of its choice from the time of award. All expenses incurred in the liquidation of the interest of the dissenting member or stockholder shall be borne by him. Sec. 18. Upon registration of an instrument conveying a condominium, the Register of Deeds shall, upon payment of the proper fees, enter and annotate the conveyance on the certificate of title covering the land included within the project and the transferee shall be entitled to the issuance of a "condominium owner's" copy of the pertinent portion of such certificate of title. Said "condominium owner's" copy need not reproduce the ownership status or series of transactions in force or annotated with respect to other condominiums in the project. A copy of the description of the land, a brief description of the condominium conveyed, name and personal circumstances of the condominium owner would be sufficient for purposes of the "condominium owner's" copy of the certificate of title. No conveyance of condominiums or part thereof, subsequent to the original conveyance thereof from the owner of the project, shall be registered unless accompanied by a certificate of the management body of the project that such conveyance is in accordance with the provisions of the declaration of restrictions of such project. In cases of condominium projects registered under the provisions of the Spanish Mortgage Law or Act 3344, as amended, the registration of the deed of conveyance of a condominium shall be sufficient if the Register of Deeds shall keep the original or signed copy thereof, together with the certificate of the management body of the project, and return a copy of the deed of conveyance to the condominium owner duly acknowledge and stamped by the Register of Deeds in the same manner as in the case of registration of conveyances of real property under said laws. Sec. 19. Where the enabling or master deed provides that the land included within a condominium project are to be owned in common by the condominium owners therein, the Register of Deeds may, at the request of all the condominium owners and upon surrender of all their "condominium owner's" copies, cancel the certificates of title of the property and issue a new one in the name of said condominium owners as pro-indiviso co-owners thereof. Sec. 20. An assessment upon any condominium made in accordance with a duly registered declaration of restrictions shall be an obligation of the owner thereof at the time the assessment is made. The amount of any such assessment plus any other charges thereon, such as interest, costs (including attorney's fees) and penalties, as such may be provided for in the declaration of restrictions, shall be and become a lien upon the condominium assessed when the management body causes a notice of assessment to be registered with the Register of Deeds of the city or province where such condominium project is located. The notice shall state the amount of such assessment and such other charges thereon a may be authorized by the declaration of restrictions, a description of the condominium, unit against which same has been assessed, and the name of the registered owner thereof. Such notice shall be signed by an authorized representative of the management body or as otherwise provided in the declaration of restrictions. Upon payment of said assessment and charges or other satisfaction thereof, the management body shall cause to be registered a release of the lien. Such lien shall be superior to all other liens registered subsequent to the registration of said notice of assessment except real property tax liens and except that the declaration of restrictions may provide for the subordination thereof to any other liens and encumbrances. Such liens may be enforced in the same manner provided for by law for the judicial or extra-judicial foreclosure of mortgages of real property. Unless otherwise provided for in the declaration of restrictions, the management body shall have power to bid at foreclosure sale. The condominium owner shall have the same right of redemption as in cases of judicial or extra-judicial foreclosure of mortgages. Sec. 21. No labor performed or services or materials furnished with the consent of or at the request of a condominium owner or his agent or his contractor or subcontractor, shall be the basis of a lien against the condominium of any other condominium owner, unless such other owners have expressly consented to or requested the performance of such labor or furnishing of such materials or services. Such express consent shall be deemed to have been given by the owner of any condominium in the case of emergency repairs of his condominium unit. Labor performed or services or materials furnished for the common areas, if duly authorized by the management body provided for in a declaration of restrictions governing the property, shall be deemed to be performed or furnished with the express consent of each condominium owner. The owner of any condominium may remove his condominium from a lien against two or more condominiums or any part thereof by payment to the holder of the lien of the fraction of the total sum secured by such lien which is attributable to his condominium unit. Sec. 22. Unless otherwise provided for by the declaration of restrictions, the management body, provided for herein, may acquire and hold, for the benefit of the condominium owners, tangible and intangible personal property and may dispose of the same by sale or otherwise; and the beneficial interest in such personal property shall be owned by the condominium owners in the same proportion as their respective interests in the common areas. A transfer of a condominium shall transfer to the transferee ownership of the transferor's beneficial interest in such personal property. Sec. 23. Where, in an action for partition of a condominium project or for the dissolution of condominium corporation on the ground that the project or a material part thereof has been condemned or expropriated, the Court finds that the conditions provided for in this Act or in the declaration of restrictions have not been met, the Court may decree a reorganization of the project, declaring which portion or portions of the project shall continue as a condominium project, the owners thereof, and the respective rights of said remaining owners and the just compensation, if any, that a condominium owner may be entitled to due to deprivation of his property. Upon receipt of a copy of the decree, the Register of Deeds shall enter and annotate the same on the pertinent certificate of title. Sec. 24. Any deed, declaration or plan for a condominium project shall be liberally construed to facilitate the operation of the project, and its provisions shall be presumed to be independent and severable. Sec. 25. Whenever real property has been divided into condominiums, each condominium separately owned shall be separately assessed, for purposes of real property taxation and other tax purposes to the owners thereof and the tax on each such condominium shall constitute a lien solely thereon. Sec. 26. All Acts or parts of Acts in conflict or inconsistent with this Act are hereby amended insofar as condominium and its incidents are concerned. Sec. 27. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. Approved: June 18, 1966

