EMILIO CANO ENTERPRISES VS CIR CASE DIGEST

G.R. No. L-20502 February 26, 1965
EMILIO CANO ENTERPRISES, INC., petitioner,
vs.
COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, ET AL., respondents.

CORPORATION LAW; DUE PROCESS; CLOSED FAMILY CORPORATION

FACTS:

• CIR rendered decision finding Emilio Cano and Rodolfo Cano guilty of the unfair labor practice charge. The two were ordered, to reinstate Cruz, to her former position with payment of backwages together with all other rights and privileges thereunto appertaining.

• Emilio Cano died and the attempt to have the case dismissed against him having failed, the case was appealed to the court en banc, which in due course affirmed the decision of CIR

• Order of execution having been directed against the properties of Emilio Cano Enterprises, Inc., said corporation filed an ex parte motion to quash the writ on the ground that the judgment sought to be enforced was not rendered against it which is a juridical entity separate and distinct from its officials.

• Motion was denied. And having failed to have it reconsidered, the corporation interposed the present petition for certiorari

ISSUE:

Whether or not  the judgment rendered against Emilio and Rodolfo Cano in their capacity as officials of the corporation Emilio Cano Enterprises, Inc. be made effective against the property of the latter which was not a party to the case

HELD:

• YES. The Emilio Cano Enterprises, Inc. is a closed family corporation where the incorporators and directors belong to one single family. The following are its incorporators: Emilio Cano, his wife Juliana, his sons Rodolfo and Carlos, and his daughter-in-law Ana D. Cano. Here is an instance where the corporation and its members can be considered as one. And to hold such entity liable for the acts of its members is not to ignore the legal fiction but merely to give meaning to the principle that such fiction cannot be invoked if its purpose is to use it as a shield to further an end subversive of justice. 

• It has been held that while a corporation is a legal entity existing separate and apart from the persons composing it, that concept cannot be extended to a point beyond its reason and policy, and when invoked in support of an end subversive of this policy it should be disregarded by the courts 

• Emilio and Rodolfo Cano are here indicted, not in their private capacity, but as president and manager, respectively, of Emilio Cano Enterprises, Inc. Having been sued officially their connection with the case must be deemed to be impressed with the representation of the corporation. In fact, the court's order is for them to reinstate Cruz to her former position in the corporation and incidentally pay her the wages she had been deprived of during her separation. Verily, the order against them is in effect against the corporation. 

ISSUE