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POEA. Upon request of the industry, implementation of the process, originally
scheduled for April 1, 1994, was moved to October 1, 1994.
Thereafter, the Department of Labor, following the EIAC's recommendation, issued a
series of orders fine-tuning and implementing the new system. Prominent among these
orders were the following issuances:
1. Department Order No. 3-A, providing for additional guidelines on the
training, testing, certification and deployment of performing artists.
2. Department Order No. 3-B, pertaining to the Artist Record Book (ARB)
requirement, which could be processed only after the artist could show proof
of academic and skills training and has passed the required tests.
3. Department Order No. 3-E, providing the minimum salary a performing
artist ought to receive (not less than US$600.00 for those bound for Japan)
and the authorized deductions therefrom.
4. Department Order No. 3-F, providing for the guidelines on the issuance
and use of the ARB by returning performing artists who, unlike new artists,
shall only undergo a Special Orientation Program (shorter than the basic
program) although they must pass the academic test.
In Civil Case No. 95-72750, the Federation of Entertainment Talent Managers of the
Philippines (FETMOP), on January 27, 1995 filed a class suit assailing these department
orders, principally contending that said orders 1) violated the constitutional right to
travel; 2) abridged existing contracts for employment; and 3) deprived individual
artists of their licenses without due process of law. FETMOP, likewise, averred that the
issuance of the Artist Record Book (ARB) was discriminatory and illegal and "in gross
violation of the constitutional right... to life liberty and property." Said Federation
consequently prayed for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction against the
aforestated orders.
On February 2, 1992, JMM Promotion and Management, Inc. and Kary International,
Inc., herein petitioners, filed a Motion for Intervention in said civil case, which was
granted by the trial court in an Order dated 15 February, 1995.
However, on February 21, 1995, the trial court issued an Order denying petitioners'
prayer for a writ of preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint.
On appeal from the trial court's Order, respondent court, in CA G.R. SP No. 36713
dismissed the same. Tracing the circumstances which led to the issuance of the ARB
requirement and the assailed Department Order, respondent court concluded that the
issuances constituted a valid exercise by the state of the police power.
We agree.
The latin maxim salus populi est suprema lex embodies the character of the entire
spectrum of public laws aimed at promoting the general welfare of the people under the
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/34037
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