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Barcenas vs. National Labor Relations Commission

*
G.R. No. 87210. July 16, 1990.

FILOMENA BARCENAS, petitioner, vs. THE NATIONAL

LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (NLRC), Rev. SIM
DEE, the present Head Monk of the Manila Buddha
Temple, MANUEL CHUA, in his capacity as the President
and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Poh Toh
Buddhist Association of the Philippines, Inc., and in his
private capacity, respondents.

Labor Law; Employer-employee relationship; Court agrees

with the petitioner’s claim that she was a regular employee of the
Manila Buddhist Temple as Secretary and Interpreter of its Head
Monk.—At the outset, however, We agree with the petitioner’s
claim that she was a regular employee of the Manila Buddhist
Temple as secretary and interpreter of its Head Monk, Su. As
Head Monk, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of
the Poh Toh Buddhist Association of the Philippines, Su was
empowered to hire the petitioner under Article V of the By-laws of
the Association.
Same; Same; Same; The work that petitioner performed in the
temple could not be categorized as mere domestic work.—
Moreover, the work that petitioner performed in the temple could
not be categorized as mere domestic work. Thus, We find that
petitioner, being proficient in the Chinese language, attended to
the visitors, mostly Chinese, who came to pray or seek advice
before Buddha for personal or business

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* FIRST DIVISION.

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Barcenas vs. National Labor Relations Commission

problems; arranged meetings between these visitors and Su and

supervised the preparation of the food for the temple visitors;
acted as tourist guide of foreign visitors; acted as liaison with
some government offices; and made the payment for the temple’s
Meralco, MWSS and PLDT bills. Indeed, these tasks may not be
deemed activities of a household helper. They were essential and
important to the operation and religious functions of the temple.
Same; Same; Benefits; Prescription; All money claims arising
from employer-employee relations must be filed within three years
from the time the cause of action accrued otherwise they shall
forever be barred; Petitioner’s claim for unpaid wages has already
prescribed.—Anent the petitioner’s claim for unpaid wages since
May, 1982 which she filed only in 1986, We hold that the same
has already prescribed. Under Article 292 of the Labor Code, all
money claims arising from employer-employee relations must be
filed within three years from the time the cause of action accrued,
otherwise they shall forever be barred.

PETITION for certiorari to review the decision of the

National Labor Relations Commission.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

     L.B. Camins for petitioner.
          Lino M. Patajo and Jose J. Torrefranca for private
respondents.

MEDIALDEA, J.:

This petition for review on certiorari (which We treat as a

special civil action for certiorari) seeks to annul the
decision of the National Labor Relations Commission dated
November 29, 1988, which reversed the decision of the
Labor Arbiter dated February 10, 1988 in NLRC-NCR Case
No. 12-4861-86 (Filomena Barcenas v. Rev. Sim See, etc., et
al.) on the ground that no employer-employee relationship
exists between the parties.
Petitioner alleged in her position paper the following
facts:
In 1978, Chua Se Su (Su, for short) in his capacity as the
Head Monk of the Buddhist Temple of Manila and Baguio
City and as President and Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Poh Toh Buddhist Association of the Phils.
Inc. hired the petitioner who speaks the Chinese language
as secretary and interpreter.
500

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Barcenas vs. National Labor Relations Commission

Petitioner’s position required her to receive and assist

Chinese visitors to the temple, act as tourist guide for
foreign Chinese visitors, attend to the callers of the Head
Monk as well as to the food for the temple visitors, run
errands for the Head Monk such as paying the Meralco,
PLDT, MWSS bills and act as liaison in some government
offices. Aside from her pay and allowances under the law,
she received an amount of P500.00 per month plus free
board and lodging in the temple. In December, 1979, Su
assumed the responsibility of paying for the education of
petitioner’s nephew. In 1981, Su and petitioner had
amorous relations. In May, 1982, of five months before
giving birth to the alleged son of Su on October 12, 1982,
petitioner was sent home to Bicol. Upon the death of Su in
July, 1983, complainant remained and continued in her job.
In 1985, respondent Manuel Chua (Chua, for short) was
elected President and Chairman of the Board of the Poh
Toh Buddhist Association of the Philippines, Inc. and Rev.
Sim Dee (Dee, for short) was elected Head Buddhist Priest.
Thereafter, Chua and Dee discontinued payment of her
monthly allowance and the additional P500.00 effective
1983. In addition, petitioner and her son were evicted
forcibly from their quarters in the temple by six police
officers. She was brought first to the Police precinct in
Tondo and then brought to Aloha Hotel where she was
compelled to sign a written undertaking not to return to
the Buddhist temple in consideration of the sum of
P10,000.00. Petitioner refused and Chua shouted threats
against her and her son. Her personal belongings including
assorted jewelries were never returned by respondent
Chua.
Chua and Dee, on the other hand, claimed that
petitioner was never an employee of the Poh Toh Temple
but a servant who confined herself to the temple and to the
personal needs of the late Chua Se Su and thus, her
position is co-terminous with that of her master.
On February 10, 1988, the Labor Arbiter rendered a
decision, the dispositive portion of which states:

“WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby

rendered in favor of the complainant Filomena Barcenas, and the
respondent corporation is hereby ordered to pay her the following:

“1. P26,575.00 backwages from August 9, 1986 up to date

hereof;

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“2. P14,650.00 as separation pay;

“3. P18,000.00 as unpaid wages from August, 1983 up to
August 8, 1986; and
“4. P10,000.00 moral damages.

