Respondent CDC owes its existence to Executive Order No. 80 issued by then President Fidel V. Ramos. It was meant to be the implementing and operating arm of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) tasked to manage the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). Expressly, respondent was formed in accordance with Philippine corporation laws and existing rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC pursuant to Section 16 of Republic Act (R.A.) 7227.[44] CDC, a government-owned or -controlled corporation without an original charter, was incorporated under the Corporation Code. Pursuant to Article IX-B, Sec. 2(1), the civil service embraces only those government-owned or -controlled corporations with original charter. As such, respondent CDC and its employees are covered by the Labor Code and not by the Civil Service Law, consistent with our ruling in NASECO v. NLRC,[45] in which we established this distinction. Thus, in Gamogamo v. PNOC Shipping and Transport Corp.,[46] we held:
Retirement results from a voluntary agreement between the employer and the employee whereby the latter after reaching a certain age agrees to sever his employment with the former.
Since the retirement pay solely comes from Respondent's funds, it is but natural that Respondent shall disregard petitioner's length of service in another company for the computation of his retirement benefits.
Petitioner was absorbed by Respondent from LUSTEVECO on 1 August 1979. Ordinarily, his creditable service shall be reckoned from such date. However, since Respondent took over the shipping business of LUSTEVECO and agreed to assume without interruption all the service credits of petitioner with LUSTEVECO, petitioner's creditable service must start from 9 November 1977 when he started working with LUSTEVECO until his day of retirement on 1 April 1995. Thus, petitioner's creditable service is 17.3333 years.
We cannot uphold petitioner's contention that his fourteen years of service with the DOH should be considered because his last two employers were government-owned and controlled corporations, and fall under the Civil Service Law. Article IX(B), Section 2 paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution states —
Sec. 2. (1)The civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters.
It is not at all disputed that while Respondent and LUSTEVECO are government-owned and controlled corporations, they have no original charters; hence they are not under the Civil Service Law. In Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation v. National Labor Relations Commission, we ruled:
xxx “Thus under the present state of the law, the test in determining whether a government-owned or controlled corporation is subject to the Civil Service Law are [sic] the manner of its creation, such that government corporations created by special charter(s) are subject to its provisions while those incorporated under the General Corporation Law are not within its coverage.” (Emphasis supplied)
Hence, petitioner Salenga is entitled to receive only his retirement benefits based only on the number of years he was employed with the corporation under the conditions provided under its retirement plan, as well as other benefits given to him by existing laws.
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