Section 5March 2, 1989, Sec./Art. 5

Article 213 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:

"Article 213. National Labor Relations Commission. - There shall be a National Labor Relations Commission which shall be attached to the Department of Labor and Employment for program and policy coordination only, composed of a Chairman and fourteen (14) members.

"Five (5) members each shall be chosen from among the nominees of the workers and employers organizations, respectively. The Chairman and the four (4) remaining members shall come from the public sector, with the latter to be chosen from among the recommendees of the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

"Upon assumption into office, the members nominated by the workers and employers organizations shall divest themselves of any affiliation with or interest in the federation or association to which they belong.

"The Commission may sit en banc or in five (5) divisions, each composed of three (3) members. The Commission shall sit en banc only for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations governing the hearing and disposition of cases before any of its divisions and regional branches and formulating policies affecting its administration and operations. The Commission shall exercise its adjudicatory and all other powers, functions, and duties through its divisions. Of the five (5) divisions, the first and second divisions shall handle cases coming from the National Capital Region and the third, fourth and fifth divisions, cases from other parts of Luzon, from the Visayas and Mindanao, respectively. The divisions of the Commission shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over cases within their respective territorial jurisdiction.

"The concurrence of two (2) Commissioners of a division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment or resolution. Whenever the required membership in a division is not complete and the concurrence of two (2) Commissioners to arrive at a judgment or resolution cannot be obtained, the Chairman shall designate such number of additional Commissioners from the other divisions as may be necessary.

"The conclusions of a division on any case submitted to it for decision shall be reached in consultation before the case is assigned to a member for the writing of the opinion. It shall be mandatory for the division to meet for the purposes of the consultation ordained herein. A certification to this effect signed by the Presiding Commissioner of the division shall be issued, and a copy thereof attached to the record of the case and served upon the parties.

"The Chairman shall be the Presiding Commissioner of the first division, and the four (4) other members from the public sector shall be the Presiding Commissioners of the second, third, fourth and fifth divisions, respectively. In case of the effective absence or incapacity of the Chairman, the Presiding Commissioner of the second division shall be the Acting Chairman.

"The Chairman, aided by the Executive Clerk of the Commission, shall have the administrative supervision over the Commission and its regional branches and all its personnel, including the Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters.

"The Commission, when sitting en banc, shall be assisted by the same Executive Clerk, and, when acting thru its divisions, by said Executive Clerk for its first division and four (4) other Deputy Executive Clerks for the second, third, fourth and fifth divisions, respectively, in the performance of such similar or equivalent functions and duties as are discharged by the Clerk of Court and Deputy Clerks of Court of the Court of Appeals."