Pioneer v. Todaro

7. PIONEER CONCRETE PHILIPPINES V.
TODARO, 524 SCRA 153 (2007)

FACTS
Antonio D. Todaro (Todaro) filed with the RTC a complaint for Sum of Money and Damages with Prelimi
nary Attachment against Pioneer International Limited (PIL), Pioneer Concrete Philippines, Inc. (PCPI),
Pioneer PhilippinesHoldings, Inc. (PPHI), John G. McDonald (McDonald) and Philip J. Klepzig (Klepzig).
Todaro alleged that PIL is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of Australia and is
principallyengaged in the ready-mix concrete and concrete aggregates business; PPHI is the company
established by PIL toown and hold the stocks of its operating company in the Philippines; PCPI is the
company established by PIL toundertake its business of ready-mix concrete, concrete aggregates and
quarrying operations in the Philippines;McDonald is the Chief Executive of the Hongkong office of PIL;
and, Klepzig is the President and Managing Director of PPHI and PCPI; Todaro has been the managing
director of Betonval Readyconcrete, Inc. (Betonval), a company engaged in pre-mixedconcrete and
concrete aggregate production; he resigned from Betonval in February 1996;
in May 1996, PIL contacted Todaro and asked him if he was available to join them in connection with
their intention toestablish a ready-mix concrete plant and other related operations in the Philippines;
Todaro informed PIL of his availability and interest to join them; subsequently, PIL and Todaro came to
an agreementwherein the former consented to engage the services of the latter as a consultant for
two to three months, after which,he would be employed as the manager of PIL's ready-mix concrete
operations should the company decide to invest inthe Philippines; subsequently, PIL started its
operations in the Philippines; however, it refused to comply with itsundertaking to employ Todaro on a
permanent basis. Instead of filing an Answer, PPHI, PCPI and Klepzig separatelymoved to dismiss the
complaint on the grounds that the complaint states no cause of action, that the RTC has
no jurisdiction over the subject matter of the complaint, as the same is within the jurisdiction of the NL
RC, and that thecomplaint should be dismissed on the basis of the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
RTC dismissed the MTD which was affirmed by the CA.
ISSUE
W/N the RTC should have dismissed the case on the basis of forum non conveniens due to a presence
of aforeign element
RULING
NO. Whether a suit should be entertained or dismissed on the basis of said doctrine depends largely
upon thefacts of the particular case and is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. In the
case of Communication Materials and Design, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals, this Court held that "xxx [a]
Philippine Court mayassume jurisdiction over the case if it chooses to do so; provided, that the
following requisites are met: (1) that thePhilippine Court is one to which the parties may conveniently
resort to; (2) that the Philippine Court is in a positionto make an intelligent decision as to the law and
the facts; and, (3) that the Philippine Court has or is likely to havepower to enforce its decision."
The doctrine of forum non conveniens should not be used as a ground for a motion to
dismiss because Sec. 1,Rule 16 of the Rules of Court does not include said doctrine as a
ground
. This Court further ruled that while it iswithin the discretion of the trial court to abstain from assuming
jurisdiction on this ground, it should do so only after vital facts are established, to determine whether
special circumstances require the courts desistance; and that the propriety of dismissing a case based
on this principle of forum non conveniens requires a factualdetermination, hence it is more properly
considered a matter of defense.
Note: the case was also being dismissed on the ground that there was no cause of action but SC held
that therewas cause of action, to sustain a motion to dismiss for lack of cause of action, the complaint
must show that theclaim for relief does not exist, rather than that a claim has been defectively stated,
or is ambiguous, indefinite or uncertain. And it was also argued in this case that jurisdiction is with the
NLRC and not with the RTC. SC held itwas with RTC, SC has consistently held that where no employeremployee relationship exists between the partiesand no issue is involved which may be resolved by
reference to the Labor Code, other labor statutes or anycollective bargaining agreement, it is the RTC
that has jurisdiction

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7. PIONEER CONCRETE PHILIPPINES V.

TODARO, 524 SCRA 153 (2007)

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