Sirs/Mesdames:

3Republic of tbe ~bilippines ~ttpreme QCourt

j'jaguio QI:itp EN BANC

NOTICE

Please take notice that the Court en bane issued a Resolution dated APRIL 14, 2015, which reads as follows:

"G.R. No. 207132 (ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL CLINICS FOR OVERSEAS WORKERS, INC. (AMCOW), represented herein by its President, DR . . ROLANDO VILLOTE, petitioner -versus- GCC APPROVED MEDICAL CENTERS ASSOCIATION, INC. and CHRISTIANE. CANGCO, respondents.); and

G:R . . No. 207205 (HON. ENRIQlJE T. ONA, in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Health, petitioner -versus- GCC

. APPROVED MEDICAL CENTERS ASSOCIATION, INC. and CHRISTIANE. CANGCO, respondents.) - For the Court's resolution are the motions for the issuance of a temporary restraining order/writ of preliminary injunction/status quo ante order1 against the implementation of the Depariment of Health's (DO H's) February 20, 2015 order.

Prior to the enactment of Republic Act No. I 0022 (RA. 10022) on March 8, 2010,2 the DOH allowed the decking of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the conduct of their pre-employment medical examinatiop.s. Decking is a practice whereby an OFW is required to register for pre-employment medical examination with a group of medical clinics, which subsequently farms out the OFW to a medieal clinic located elsewhere.

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The Gulf Cooperation C~uncil (GCC) States - whose member States are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and.Bahrain ~ strictly adhered tO the decking practice prior to the effectivity of RA 10022. The embassies of the GCC States would not process the OFW's work visa application if the medical certificate attac~ed to the application did not bear the seal of a GCC-accredited group of medical clinics. The

The respondents filed: (I) Most Urgent Motion for Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order/Writ of Preliminary Injunction/Status Quo Ante Order (wit~ Request for Immediate Inclusion in the Honorable Court's Agenda for Tomorrow, 3 March 2015) dated March 2, 2015; and (2) Most Urgent Reiterating Motion for Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order/Writ of Preliminary Injunction/Status Quo Ante v Order dated March 11, 2015. i RA 10022 became effective on May 9, 2010.

Notice of Resolution - 2 - G.R. No. 207132,.et al. April 14, 2015

decking practice was believed to be mi' effective mechanism qf preventing alien workers who were suffering from communicable diseases from entering the receiving country.

The problem with the decking practice, however, is that the GCC Approved J\t1edicaf Centers Association, Inc. ( GAA1CA) was the sole . medical group accredited by the GCC to conduct pre-employment medical examinations on the OFWs bound to the GCC States:3 This means that GAA1CA 's member clinics had the monopoly of conducting n1edical examinations on OFWs bound to the GCC States. Most of GAMCA's member clinics were located in Metro Manila. Thus, the OFWs were forced to travel to Metro Manila and to incur travel, lodging and food expenses for the conduct of their pre-employment medical examination alone.

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Congress addressed these problems by enacting RA 10022, which an~endcd RA 8042 or the Migrant Workers' Act.

Under the amendatory law, Congress expressly empowers the DOH to regulate the activities and operations of all clinics that conduct pre-employment medical examinations on OFWs. RA 10022 likewise prohibits the decking practice and grants the OFWs the statutory right to choose any of the DOH-accredited or DOH-operated clinics that will conduct their pre-employment health examinations.4

On August 23, 2010, the DOH issued an order commanding GAMCA to cease and desist from implementing the d~cking practice, and to "wrap up" its operations within three day~ from the receipt therco5

. On August 25, 2010, GAMCA ru1d Christian Cangco, as a GAMCA-member Clinic owner, (respondent,\) immediately filed against the DOH. a petition for certiorari .and. prohibition with prayers for a temporary restr(lining order and a writ of preliminary injunction before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 110.

The respondents assailed the constih1tionality of Section 23 ( c.3) and (c.4) of the Migrant Workers' Act, as amended, as well as Section 1 (c) and ( d), Rule 11 of the IRR6 for being violative of the GCC States' right . to sovereignty. They posited that the GCC States have the right to iri1plement the decking practice here in the .Philippines.

RTC rollo, Volume I, pp._135 and 141. " ' . : The Migrant Workers' Act, as amended, Section i i f!t.. 7 '.?ollo, .pp. 39-1~0. . . . . V rhe lmplemen!mg Rules and Regulations of the Migrant Workers' Act, as amended. Cy'"'/

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Notice of Resolution - 3 - G.R. No. 207132, et al April 14, 2015

On November 2, 2010~ the DOH issued another cease and desist order against GAMCA and warned GAMCA that its non-compliance with the Jaw would result.in the revocation of its accreditation.

