Continental Steel Manufacturing Corp. Vs Hon. Accredited Voluntary Arbitrator GR 182836, Oct. 13, 2009 Parties:
1. Rolando Hortillano >employee of Continental Steel; applied for bereavement leave and other death benefits 2. Atty. Montaño>voluntary arbitrator; respondent 3. Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Centro Steel Corporation-Solidarity of Trade Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (the Union)>respondent 4. Continental Steel Manufacturing Corporation>petitioner Facts:
Hortillano an employee of Continental Continental Steel and a member of “the Union” filed a claim for for Paternity Leave, Bereavement Leave and Death and Accident Insurance for dependent, pursuant to a CBA between Continental and “the Union.” Hortillano filed the said claims due to the death th of his unborn child while his wife was on her 38 week of pregnancy. Continental Steel granted Hortillano’s claim for paternity leave but denied his other claims. This prompted “the Union” to seek reversal of the denial of Hortillano’s claim for Bereavement Leave and Leave and Death and Accident Insurance for dependent, through a grievance machinery provided for in the CBA. However, the parties failed to settle their dispute, which led the case to be brought before the NCMB and was submitted for voluntary arbitration under Atty. Montaño. During the arbitration, “the Union” argued that Hortillano was entitled to the said death benefits provided by the CBA, because b ecause Art. X and Art. A rt. XVIII of the said CBA did not specifically state that the dependent should have first been born alive or must have acquired juridical capacity to be covered by the CBA. Continental Steel on the other hand reasoned out that Hortillano was not qualified to claim the death benefits for dependent, because, according to Continental Steel, the child of Hortillano or the fetus who was stillborn cannot be considered as a dependent because it never acquired juridical personality and only one with juridical personality can die, basing their argument on Art. 40,41, and 42 of the Civil Code. The voluntary arbitrator, Atty. Montaño, ruled in favor of Hortillano and “the Union”. Aggrieved, Continental steel elevated the case to the CA which affirmed the ruling of the voluntary arbitrator. Issue:
1. Whether o not life is synonymous with civil personality? 2. Whether or not a stillborn child can be considered as dependent? Held:
Life is not synonymous synonymous with civil personality. personality. One need not acquire civil personality first before he/she could die. die. Even a child inside the womb already has life. No less than the Constitution Constitution recognizes the life of the unborn from conception, that the State must protect equally with the life of the mother. If the unborn already already has life, then the the cessation thereof even prior prior to the child being delivered, qualifies as death. Likewise, the unborn child can be considered a dependent under the CBA. As Continental Steel itself defines, a dependent is “one who relies on another for support; one not able to exist or sustain oneself without the power or aid of someone someone else.” Under said general said general definition, even an unborn child is a dependent of its parents. Hortillano’s child could not have reached 38-39 38-39 weeks of its gestational life without depending upon its mother, Hortillano’s wife, for sustenance. Additionally, it is explicit in the CBA provisions in question that the dependent may be the parent, spouse, or child of a married employee; or the parent, brother, or sister of a single employee. The CBA did not provide a qualification for the child dependent, such that the child must have been born or must have acquired civil personality, as Continental Steel avers. Without such qualification, then child shall be understood in its more general sense, which includes the unborn fetus in the mother’s womb.
