Power to construeTHE CHARTERED BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATIONvs.HON. BLAS F. OPLE, in hiscapacity as the Incumbent Secretaryof Labor, and THE CHARTERED BANK.G.R. No. L-44717 August 28, 1985Facts:On May 20, 1975, the Chartered Bank Employees Association, inrepresentation of its monthly paid employees/members, instituted acomplaint with the Regional Office No. IV, Department of Labor, nowMinistry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) against Chartered Bank, forthepaymentoften(10)unworkedlegalholidays,aswellasforpremiumandovertimedifferentialsforworkedlegalholidaysfromNovember 1, 1974.The Minister of Labor dismissed the Chartered Bank EmployeesAssociations claim for lack of merit basing its decision on Section 2,Rule IV, Book Ill of the Integrated Rules and Policy Instruction No. 9,which respectively provide:Sec. 2. Status of employees paid by the month. Employeeswho are uniformly paid bythe month, irrespective of thenumber of working days therein, with a salary of not lessthan the statutory or established minimum wage shall bepresumed to be paid for all days in the month whetherworked or not.POLICY INSTRUCTION NO. 9TO: All RegionalDirectorsSUBJECT: PAID LEGAL HOLIDAYSThe rules implementing PD 850 have clarified the policy inthe implementation of the ten (10) paidlegal holidays.Before PD 850, the number of working days a year in a firmwas considered important in determining entitlement tothe benefit. Thus, where an employee was working for atleast 313 days, he wasconsidered definitely already paid.If he was working for less than 313, there was no certaintywhether the ten (10) paid legal holidayswere already paidto him or not.The ten (10) paid legal holidays law, to start with, isintended to benefit principally daily employees. In thecaseof monthly, only those whose monthly salary did not yetinclude payment for the ten (10) paid legal holidays areentitled to the benefit.Under the rules implementing PD 850, this policy hasbeenfully clarified to eliminatecontroversies on the entitlementof monthly paid employees. The newdetermining rule isthis: 'If themonthly paid employee is receiving not lessthan P240, the maximum monthly minimum wage, and hismonthly pay is uniform from January to December, he ispresumed to be already paid the ten (10) paid legalholidays. However, if deductions are made fromhismonthly salary on account of holidays in months wherethey occur, then he is still entitled to the ten (10) paid legalholidays.These new interpretations must be uniformly andconsistently upheld.Issue:Whether or not the Secretary of Laborerred and acted contrarytolawinpromulgatingSec.2,RuleIV,BookIIIoftheIntegratedRulesandPolicyInstructionNo.9.Held:Yes.TheSecretary(Minister)ofLaborhadexceededhisstatutory authority granted by Article 5 of the Labor Code authorizinghim to promulgate the necessary implementing rules andregulations.While it is true that the Minister has the authority in theperformance of his duty to promulgate rules and regulations toimplement, construe and clarify the Labor Code,such power is limitedby provisions of the statute sought to beimplemented, construed orclarified.