Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles is pressing for the passage of a measure that would bar the Court of Appeals from deciding on petitions involving labor disputes to ensure the swift resolution of  such cases.

He said the judicial system’s circuitous check-and-balance mechanism has defeated the objective of the constitutional provision guaranteeing the speedy disposition of cases before all judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative bodies, which in the case of labor disputes, involve the  National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). 

House Bill 4529 filed by Nograles clearly sets the mode of final judicial review for labor cases, which are the Regional Arbitration Branches and Commission Proper of the NLRC under the DOLE’s Single-Entry Approach (SEnA) initiative and the Project Speedy and Efficient Delivery of Labor Justice (SpeED)

Under the current setup, the objectives of these projects are defeated because losing parties are still allowed to file appeals before the Court of Appeals and later to the Supreme Court, Nograles pointed out.

Nograles, who represents Davao City’s 3rd district, is also the National Unity Party’s vice president for internal affairs.

"With the present set-up of three levels of appeal and review of labor cases, the mandate of providing speedy labor justice will still be negated particularly for lowly workers who could not afford a protracted, costly and frustrating litigation before another level of appellate body. This additional layer of appeal affects the whole workforce in the country, including the overseas contract workers, agricultural workers and domestic helpers," said Nograles, who chairs the House Labor Committee.

Nograles recalled that the additional layer of judicial review in labor cases stemmed from a Supreme Court ruling in 1998 (St. Martin Funeral Homes vs NLRC) which stated that NLRC decisions could be reviewed by the CA.

But statistics show that the CA, apparently because of its heavy workload, was able to decide with finality  only 188 or 16%  of the 1,168 cases elevated before it from 2009 to 2013. The remaining 84% or 980 cases were  appealed to the SC  for final decision.

"In effect, had the decisions of the NLRC’S Commission Proper  been directly appealable to the Supreme Court by way of Petition for Certiorari, these would have been  disposed of in a much shorter time by the Supreme Court with finality," Nograles said.

On the other hand, the NLRC was able to decide 11,432 or 91% of the average number of 12,600 cases lodged before it each year over the 2009-2013 period, the lawmaker noted.