The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the Supreme Court (SC) ruling declaring nearly 100 GMA Network talents as regular employees should lead to fair compensation and better working conditions for media workers.

In a statement dated January 24, 2026, the NUJP welcomed the decision in favor of 94 members of the Talents Association of GMA (TAG), whose complaint was filed before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in 2014 and litigated for 11 years.

“This victory is vindication for the countless talents, contractors and providers that big media relies on but do not recognize as employees entitled to even basic protections and benefits under our labor laws,” the NUJP said.

The group urged GMA to stop opposing the ruling and instead comply with its obligations to its workers, adding that the more than decade-long case was “shameful.”

“May this victory lead not just to fair compensation for petitioners but for better working conditions for all ka-media,” it said.

According to TAG, the SC’s Third Division ruled that its 94 members, mostly from GMA’s News and Public Affairs programs, are regular employees and that 50 of them were illegally dismissed while the case was pending.

“Plain as day, there exists an employer-employee relationship between GMA and respondents,” TAG quoted the court as saying.

“It is time to protect Filipino media workers,” the group said as it renewed its call for broadcast companies to abandon the long-standing practice of hiring workers through “talent” contracts.

SC Ruling

In a 33-page resolution, the SC denied GMA Network’s petition challenging a 2019 Court of Appeals ruling that regularized employees hired between 2003 and 2013.

The court ruled that the workers were not independent contractors because they were under GMA’s control, citing contract provisions requiring attendance at productions based on schedules set by the network and prohibiting them from working for other broadcasters.

“Instead, GMA is empowered to set the schedules of production and to require the talent’s presence,” the court said.

It also ruled that the dismissal of 50 workers was unlawful, with 15 penalized too harshly for absences and 35 terminated without written notice of contract renewal.

The court ordered their reinstatement without loss of seniority or, if no longer feasible, separation pay and back wages with 6-percent annual legal interest, subject to computation by the NLRC. 

Meanwhile, GMA may still file a motion for reconsideration.

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