CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Eleven former employees of SunStar Cagayan de Oro and SunStar Superbalita here won their labor case against their former employer but they said the full victory can only be achieved when the company pays its financial obligation.
FORMER journalists and employees of SunStar Superbalita and SunStar Cagayan de Oro raise a yellow-colored polo shirt that says ‘Pay up! Bayad na pls!’ as they won the labor case against their former employer, SunStar Cagayan de Oro Inc., after the National Labor Regulatory Commission (NLRC) 8th Division issued the writ of execution on Monday, June 19. (Photo courtesy of Joana Recote of RMN DXCC Cagayan de Oro)
In line with this, the 11 ex-employees called on SunStar Cagayan de Oro Inc. to pay its obligation after the National Labor Regulatory Commission (NLRC) 8th Division issued the writ of execution on Monday, June 19. "To SunStar management, I will call and beg you to give us what we deserve; obey the law because we can only achieve true freedom of the press if you pay your obligation," Stephanie Berganio, former reporter of the Visayan-daily newspaper SunStar Superbalita Cagayan de Oro, told the Manila Bulletin in a text message on Tuesday, June 20. Through the writ of execution, the SunStar Cagayan de Oro Inc. is compelled to pay the unpaid salaries, fees, and benefits of the 11 former employees after these community newspapers stopped their operation on June 30, 2020 amid the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 11 employees filed a labor complaint due to various labor-related issues. The NLRC issued a computation totaling over P2 million, including attorneys’ fees, to the former employees which SunStar shall be ordered to pay. This includes the P20,000 each for nominal fees for the dismissal without notice, said lawyer Beverly Musni, the complainants’ legal counsel. When the case was ongoing, Musni told reporters on Monday that SunStar Cagayan de Oro Inc. and SunStar Publishing Inc. should be "jointly and solidarily liable to all of the complainants," knowing that some of the 11 former employees started their employment during the management of SunStar Publishing Inc. But Labor Arbiter Jean Domaboc-Munez, Musni said, has ruled that the writ of execution must only be implemented against SunStar Cagayan de Oro Inc. "But on the basis of the computation of the award, we can tell the whole world, invoking the admissibility of the facts as stated here in the decision, that SunStar Publishing Inc. has accountability," Musni told reporters in a mix of English and vernacular. She said, based on the records, SunStar Publishing Inc. started in Cagayan de Oro in 1995, and SunStar Cagayan de Oro Inc. was only organized in 2008. In an article from Mindanao Gold Star Daily written by Froilan Gallardo, who also joined the hearing as a former SunStar Cagayan de Oro editor, lawyer Jasper Pelayo, representing Sunstar Publishing Inc., "did not offer any objection to the decision of the NLRC 8th Division but offered no negotiations to comply with the Writ of Execution," adding that the payment of the former employees would be brought to the board of SunStar Publishing Inc. Apart from the former SunStar employees, the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and its learning and professional development arm, the COPC Journalism Institute, also joined the call, urging the administration of SunStar to "comply with what the decision stipulated." "To be a media company, it goes beyond its operation as a mere business entity as its workers – journalists and media personnel – have been performing within the standards of journalism that serve its purpose to maintain democracy in our country," COPC and the COPC Journalism Institute stressed in a joint statement released on Tuesday, June 20. Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)-Cagayan de Oro chapter released a statement on Tuesday saying that the win in the said labor case "serves as a wake-up call to those who engage in such practices, emphasizing the urgent need for immediate rectification." "Every journalist and media worker contributing to the media industry deserves fair treatment, respect, and compensation commensurate with their skills and contributions," the NUJP said. "Employers who fail to meet these obligations face severe consequences. Not only do they risk tarnishing their reputation, but they also jeopardize the integrity and credibility of the media industry as a whole," the NUJP added.