“Complainant’s charge of unfair labor practice is hereby dismissed

for lack of merit. 1
“SO ORDERED.”

Respondents appealed to the National Labor Relations

Commission which, as earlier stated, reversed the above
decision of the Labor Arbiter. Hence, this instant petition.
A painstaking review of the records compels Us to
dismiss the petition.
At the outset, however, We agree with the petitioner’s
claim that she was a regular employee of the Manila
Buddhist Temple as secretary and interpreter of its Head
Monk, Su. As Head Monk, President and Chairman of the
Board of Directors of the Poh Toh Buddhist Association of
the Philippines, Su was empowered to hire the petitioner
under Article V of the By-laws of the Association which
states:

“x x x (T)he President or in his absence, the Vice President shall

represent the Association in all its dealings with the public,
subject to the Board, shall have the power to enter into any
contract or agreement in the name of the Association, shall
manage the active business operation
2
of the Association, shall
deal with the bank or banks x x x.”
3
Respondent NLRC represented by its Legal Officer argues
that since petitioner was hired without the approval of the
Board of Directors of the Poh Toh Buddhist Association of
the Philippines, Inc., she was not an employee of
respondents. This argument is specious. The required
Board approval would appear to relate to the acts of the
President in representing the association “in all its
dealings with the public.” And, even

_______________

1 Rollo, p. 20.
2 Rollo, p. 90.

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3 In the resolution of August 9, 1989, the Office of the Solicitor General

was granted leave to be excused from representing NLRC as he maintains
a position different from that taken by it. (Rollo, pp. 76 and 81).

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Barcenas vs. National Labor Relations Commission

granting that prior Board approval is required to confirm

the hiring of the petitioner, the same was already granted,
albeit, tacitly. It must be noted that petitioner was hired in
1978 and no whimper of protest was raised until this
present controversy.
Moreover, the work that petitioner performed in the
temple could not be categorized as mere domestic work.
Thus, We find that petitioner, being proficient in the
Chinese language, attended to the visitors, mostly Chinese,
who came to pray or seek advice before Buddha for
personal or business problems; arranged meetings between
these visitors and Su and supervised the preparation of the
food for the temple visitors; acted as tourist guide of foreign
visitors; acted as liaison with some government offices; and
made the payment for the temple’s Meralco, MWSS and
PLDT bills. Indeed, these tasks may not be deemed
activities of a household helper. They were essential and
important to the operation and religious functions of the
temple.
In spite of this finding, her status as a regular employee
ended upon her return to Bicol in May, 1982 to await the
birth of her lovechild allegedly by Su. The records do not
show that petitioner filed any leave from work or that a
leave was granted her. Neither did she return to work after
the birth of her child on October 12, 1982, whom she named
Robert Chua alias Chua Sim Tiong. The NLRC found that
it was only in July, 1983 after Su died that she went back
to the Manila Buddhist Temple. Petitioner’s pleadings
failed to rebut this finding. Clearly, her return could not be
deemed as a resumption of her old position which she had
already abandoned. Petitioner herself supplied the reason
for her return. She stated:

“. . . (I)t was the death-bed instruction to her by Chua Se Su to

stay at the temple and to take care of the two boys and to see to it
that they finish their studies to become monks and when they are
monks to eventually take over the two 4
temples as their
inheritance from their father Chua Se Su.”

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Thus, her return to the temple was no longer as an

employee

_______________

4 Memorandum for the petitioner, Rollo, p. 114.

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but rather as Su’s mistress who is bent on protecting the

proprietary and hereditary rights of her son and nephew.
In her pleadings, the petitioner claims that they were
forcefully evicted from the temple, harassed and
threatened by respondents and that the Poh Toh Buddhist
Association is a trustee corporation with the children as
cestui que trust. These claims are not proper in this labor
case. They should be appropriately threshed out in the
complaints already filed by the petitioner before the civil
courts. Due to these claims, We view the respondents’ offer
of P10,000.00 as indicative more of their desire to evict the
petitioner and her son from the temple rather than an
admission of an employer-employee relations.
Anent the petitioner’s claim for unpaid wages since May,
1982 which she filed only in 1986, We hold that the same
has already prescribed. Under Article 292 of the Labor
Code, all money claims arising from employer-employee
relations must be filed within three years from the time the
cause of action accrued, otherwise they shall forever be
barred.
Finally, while petitioner contends that she continued to
work in the temple after Su died, there is, however, no
proof that she was re-hired by the new Head Monk. In fact,
she herself manifested that respondents made it clear to
her in no uncertain terms that her services as well as her5
presence and that of her son were no longer needed.
However, she persisted and continued to work in the
temple without receiving her salary because she expected
Chua6 and Dee to relent and permit the studies of the two
boys. Consequently, under these circumstances, no
employer-employee relationship could have arisen.
ACCORDINGLY, the decision of the National Labor
Relations Commission dated November 29, 1988 is hereby
AFFIRMED for the reasons aforestated. No costs.
SO ORDERED.

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          Narvasa (Chairman), Cruz, Gancayco and Griño-

Aquino, JJ., concur.

Decision affirmed.

_______________

5 See petition, Rollo, p. 7.

6 Rollo, p. 114.

504

504 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Veloso vs. Sandiganbayan

Note.—Issue regarding the relationship between

employer and employee is a question of fact. (Egypt Air vs.
National Labor Relations Commission, 148 SCRA 125.)

——o0o——

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