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OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN AGUSTIN ON THE
RESOLUTION DATED 4 OCTOBER 2006 OF THE SUPREME COURT IN G.R. NO. 169632
ENTITLED “UNIVERSITY OF SAN AGUSTIN EMPLOYEES UNION-FFW, ET AL. V. COURT OF
APPEALS AND UNIVERSITY OF SAN AGUSTIN” DIRECTING THAT NO FURTHER PLEADINGS
SHALL BE ENTERTAINED IN THE CASE On March 28, 2006, the Honorable Supreme Court, in G.R. No.
169632 entitled “University of San Agustin Employees Union-FFW, et al. v.
University of San Agustin, promulgated its decision affirming in toto the Partially Amended Decision
dated August 23, 2005 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 85317 which (a)
declared illegal the USAEU-FFW strike of September 19, 2003, (b) declared the
union officers to have lost their employment status, and (c) ordered the
parties, the USAEU-FFW in particular, to proceed to voluntary arbitration with
the University of San Agustin. Thereafter, the University of San Agustin
Employees-Union FFW (USAEU-FFW) filed with the Honorable Supreme Court a Motion
for Reconsideration. On July 17, 2006, the University of San Agustin received
the Resolution dated June 14, 2006 of the Honorable Supreme Court DENYING WITH
FINALITY the Motion for Reconsideration of the USAEU-FFW. Following the denial with finality of the USAEU-FFW’s
Motion for Reconsideration, the Federation of Free Workers (“FFW”) filed
pleading upon pleading with the Honorable Supreme Court. One of these pleadings
was a “Motion to Intervene” by the FFW even if the FFW, through FFW legal
counsel Atty. Mae M. Gellecanao-Laserna, from the very beginning has been
involved in the labor dispute and in every maneuver of the USAEU-FFW including
the strike declared illegal by the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. On top of these motions were letters written
by Ms. Grace D. Savella, FFW Vice President for Visayas and Mr. Lasola, filed ex-parte with the Office of the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, seeking the intervention of no less than Chief
Justice Artemio Panganiban on the irregularities that supposedly attended the
Decision dated March 28, 2006. The Honorable Supreme Court would have none of
this dilatory and futile maneuvers by the FFW, Ms. Savella and Mr. Lasola and
merely noted without action these pleadings. The last pleading filed by the Mr. Lasola and Atty. Mae M.
Gellecanao-Laserna of the FFW was a “Motion for Leave to Refer Case to the
Honorable Supreme Court En Banc” dated 8 August 2006. At this point, the Honorable Supreme Court had enough of these
dilatory tactics. On 4 October 2006, it
issued a Resolution the body of which is reproduced in full below: “Acting on petitioners’ [USAEU-FFW] motion for leave to refer the
case to the Court En Banc dated 8
August 2006, the Court Resolves to: 1. DENY the motion with
FINALITY pursuant to SC Circular No. 2-89 which provides that the Court En Banc is not an appellate court to
which decisions/resolutions of a Division may be appealed and 2. DIRECT that no further
pleadings shall be entertained in this case.” When the Honorable Supreme Court issued its Resolution of
June 14, 2006 denying with finality the USAEU-FFW’s “Motion for
Reconsideration,” the reality that the USAEU-FFW engaged in a corrupt and
illegal strike on September 19, 2003 for which its officers have lost their employment
status should have set in. The further reality that the union officers'
termination by the University of San Agustin on April 5, 2005 following the
Decision of the Court of Appeals, was valid should have likewise sunk in. Unfortunately, the FFW leadership, Atty. Mae
M. Gellecanao-Laserna and Theodore Neil Lasola just could not accept the
repercussions of the illegal strike. In
fact, Neil Theodore Lasola, still claiming to be the incumbent President of the
USAEU-FFW only recently filed a case of unfair labor practice against the
University of San Agustin before the National Labor Relations Commission which
was docketed as SRAB Case No. VI-09-50326-06. The University of San Agustin
trusts that these characters will already readily understand and accept the
latest and plain directive of the Honorable Supreme Court that “no further
pleadings shall be entertained in this case.” The FFW and Mr. Lasola should realize that in having
prolonged the labor dispute in the Honorable Supreme Court and instituting the
present charge of unfair labor practice, these are counterproductive as far as
the rank-and-file employees of the University of San Agustin are concerned. The
only achievement these dilatory and baseless maneuvers have attained is to
delay voluntary arbitration and/or negotiations between management and
labor. For indeed, how can the parties
meet when a strike is still going on outside the walls of the University of San
Agustin. To this day, notwithstanding
that the Honorable Supreme Court has resolved the instant labor dispute and
declared the USAEU-FFW strike of September 19, 2003 illegal, the USAEU-FFW, in
a contumacious and defiant act, refuses to clear the strike area. How long will it again take for the recent
case of unfair labor practice filed by Mr. Lasola as “USAEU-FFW President” to be finally resolved? These acts prevent – not promote –
negotiations leading to industrial peace.
In fact, on account of the unfair labor case filed by Mr. Lasola as
“USAEU-FFW President,” the University
of San Agustin is faced with two sets of officers who are claiming stewardship
over the USAEU-FFW. Prudence dictates that any and all negotiations by the
administrators of the University of San Agustin be held in abeyance until this
leadership issue is resolved with finality by the courts. In closing, the University of San Agustin reproduces its
admonition in its Official Statement of July 24, 2006 to the orchestrators who
planned the corrupt and illegal strike of the USAEU-FFW. If you truly want to
espouse the cause of responsible unionism and attain industrial peace, you
should shun personalities and instead follow the law. In so doing, the rights
of the laborers you seek to protect will be protected. We are a nation of laws
and not of men. This was not the case, as the Court of Appeals and the Supreme
Court found, in the days leading to and on the day of the USAEU-FFW strike of
September 19, 2003. Personalities, corruption and deliberate defiance of
settled procedure and jurisprudence were the order of the day for the leaders
and advisers of the USAEU-FFW. If the University community will draw the proper
lessons from this sorry chapter in the history of the USAEU-FFW, then all has
not been in vain. The instant labor dispute, as far as the University of San
Agustin is concerned, has been written finis
by the Honorable Supreme Court. The
dismissed union officers headed by Theodore Neil Lasola, Atty. Mae
Gellecanao-Laserna, and the current leadership of the Federation of Free
Workers, in particular Atty. Jose Sonny G. Matula and Ms. Grace D. Savella
should now accept this defeat and act accordingly for the benefit of the
employees of the University of San Agustin. This Official Statement of the University of San Agustin is
being issued for the information and guidance of its personnel, students,
alumni and the general public. The
Administration University
of San Agustin Iloilo
City November
10, 2006 |