On August 1, 2011, RTC Judge Maria Ragasa issued a writ of preliminary injunction in favor of the respondents.7

In a decision dated August 10, 2012, the RTC nullified the August 23, 2010 and November 2, 2010 orders and permanently enjoined the DOH

. from implementing these orders. The RTC ruled that the prohibition against the decking practice only applies to cases where the receiving States do not require this practice as a prerequisite for the processing of work visa applications. It opined that the GCC States' right to sovereign equality and independence would be violated if GAMCA would be prohibited from conti!luing the decking practice.

Significantly, the RTC .did not touch the issue of the constitutionality of Section 23 (c.3) and (c.4) of the lVIigrant Workers'

. 8 . Act, as amended, as well as Section 1 (c) and (d), Rule 11 of the IRR.

The petlt10ners assailed the RTC decision through a pet1t10n for review on certiorari before the Court. The Association of Medical Clinics

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for Overseas Workers, Inc.'s (AMCOW's) petition was docketed as G.R. No. 207132 while the Republic of the Philippines' petition was docketed as G.R.

No~ 207205. On September .17, 2013, the Court consolidated G.R. Nos. 207132 and 207205 upon AMCOW~s motion for consolidation.9

In the present motions, the respondents informed the Court that the DOH issued an order dated February 20, .2015 which: (1) commanclls GAMCA to cease and desist from continuing the decking practice; and (2) warns GAMCA that its continued violation of the law \voulcl result in the revocation of its DOH-accreditation as well as the closure of its member clinics.

The respoD:dents pray for the issuance of a temporary restraining order/writ of prel.iminary injunction/status quo ante order against the implementation of the February 20, 2015 order. They assert that the DOH violated the permanent injunction issued by the RTC _in its August 10, 2012 decision. They further opine that the issuance of the February 20, 2015 order is contrary to the su.b Judice rule. They ins_ist that the implementation of the decking practice is the GCC .States' sov_ereign prerogative.

\Ve deny the respondents' motions.

RTC rof'lo, Volume III, pp. 247-250. On June I, 2011, Judge Petroni lo Sulla, Jr. voluntarily Inhibited himself from participating in the case. Subsequently, the case was raffled to Judge Maria Ragasa of the RTC of Pasay City, Branch I 08: 8 Dated August 10, 2012; rollo, pp. 38-48.

Rollo, pp. 312-319.

Notice of Resolution -4- G.R. No. 207132, et al. April 14, 201.5

Under Sectio_n 4, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, judgments in _actions for injunction shall be enforceable after their rendition and shall not be stayed by an appeal taken therefrom.

As an exception to this rule, the appellate .court in its discretion may make an order suspending, modifying, restoring or granting the injunction as may be considered proper for the security or protection of the rights of the adverse party. 10

The circumstances of this case - particularly the constitutional issue raised - compel us to temporarily suspend the permanent injunction issued by the trial court in favor ofthe respondents.11

Without rnling on.the merits of the case, we observe that the RTC did. not rnle on the constitutionality 'of the assailed provisions of the Migrant

Wor~(ers' Act, as amended, and its implementing rules Since the assailed provisions remain valid and subsisting, the DOH, as an executive department, has the solemn dutv to {aith{ull11 implement the prohibition against the decking practice on all DOH-accredited medical clinics.

A plain reading of the Migrant Workers' Act, as amended, and its implementing rules shows that the decking practice is absolutely prohibited in the Philippine jurisdiction, ta wit:

The Migrant Workers' Act, as.a mended

Section 23. Role of Government Agencies. - The fo llowing government -agencies shall perfonn the following to promote the welfare and protect the rights of migrant workers and, as far as applicable, all overseas Filipinos:

xx xx

(c) Department of Health. - The Department of Health (DOH) shall regulate the activities and operations of all clinics which conduct medical, physical, optical, dental, psychological and other similar examinations, hereinafter referred to as health examinations, on Filipino migrant workei:s as .requirement . .for their overseas

e~ployment. Pursuant to this, the DOH shall ensure that: .

10 The respondents filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with prayer for the issuance of a writ. of preliminary injunction and asked the trial com1 to issue a permanent injunction in the body of the petition. The RTC partly granted the petition and issued a writ of preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction in this case.

A permanent injmiction is a main action that is covered by Section 4, Rule 39 of the Rules of C o11t.. ln Urbanes v. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. I l7964, March 28, 2001), the Court explained that the 111ai11 action of injunction or a permanent injunction seeks a judgment embodying a final injunction which .is distinct from the provisional remedy ofpr.eliminary injunction. 11 The RTC permanently enjoined the implementation of the August ~3, 201 0 and November 2, 2010

orders, and not the February 20, 2015 order. However, the February 20, 2015 essentially reiterates the August 23, 2010 and Novcmber2, 2010 orders.

