Myline Cordial

27 SCRA 40, No. L-22228 February 27, 1969

FACTS: The Secretary of Labor, the Director of Labor Relations and the Registrar of Labor Organizations ordered the cancellation of the registration certificate of the Social Security System Employees Association (SSSEA), affiliated to the Philippine Association of Free Labor Unions (PAFLU) 

ISSUE: Is registration of an organization a curtailment of freedom of assembly and association?

RULING: NO. The registration prescribed in paragraph (b) of said section is not a limitation to the right of assembly or association, which may be exercised with or without said registration. The latter is merely a condition sine qua non for the acquisition of legal personality by labor organizations, associations or unions and the possession of the “rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor organizations”. The Constitution does not guarantee these rights and privileges, much less said personality, which are mere statutory creations, for the possession and exercise of which registration is required to protect both labor and the public against abuses, fraud, or impostors who pose as organizers, although not truly accredited agents of the union they purport to represent. Such requirement is a valid exercise of the police power, because the activities in which labor organizations, associations and union of workers are engaged affect public interest, which should be protected.