JULY 24, 2025

MODULE 1: Constitutional provisions relating to or affecting labor Guide

questions:

(1) ARTICLE XIII LABOR

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.

Is the foregoing a self-executing provision?

NO.

What is a self-execuuting provision?

-​ A provision which is complete by itself and becomes operative without the aid of
supplementary or enabling legislation.
-​ GR: All provisions of the Constitution are self-executory.
-​ Rationale: A contrary rule would give the legislature discretion to determine
when, or whether, they shall be effective. These provisions would be
subordinated to the will of the lawmaking body, which could make them entirely
meaningless by simply refusing to pass the needed implementing statute.
(Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS, G.R. 122156, Feb. 3, 1997)

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 -​ XPN: 1) When it is expressly provided that a legislative act is necessary to
enforce a constitutional mandate; and
-​ 2) Provisions merely expressing general principles like:
●​ Art. II: "Declaration of Principles and State Policies”
●​ Art. XIII: "Social Justice and Human Rights" Art. XIV: "Education Science
and Technology, Arts, Culture end Sports* (Manila Prince Hotel.v. GSIS,
G.R. 122156, Feb. 3, 1997)
-​ NOTE: Such provisions are not ready for enforcement through the courts but are
used by the judiciary as aids or guides in the exercise of its power of judicial
review, and by the legislature in its enactment of laws. (Tondo Medical
Employees Association v. CA, G.R. No. 167324, July 17, 2007)

-​ XPN to the XPN:

-​ 1. Sec. 16, Art. Il: Right to a balanced and healthful ecology (Oposa v. Factoran,
G.R. No.
-​ 101083, July 30, 1993)
-​ 2. Sec. 17, Art III: Right to information (Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS, G.R. No.
122156, Feb. 3,
-​ 1997); and
-​ Sec. 10, Art. XII: Filipino First Policy. (Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS, G.R. No.
122156, Feb. 3, 1997)
-​ NOTE: In case of doubt, the provisions of the Constitution should be construed
as self-executing: mandatory rather than directory and prospective rather than
retroactive.

Q: Are the constitutional provisions on labor self-executing? A: The constitutional

mandates of protection to labor and security of tenure may be deemed as self executing
in the sense that these are automatically acknowledged and observed without need for
any enabling legislation. However, to declare that the constitutional provisions are
enough to guarantee the full exercise of the rights embodied therein, and the realization
of ideals therein expressed, would be impractical, if not unrealistic. The espousal of
such view presents the dangerous tendency of being overbroad and exaggerated.
(Agabon v. NLRC, G.R. No. 158693, 17 Nov. 2004)

(2) What is the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers?

While labor is entitled to a just share in the fruits of production, the enterprise has an
equally important right not only to reasonable returns on investment but also to
expansion and growth. The Constitution commands the State to promote the principle of
shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of

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voluntary modes of settling disputes, including conciliation, and (to) enforce their
mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace. The Constitution
recognizes that the private sector plays an indispensable role, something the
state cannot do without. At the same breath, labor is called a primary social
economic force. Because one is "indispensable" and the other is "primary," how can it
be said that one is more important, or deserves greater protection, than the other?
Government, Bernas says, is the delicate art of balancing the power of government and
the freedom of the governed. So also, labor relations is the challenging task of
balancing the rights and interests of the employer and the employee. The
constitutional outlook suggests a balanced treatment of workers and employers.

(3) Does the right of workers to participate in policy and decision-making process as
provided under Article XIII, Section 3 of the Philippine Constitution include
membership in the Board of Directors of a Corporation?

-​ Rights of Management should not be supposed that every labor dispute will be
automatically decided in favor of labor. Management also has its own rights
which are entitled to respect and enforcement in the interest of simple fair play.
(Sosito v. Aguinaldo Development Corporation, G.R. No. 48926, 24 Dec. 1987)
The Secretary of Labor is duly mandated to equally protect and respect not only
the laborer, but also the management. Fundamental Management Rights
(S-P-I-T)
●​ 1. Right to Select employees;
●​ 2. Right to Prescribe rules;
●​ 3. Right to reasonable return on Investments; and
●​ 4. Right to Transfer or discharge employees. Management has the right to
regulate all aspects of employment which include, among others, work
assignment, working methods, and place and manner of work. (Marsman
& Co., Inc. v. Rodil Sta. Rita, G.R. No. 194765, 23 Apr. 2018)
-​ Restrictions to Management Rights:
●​ Management rights are never absolute. Under the Constitution, the right
to own and operate economic enterprises is subject to the duty of the
State to promote distributive justice and to intervene when the common
good so demands.

(4) May Congress may pass a law abolishing the security of tenure clause in the Labor
Code?

-​ NO. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) through the Secretary of
Labor and Employment (SOLE) and other Government agencies charged with

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 the administration and enforcement of the LC or any of its parts shall promulgate
the necessary IRRs. (Art. 5, LC)
-​ Limitations to the Rule-Making Power Granted by the Labor Code
●​ 1. It must be issued under the authority of law;
●​ 2. It must not be contrary to law and the Constitution; and
●​ 3. It must not go beyond the law itself. A rule or regulation promulgated by
an administrative body to implement a law in excess of its rule-making
power is void. (Azucena, 2016)
-​ An administrative interpretation which takes away a benefit granted in the law is
ultra vires, that is beyond one’s power. (CBTC Employees Union v. Clave, G.R.
No. 49582, 07 Jan. 1986)

(5) List all the constitutional rights of workers.

The basic rights of workers guaranteed by the Constitution are: the rights
to organize themselves; to conduct collective bargaining or negotiation with
management; to engage in peaceful concerted activities, including to strike
in accordance with law; to enjoy security of tenure; to work under humane
conditions; to receive a living wage; and to participate in policy and
decisionmaking processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided
by law.
-​ Other provisions in the new Constitution protect the rights or promote
the welfare of workers. Among these provisions are:

●​ 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.
●​ The right of self-organization shall not be denied to government employees. No
officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended except for
cause provided by law. Temporary employees of the Government shall be given
such protection as may be provided by law.
●​ Regular farmworkers shall have the right to own directly or collectively the lands
they till. Other farmworkers shall receive a just share of the fruits of the land they
till. The State recognizes the right of farmworkers, along with other groups, to
take part in the planning, organization and management of the agrarian reform
program. Landless farmworkers may be resettled by the Government in its own
agricultural estates.''
●​ The State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with
the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which
will make available at affordable cost decent housing and basic services to

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 underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas.
It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens.
●​ 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.

(6) What are the due process requirements in labor termination cases?

Due Process [Sec. 1, Art. III, 1987 Constitution]

Under the Labor Code, as amended, the requirements for the lawful dismissal of
an employee by his employer are two-fold: the substantive and the procedural.

●​ Substantive: two requisites must concur: (1) the dismissal must be for a just or
authorized cause; and (2) the employee must be afforded an opportunity to be
heard and to defend himself. [Jeffrey Nacague v. Sulpicio Lines, Inc., G.R. No.
172589 (2010)]
●​ Procedural: an opportunity to be heard and to defend oneself must be observed
before an employee may be dismissed [Metro Eye Security v. Salsona, G.R. No.
167367 (2007)]

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