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    Paguio vs. NLRC Et Al.

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    Balaod Maricor
    Efren Paguio was hired five times by Metromedia Times Corporation (MTC) as an account executive to solicit advertisements for Manila Times. The contract stipulated he was not an employee and either party could terminate with 30 days notice. After working over a year, Paguio was terminated. He claimed illegal dismissal as a regular employee but MTC argued the contract terms applied. The Supreme Court ruled Paguio was a regular employee as his work was necessary to MTC's business and he worked over a year, regardless of contract terms.

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    Paguio vs. NLRC Et Al.

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    Balaod Maricor
    602 views3 pages
    Efren Paguio was hired five times by Metromedia Times Corporation (MTC) as an account executive to solicit advertisements for Manila Times. The contract stipulated he was not an employee and either party could terminate with 30 days notice. After working over a year, Paguio was terminated. He claimed illegal dismissal as a regular employee but MTC argued the contract terms applied. The Supreme Court ruled Paguio was a regular employee as his work was necessary to MTC's business and he worked over a year, regardless of contract terms.

    Original Description:

    PAGUIO VS. NLRC ET AL.

    Original Title

    PAGUIO VS. NLRC ET AL.

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    Efren Paguio was hired five times by Metromedia Times Corporation (MTC) as an account executive to solicit advertisements for Manila Times. The contract stipulated he was not an employee and either party could terminate with 30 days notice. After working over a year, Paguio was terminated. He claimed illegal dismissal as a regular employee but MTC argued the contract terms applied. The Supreme Court ruled Paguio was a regular employee as his work was necessary to MTC's business and he worked over a year, regardless of contract terms.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    602 views3 pages

    Paguio vs. NLRC Et Al.

    Uploaded by

    Balaod Maricor
    Efren Paguio was hired five times by Metromedia Times Corporation (MTC) as an account executive to solicit advertisements for Manila Times. The contract stipulated he was not an employee and either party could terminate with 30 days notice. After working over a year, Paguio was terminated. He claimed illegal dismissal as a regular employee but MTC argued the contract terms applied. The Supreme Court ruled Paguio was a regular employee as his work was necessary to MTC's business and he worked over a year, regardless of contract terms.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    91

    Efren P. Paguio
    versus
    National Labor Relations Commission, Metromedia Times Corporation, Robina Y.
    Gokongwei, Liberato Gomez, Jr., Yolanda E. Aragon, Frederick D. Go And Alda
    Iglesia
    G.R. No. 147816, May 9, 2003

    FACTS:

    Efren Paguio was hired (for the fifth time to enter into an agreement) as account
    executive of the firm of Metromedia Times Corporation (MTC) with the following
    following stipulations of the agreement:

    "12. You are not an employee of the Metromedia Times Corporation nor
    does the company have any obligations towards anyone you may employ, nor any
    responsibility for your operating expenses or for any liability you may incur. The
    only rights and obligations between us are those set forth in this agreement. This
    agreement cannot be amended or modified in any way except with the duly
    authorized consent in writing of both parties.
    "13. Either party may terminate this agreement at any time by giving
    written notice to the other, thirty (30) days prior to effectivity of termination."

    Paguio solicit advertisements for Manila Times (newspaper) publish by MTC.


    Paquio received compensation, commission and monthly allowance. Two months after
    the renewal he received termination letter from MTC alleging that the termination was in
    accordance with the contract they signed. Paguio then filed illegal dismissal against MTC
    contending that he is a regular employee since his service was necessary and desirable to
    the business of MTC. MTC asserted that it did not enter into any agreement with
    petitioner outside of the contract of services under Articles 1642 and 1644 of the Civil
    Code of the Philippines. Asserting their right to terminate the contract with Paguio, MTC
    pointed to the last provision thereof stating that both parties could opt to end the contract
    provided that either party would serve, thirty days prior to the intended date of
    termination, the corresponding notice to the other.

    ISSUE: Whether or not Paguio is a regular employee of MTC.

    LABOR ARBITER: The LA declared Paguio’s dismissal illegal.

    NLRC:

    The NLRC reversed the ruling of the labor arbiter and declared the contractual
    relationship between the parties as being for a fixed-term employment. The NLRC
    declared a fixed-term employment to be lawful as long as "it was agreed upon knowingly
    and voluntarily by the parties, without any force, duress or improper pressure being
    brought to bear upon the worker and absent any other circumstances vitiating his consent.

    COURT OF APPEALS:

    The Court of Appeals upheld in toto the findings of NLRC.


    92

    SUPREME COURT:

    The court ruled that Paguio is a regular employee. The court explained citing Article 280
    of the Labor Code:

    The Labor Code, in Article 280 thereof, provides:

    "ART. 280. Regular and Casual Employment. – The provisions of


    written agreement to the contrary notwithstanding and regardless of the
    oral agreement of the parties, an employment shall be deemed to be
    regular where the employee has been engaged to perform activities which
    are usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the
    employer, except where the 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.

    "An employment shall be deemed to be casual if it is not covered


    by the proceeding paragraph: Provided, That, any employee who has
    rendered at least one year of service, whether such service is continuous or
    broken, shall be considered a regular employee with respect to the activity
    in which he is employed and his employment shall continue while such
    activity exists."

    Thus defined, a regular employee is one who is engaged to perform


    activities which are necessary and desirable in the usual business or trade of the
    employer as against those which are undertaken for a specific project or are
    seasonal. Even in these latter cases, where such person has rendered at least one
    year of service, regardless of the nature of the activity performed or of whether it
    is continuous or intermittent, the employment is considered regular as long as the
    activity exists, it not being indispensable that he be first issued a regular
    appointment or be formally declared as such before acquiring a regular status

    Paguio performed activities which were necessary and desirable to the business of
    the employer, and that the same went on for more than a year, could hardly be denied.
    Paguio was an account executive in soliciting advertisements, clearly necessary and
    desirable, for the survival and continued operation of the business of respondent
    corporation. Robina Gokongwei, its President, herself admitted that the income generated
    from paid advertisements was the lifeblood of the newspaper's existence. Implicitly,
    respondent corporation recognized petitioner's invaluable contribution to the business
    when it renewed, not just once but five times, its contract with petitioner. MTC cannot
    seek refuge under the terms of the agreement it has entered into with petitioner. The law,
    in defining their contractual relationship, does so, not necessarily or exclusively upon the
    terms of their written or oral contract, but also on the basis of the nature of the work
    petitioner has been called upon to perform. The law affords protection to an employee,
    and it will not countenance any attempt to subvert its spirit and intent. A stipulation in an
    agreement can be ignored as and when it is utilized to deprive the employee of his
    security of tenure. The sheer inequality that characterizes employer-employee relations,
    where the scales generally tip against the employee, often scarcely provides him real and
    better options.
    93

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