Workers of LRT today denounced the Supreme Court En Banc’s reversal of their final and executory illegal dismissal case victory in PIGLAS, ET AL. VS. LRTA, METRO (G.R. 263060, July 23, 2024), calling it a grave miscarriage of justice and discriminatory ruling favoring METRO-LRTA.
“For 24 years, we have fought for our rights as workers. Now, the SC En Banc has chosen to ignore fundamental principles of labor justice by reversing our won case during its execution phase,” said PIGLAS spokesperson Cris Magnaye
“Malinaw po ang batas sa Art. 107 at 109 ng Labor Code – ang LRTA bilang principal employer ay may obligasyon na bayaran ang lahat ng violations ng contractor sa mga manggagawa. Bakit binaligtad ng SC En Banc ang malinaw na probisyon ng batas?” Cris Magnaye added.
The workers raised several crucial legal questions that they say the SC En Banc deliberately avoided addressing in their Motion for Reconsideration:
- The established principle that conflicts between SC division decisions should be resolved in favor of labor
- The finality of decisions in illegal dismissal cases cannot be reversed during execution
- Clear provisions of law need no interpretation
- LRTA’s obligation as indirect employer under Articles 107 and 109 of the Labor Code
“The SC En Banc violated Article 4 of the Labor Code and Article 1702 of the Civil Code which mandate that all doubts in interpretation should be resolved in favor of labor. This is a clear case of discrimination against workers,” emphasized Criz Magnaye
“Hindi lang ito usapin ng pera. Ito ay usapin ng hustisya at patas na paglapat ng batas. Hindi pwedeng may dalawang klase ng hustisya – isa para sa mayayaman at makapangyarihan, at isa para sa mga manggagawa,” he stressed.
The workers are calling for an immediate review of the SC En Banc decision, citing numerous precedent cases including LRTA vs. Mendoza, LRTA vs. Alvarez, and LRTA vs. Pili that recognized LRTA’s liability as an indirect employer.
“We demand justice, not this discriminatory ruling that favors METRO-LRTA. Hustisya po at hindi inhustisya ang aming kagyat na kahilingan!” Cris Magnaye concluded#
