The petitioners now come to this Court in a petition for review on certiorari on the
following grounds:
1.
Private respondent ARCO-PHIL. had utterly failed to show its clear right/s or
that of its member-agencies to be protected by the injunctive relief and/or violation of
said rights by the enforcement of the assailed sections of R.A. 8042;
2.
The P50,000 injunction bond fixed by the court a quo and sustained by the
Court of Appeals is grossly inadequate to answer for the damage which petitionersofficials may sustain, should private respondent ARCO-PHIL. be finally adjudged as
not being entitled thereto.
[15]
On February 16, 1998, this Court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the
respondents from enforcing the assailed order and writ of preliminary injunction.
The Issues
The core issue in this case is whether or not the trial court committed grave abuse
of its discretion amounting to excess or lack of jurisdiction in issuing the assailed order
and the writ of preliminary injunction on a bond of only P50,000 and whether or not the
appellate court erred in affirming the trial court’s order and the writ of preliminary
injunction issued by it.
The petitioners contend that the respondent has no locus standi. It is a non-stock,
non-profit organization; hence, not the real party-in-interest as petitioner in the
action. Although the respondent filed the petition in the Regional Trial Court in behalf of
licensed and registered recruitment agencies, it failed to adduce in evidence a certified
copy of its Articles of Incorporation and the resolutions of the said members authorizing
it to represent the said agencies in the proceedings. Neither is the suit of the
respondent a class suit so as to vest in it a personality to assail Rep. Act No. 8042; the
respondent is service-oriented while the recruitment agencies it purports to represent
are profit-oriented. The petitioners assert that the law is presumed constitutional and,
as such, the respondent was burdened to make a case strong enough to overcome
such presumption and establish a clear right to injunctive relief.
The petitioners bewail the P50,000 bond fixed by the trial court for the issuance of a
writ of preliminary injunction and affirmed by the appellate court. They assert that the
amount is grossly inadequate to answer for any damages that the general public may
suffer by reason of the non-enforcement of the assailed provisions of the law. The trial
court committed a grave abuse of its discretion in granting the respondent’s plea for
injunctive relief, and the appellate court erred in affirming the order and the writ of
preliminary injunction issued by the trial court.
The respondent, for its part, asserts that it has duly established its locus standi and
its right to injunctive relief as gleaned from its pleadings and the appendages