 

Pro-labor Constitution, poor enforcement and implementation, equals poor labor conditions.

Despite the Philippines’s pro-labor Constitution and statutes (especially the labor code), many Filipino still live each day under poor labor conditions: under minimum wage; lack of, or no legally mandated benefits; extended work hours without overtime pay; inhumane work conditions, and the list goes on.

While we know that a growing number of employers are starting to realize that a well-provided (labor standards), and fairly treated and empowered (labor relations) workforce translate into productivity and good reputation for the company, a sore number still resort to scrimping on all it can to maximize profit now, and forget about the future. Many of those who failed to see the value of empowered workforce, indeed, did not live long enough to realize it.

On the other hand, we see that it is a problem of implementation and enforcement. Our labor constitutional provisions and labor laws are mere scrap of paper unless they are implemented. They are a lip service unless employees know their rights and have the heart to stand for them. The State often stands as a passive participant.

No one will go out everyday and take the cudgel for everyone for their labor woes. Each, at least, has to be willing to take the painful steps of educating oneself, and more painful steps of demanding and fighting for what he believes he deserves as a matter of right under the law. As discussed above, many employers still will not give what many are entitled to when they know they can get away with depriving them—though the trend is against it.  

Below are Constitutional provisions on labor that are supposed to help level the playing field between employers and employees. When the capital deprives labor of its statutory entitlement, the law rallies to the aid of the hapless labor to counterbalance the economic power and influence of capital and compel it to give what is due to labor.

Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the fundamental law of the land, labor is promoted and protected. Let us familiarize ourselves with the constitutional provisions on labor, and use them to better our chances when faced against oppressive employers. They are under Articles II, III, IX-B, and XIII:

Article II, DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES

Section 9. The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.

Section 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.

Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.

Section 13. The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.

Section 14. The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.

Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.

Section 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments.

ARTICLE III, BILL OF RIGHTS

Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Section 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

Section 8. The right of the people, including those employed in the public and private sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged.

Article IX-B, THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Section 2.

3. No officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended except for cause provided by law.

5. The right to self-organization shall not be denied to government employees.

6. Temporary employees of the Government shall be given such protection as may be provided by law.

ARTICLE XIII, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.

It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.

The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.

The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth.

Section 14. The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions, taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.

You have been hired and made to sign a contract stating you are a project employee, but you have been working indefinitely with the company. Are you considered a project employee so that the company may terminate your employment citing end-of-project or season, and without need for just or authorized cause?

The case below discusses the determining factors for a project employee, and how one who started as a project employee may eventually become a regular employee.

Duration of project employment
should be determined at the time of
hiring

In the instant case, the appointments issued to petitioner indicated that he was hired for specific projects. This Court is convinced however that although he started as a project employee, he eventually became a regular employee of PNCC.