Notice of Resolution - 5 - q .R. No. 207132, et al. April 14, 2015

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(c.3) No group or groups of medical clinics shall have a monopoly of exclusively conducting health examinations on migrant workers for certai~ receiving countries;

(c.4) Every Filipino migrant worker shall have the freedom to choose any of the DOH-accredited or DO~-I-01:ierated clinics that will conduct his/her health examinations and that his or her. rights as a patient are respected. The decking practice, which requires an overseas Filipino worker to go first to an office for registration and tben farmed out to a medical clinic located elsewhere, shall not be allowed; [Emphasis and underlining outs.]

The IRR of the Migrant Workers' Act

RULE XI ROLE Of DOH

Section 1. Regulation o(Medical Clinics.

The Department of Health (DOH) shall regulate the activities and operations of ~ll clinics which conduct medical, physical, optical, dental, psychological and other similar examinations, hereinafter referred to as health examinations, on Filipino migrant workers as requirement for their overseas employment. Pre-Employment Medical Examinations (PEME) for overseas work.applicants shall be performed only in :DOH-accredited me.dical clinics and health facilities utilizing the standards set forth by DOH. Pursuant to this, the DOH shall ensure that:

(a) The fees for the health ex.amillations are regulated, regularly monitored . and duly published to enstire that the said fees are reasonable and not exorpitant. The DOH shall set a minimum and maximum range of fees for the different examinations to be conducted, based on a thorough an.d periodic review of the cost of health examinations and after consultation with concerned stakeholders. The applicant-worker shall pay d1rectly to the DOH-accredited medical clinics or health facilities where the PEME is to be conducted;

(b) The Filipino migrant workers shall only be required to tmdergo health examinations when there is reasonable certainty as certified by the hiring recruitment/manning agency pursuant. to POEA Rules and Regulations that he/she will be hired and deployed to. the jobsite and only those health examinations which are absolutely necessary for the type of job applied for or those specifically required by the foreign employer shall be conducted;

(c) No gr~up or gr.oups of medical clinics sl1all have a monopoly of exclusively conducting health examinations on migrant workers for certain receiving com~tries;

Notice of Resolution - 6 - G.R. No. 207 132, et al. April 14, 2015

(cl) Every Filipino migrant \Yorker sbaU have the freedom to choose any of the DOH-accredited or DOH-operated clinics that will conduct his/her health examinations and that his/her rights as a patient a r e r espected. The decking practice, which regufres overseas Filipino workers to go first to an office for registration and then farmed out to a medical 'clinic located elsewhere, shall not he a llowed;

(e) Within a period of three (3) years from the cffectivity of the Act, all DOH regional and/or provil~cial hospitals . under local government units shall establish and operate clinics that can serve the health examination requirements of F ilipino migrant workers to provide them easy access to such clinics all over the country and lessen their transportation an_d lodging expenses; and

(f) All DOH-accredited medical clinks, including the DOH-operated clinics, conducting health examinations for Filipino migrant workers shall observe the same standard operating procedures and shall comply with internationally-accepted standards in their operations to conform with the requirements of receiving countries or of foreign employers/principals. .

Sec. 2. Temporary Disqualification of Foreign Employers.

Any foreign employer who docs not honor th e results of valid health examinations conducted by a DOH-accredited or DOH-operated clinic shall be temporarily disqualified from par ticipating in th e overseas employment program, pursuant to POEA Rules and Regulations. The temporai:y disqualification of the employer may be lifted only upon the latter's unqualified acceptance of the result of the exami'nation. [Emphasis ours.]

It is a basic rule that the.administrative agency has to ensure the law's faithfol implementation unless the law is declared unconstitutional with :finality. Thus, the DOH is duty-bound to implement Section 23 of the Migrant W?rkers' Act, as amended, pending the Court's determination of: (1) whether the decking practice is allowed in the pre-employment medical examination of . OFWs bound to the GCC States; and (2) whether the prohibition against the decking practice is unconstitutional for alleged violation of the GCC States' right to sovereign equality and independence.

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Section 23 of the Migrant Workers.' Act, ?S amended, unequivocally provides that the decking practice shall not be allowed and no group of medical clinics shall exclusively conduct health cx.aminations on migrant workers. It further allows any DOH-accredited medical clinics and health faci lities to conduct pre-employment medical examinations on OFW applicants.

