CAGAYAN de Oro-based media organizations on June 20, expressed solidarity with the 11 dismissed journalists and other workers of two publications of SunStar Cagayan de Oro Publishing Incorporated and joined calls for its parent company to pay up.
This came after the 8th Division of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) issued a writ of execution to compel the media company to pay the dismissed workers P2.5 million, including attorney’s fees, on June 19.
The services of the journalists and other media workers were terminated during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when financial difficulties forced the company to close down the publications SunStar-Cagayan de Oro and SunStar Superbalita-Cagayan de Oro.
The workers subsequently filed a complaint against SunStar, citing various labor issues, including illegal dismissal, and non-payment and underpayment of salaries and holiday benefits.
In a June 20 joint statement, the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) and its professional development arm, the COPC Journalism Institute, said that the NLRC writ was not only a victory for local media workers but spoke “volumes about the landscape of the Philippine media industry as a whole.”
“We urge the administration of SunStar to comply with the decision’s stipulations,” the joint statement signed by COPC president Frank Mendez and COPC Journalism Institute chairman Manuel Jaudian reads in part.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in Cagayan de Oro also threw its support behind the 11 dismissed SunStar workers.
The groups said the operation of media companies should go beyond being mere business entities because of their journalists and their platforms’ role and “higher purpose” in promoting democratic ideals in society.
“That is why it is every media company’s moral and ethical duty to elevate the morale of its workers by providing just compensation, security of tenure, personnel development, and a decent, dignified separation pay such as what the former SunStar employees have won over,” the group’s statement reads.
Bobby Lagsa, NUJP-Cagayan de Oro chairman, said the resolution of the case presented “a crucial milestone for the former employees, recognizing their rights and advocating for fair and just treatment in the workplace.”
He said the legal victory of the workers should serve as a wake-up call to media companies that engage in unfair labor practices as he stressed the need for immediate rectification.
Since the media industry plays a vital role in shaping public discourse and upholding democratic values, Lagsa 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 writ of execution was issued by labor arbiter Jean Domaboc-Munez during a hearing on Monday attended by the dismissed media workers and lawyer Jasper Pelayo, who represented the Cebu City-based SunStar Publishing Incorporated.
Some of the workers, who had worked in SunStar-Cagayan de Oro for more than 20 years, said they were not only fighting for compensation but also recognition of their life’s work.
Their lawyer, Beverly Musni, said the dismissed workers can only claim full victory if the group behind the now-defunct SunStar publications paid up.
A major obstacle, she said, was the corporate layer put in place by the SunStar group such as the registration of SunStar Cagayan de Oro Publishing Incorporated as a corporate entity separate from the Cebu-based SunStar Publishing Incorporated.
When SunStar Cagayan de Oro shut down on June 30, 2020, it also disposed of all its valuable assets, including printing presses and computers, leaving its employees with nothing, Musni said.
But Musni said the corporation remains registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and official records showed that the Cebu-based SunStar Publishing Incorporated owns controlling interests in SunStar Cagayan de Oro and Superbalita-Cagayan de Oro, with 24,995 shares valued at P2,499,500.
The other shares, she said, are held by Jesus Garcia Jr., Dale Garcia, Alvin Garcia, Gina Atienza, and Julius Neri, each with one share valued at P100.
She said it was evident that the Cebu-based corporation owns SunStar Cagayan de Oro and, therefore, should be responsible for paying the outstanding amount to the affected media workers.
Cong Corrales is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow.