Under Article 280 of the Labor Code, as amended, a project employee is one whose "employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking the completion or termination of which has been determined at the time of the engagement of the employee or where the work or services to be performed is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the season." Thus, the principal test used to determine whether employees are project employees is whether or not the employees were assigned to carry out a specific project or undertaking, the duration or scope of which was specified at the time the employees were engaged for that project.³³

In the case at bar, petitioner worked continuously for more than two years after the supposed three-month duration of his project employment for the NAIA II Project. While his appointment for said project allowed such extension since it specifically provided that in case his "services are still needed beyond the validity of the contract, the Company shall extend his services," there was no subsequent contract or appointment that specified a particular duration for the extension. His services were just extended indefinitely until "Personnel Action Form – Project Employment" dated July 7, 1998 was issued to him which provided that his employment will end a few weeks later or on August 4, 1998. While for first three months, petitioner can be considered a project employee of PNCC, his employment thereafter, when his services were extended without any specification of as to the duration, made him a regular employee of PNCC. And his status as a regular employee was not affected by the fact that he was assigned to several other projects and there were intervals in between said projects since he enjoys security of tenure.

Failure of an employer to file
termination reports after every
project completion proves that an
employee is not a project employee

As a rule, the findings of fact of the CA are final and conclusive and this Court will not review them on appeal.³⁴ The rule, however, is subject to the following exceptions:

The jurisdiction of the Court in cases brought before it from the appellate court is limited to reviewing errors of law, and findings of fact of the Court of Appeals are conclusive upon the Court since it is not the Court’s function to analyze and weigh the evidence all over again. Nevertheless, in several cases, the Court enumerated the exceptions to the rule that factual findings of the Court of Appeals are binding on the Court: (1) when the findings are grounded entirely on speculations, surmises or conjectures; (2) when the inference made is manifestly mistaken, absurd or impossible; (3) when there is grave abuse of discretion; (4) when the judgment is based on a misapprehension of facts; (5) when the findings of fact are conflicting; (6) when in making its findings the Court of Appeals went beyond the issues of the case, or its findings are contrary to the admissions of both the appellant and the appellee; (7) when the findings are contrary to that of the trial court; (8) when the findings are conclusions without citation of specific evidence on which they are based; (9) when the facts set forth in the petition as well as in the petitioner’s main and reply briefs are not disputed by the respondent; (10) when the findings of fact are premised on the supposed absence of evidence and contradicted by the evidence on record; or (11) when the Court of Appeals manifestly overlooked certain relevant facts not disputed by the parties, which, if properly considered, would justify a different conclusion.³⁵

In this case, records clearly show that PNCC did not report the termination of petitioner’s supposed project employment for the NAIA II Project to the DOLE. Department Order No. 19, or the "Guidelines Governing the Employment of Workers in the Construction Industry," requires employers to submit a report of an employee’s termination to the nearest public employment office every time an employee’s employment is terminated due to a completion of a project. PNCC submitted as evidence of its compliance with the requirement supposed photocopies of its termination reports, each listing petitioner as among the employees affected. Unfortunately, none of the reports submitted pertain to the NAIA II Project. Moreover, DOLE NCR verified that petitioner is not included in the list of affected workers based on the termination reports filed by PNCC on August 11, 17, 20 and 24, 1998 for petitioner’s supposed dismissal from the NAIA II Project effective August 4, 1998. This certification from DOLE was not refuted by PNCC. In Tomas Lao Construction v. NLRC,³⁶ we emphasized the indispensability of the reportorial requirement:

Moreover, if private respondents were indeed employed as "project employees," petitioners should have submitted a report of termination to the nearest public employment office every time their employment was terminated due to completion of each construction project. The records show that they did not. Policy Instruction No. 20 is explicit that employers of project employees are exempted from the clearance requirement but not from the submission of termination report. We have consistently held that failure of the employer to file termination reports after every project completion proves that the employees are not project employees. Nowhere in the New Labor Code is it provided that the reportorial requirement is dispensed with. The fact is that Department Order No. 19 superseding Policy Instruction No. 20 expressly provides that the report of termination is one of the indicators of project employment.³⁷