|
THE
Supreme Court has given the Overseas Workers’ Welfare
Administration (Owwa) the green light to proceed with
the implementation of its new organizational structure
as approved by its board of trustees on January 9, 2004.
In a
23-page decision written by Associate Justice Minita
Chico-Na-zario, the Court’s Third Division set aside the
rulings of the regional trial court of Pasay City and
the Court of Appeals, which granted the petition for the
issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction restraining
OWWA from enforcing Board Resolution 001 titled,
“Approving the Structure Of the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA).”
Branch
117 of the Pasay RTC, in an order issued on September
30, 2004, gave credence to the petition of a group of
employees asserting that OWWA’s reorganization was null
and void as it was done without the required legislative
enactment pursuant to Republic Act 6656. That law
ensures the protection of the security of tenure of
civil service officers and employees in the
implementation of government reorganization.
The
Pasay court noted that the assailed board resolution was
not merely a formalization of the organizational
structure and staffing pattern of the OWWA, but a
disruption of the existing organization which displaces
a number of regular employees, including consultants,
casual and contractual employees.
On
September 20, 2005, the appellate court affirmed the
writ of preliminary injunction issued by the lower
court, prompting OWWA, through administrator Mariano
Roque, to elevate the case before the Supreme Court and
seek the reversal of the lower court and CA decisions.
In its
petition, OWWA told the High Court there is no more
basis for the lower court to issue a writ of preliminary
injunction since the reorganization has already been
implemented.
The
agency, through the Office of the Solicitor General
(OSG), also insisted that the reorganization does not
require an amendatory law, contrary to the claim of
respondent employees, since OWWA has no previous
organization structure.
The OSG
also denied the employees’ claim that the reorganization
will consequently result in the displacement of
permanent employees who will be reassigned to OWWA’s
regional offices.
It also
maintained that the complaining employees have no legal
standing to obtain a writ of preliminary injunction,
considering that they were not displaced or are in
danger of being dismissed due to the reorganization.
In
granting OWWA’s petition to lift the preliminary
injunction, the High Tribunal said the Pasay court
committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of
jurisdiction in issuing the writ of preliminary
injunction.
The
lower court did not maintain the status quo when it
issued the injunction but effectively restored the
situation prior to the status quo, said the Supreme
Court. |
