4/14/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly willful breach of trust, serious misconduct, gross and habitual neglect of duties and commission of an offense against the person of his employer's duly authorized representative, are all based on Article 282 of the Labor Code which enumerates the just causes for termination of employment. By this alone, it is palpable that the reason for petitioner's dismissal from the service is not religious in nature. Coupled with this is the act of the SDA in furnishing NLRC with a copy of petitioner's letter of termination. As aptly stated by the OSG, this again is an eloquent admission by private respondents that NLRC has jurisdiction over the case. Aside from these, SDA admitted in a certification issued by its officer, Mr. Ibesate, that petitioner has been its employee for twenty eight (28) years. SDA even registered petitioner With the Social Security System (SSS) as its employee. As a matter of fact, the worker's records of petitioner have been submitted by private respondents as part of their exhibits. From all of these it is clear that when the SDA terminated the services of petitioner, it was merely exercising its management prerogative to fire an employee which it believes to be unfit for the job. As such, the State, through the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC, has the right to take cognizance of the case and to determine whether the SDA, as employer, rightfully exercised its management prerogative to dismiss an employee. This is in consonance with the mandate of the Constitution to afford full protection to labor.[17] Long v. Basa,[18] on the other hand, involved church members who questioned their expulsion from the church before the Securities and Exchange Commission. Their expulsion was predicated on acts that "espous[e] doctrines inimical or injurious to the faith of the church."[19] The church members sought the annulment of the membership list that excluded their names on the ground of lack of prior notice and hearing. In upholding the church members' expulsion, this Court made a distinction between a religious corporation and a corporation that is organized for profit, as well as underscored the importance of adherence to a common religious belief as a qualification for church membership. We declared: The CHURCH By-law provision on expulsion, as phrased, may sound unusual and objectionable to petitioners as there is no requirement of prior notice to be given to an erring member before he can be expelled. But that is how peculiar the nature of a religious corporation is vis-à-vis an ordinary corporation organized for profit. It must be stressed that the basis of the relationship between a religious corporation and its members is the latter's absolute adherence to a common religious or spiritual belief. Once this basis ceases, membership in the religious corporation must also cease. Thus, generally, there is no room for dissension in a religious corporation. And where, as here, any member of a religious corporation is expelled from the membership for espousing doctrines and teachings contrary to that of his church, the established doctrine in this jurisdiction is that such action from the church authorities is conclusive upon the civil courts. As far back in 1918, we held in United States vs. Canete that: ". . . in matters purely ecclesiastical the decisions of the proper church tribunals are conclusive upon the civil tribunals. A church https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66079 20/24