Moreover, the respondents failed to convince this Court that GAMCA / possesses a clear and .unmistakable right or. a r~ght in esse that is sought to be ;

Notice of Resolution - 7 - G.R. No. 207132, et al. April 14, 2015

protected by a provisional -injunctive writ. 12 GAMCA and its member clinics' DOH-accreditation is only a privilege that is conditioned upon their faithful compliance of the existing laws and rules, including Section 23 ( c.3) and (c.4) of the Migrant Workers' Act,. as amended, as well as Section I (c) and (d), Rule 11 of the IRR. 13

'VHEREFORE, premises considered, we hereby DENY respondents GCC Approved Medical Centers Association, Inc. and Christian E. Cangco's: (1) Most Urgent Motion for Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order/Writ of Preliminary Injunction/Status Quo Ante Order (with_ Request for Immediate Inclusion in the Honorable Court's Agenda for Tom01Tow, 3 March 2015) dated March 2, 2015; and (2) Most Urgent Reiterating Motion for . Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order/Writ of Preliminary Injunction/Status Quo Ante Order dated ~arch 11, 2015 .

We further SUSPEND the implementation of the pennanent injunction issued by the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City, Branch 108, in its decision dated August 10, 2012.

vVe ORDER the Comi en bane's Clerk of Court to notify the 1Department of Labor and Employment, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Department of foreign Affairs of this . Re:?olution as they are the government agencies most concerned with the implementation of our OFW-related laws> rules and with relations with

labor--receiving countries.'.' Leonardo-De Castro> J., on official business. Villarama> Jr., J., on official leave. ( 61)

By:

Very truly yours,

ENRIQUETA E. VIDAL Clerk of Court

o/t~~~~ FELIPA B. ANAMA

Deputy Clerk of Court En tnc.

12 Ermita v. A.ldecoa-Delorino, G.R. No. 177 130, June 7, 201 1, 651 SCRA 141-142, citing St. James College of Paranaque v. Equitable PC! Bank, G.R. No. 17944 1, Augst 9, 2010, 627 SCRA 328. JJ Accreditation is akin to a license which is defined in Section 2 (I 0), Chapter I, Book 7 of the Administrative Codes as the whole or any part of any agency permit, certificate, passport, clearance, approval, registration, charter, membership, statutory exernptio'n or other form of permission, or regulation of the exercise of a rioht or privilege. Administrative Order No. 181, series of2004, defines accreditation as a formal authorizati~1 issued by the DOH to an individual, partnership, corporation or association to operate a medical facility for overseas workers and seafarers.

.Notice of Resolution

THE SOLICITOR GENERAL (x) 134 Amorsolo St. , Legaspi Village 1229 Makati City

ATTY. RONALD DEVEYRA (x} Legal Service, Department of Health Bldg. 12, San. Lazaro Compound Rizal Averiue, Sta. Cruz, Manila

THE SECRETARY (x) Department 'of Health Bldg. 1, San Lazaro Compound Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, 1014 Manila

*THE SECRETARY (x} Department of Labor and Employment DOLE Building, Muralla Wing Cor. Gen. Luna Street lntramuros, Manila

~HON. ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO (x} Secretary Department of Foreign Affairs Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City

*HON. HANS LEO J. CACDAC (x) POEA Administrator POEA Building EDSA cor. Ortigas Avenue 'Manc;Jaluyong City

G.R. Nos. 207132 & 207205 . . wmd 41415 (URes61) 5715

- 8 - G.R. Nos. 207132 & 207205 April 14, 2015

NAVARRO JUMAMIL ESCOLIN AND MARTINEZ (x} 20-C Burgundy Corporate Tower 252 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, 1200 Makati City

ATTY. JOEL D. ESTRELLA (x) Counsel for Intervenor Unit 7F, Westgate Tower Investment Drive, Madrigal Business Park. Ayala Alabang, 1780 Muntinlupa City

ATTY. BIENVENIDO 8.M. AMORA, JR. (x} Counsel for Intervenor AMCOW AMORA DEL VALLE & ASSOC IA TES Law Offices Unit 808, ALPAP II Building Trade Street corner Investment Drive Madrigal Business Park, Ayala fl.labang Mt,mtinlupa City 1799, Metro Mania

A TTYS. RODOLFO M. BAU SA AND FRANCIS JOSEPH H. AMPIL (x) Bausa Ampil Suarez Paredes and Associates Counsel forPetitioner-lnter:venor Dr. Ruben C. Bartolome 37/F GT fower International 6815 Ayala Avenue, IVlakati City

THE PRESIDING JUDGE (x). Regional Trial Court, Branch 108, Pasay City

MARIEJOY P. LAGMAN (x) Officer-in-Charge Regional Trial Court, Branch 108, Pasay City

*Attention

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