Tab Baldwin served as Ateneo consultant, not employee – counsel

MANILA, Philippines — The counsel of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) on Thursday told the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) that resigned Ateneo men’s basketball team head coach Thomas Anthony “Tab” Baldwin was not an employee of the university, but a consultant.

The university’s counsel made this statement during the continuation of the agency’s clarificatory hearing on the employment status of Baldwin. ADMU president Fr. Roberto Yap was requested to appear before the hearing but he sent representatives instead due to his commitment to Senate hearings on the same day while Baldwin did not physically attend.

READ: Dole chief summons Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin over drownings, work permit

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Atty. Krisha Santos, representing the ADMU, said that the university contracted Baldwin because of the latter’s specialization in basketball coaching.

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“The university’s agreement with Coach Baldwin is a consultancy agreement and not an employment contract. The university contracted him because of his well-regarded coaching expertise, having previously been a national coach of New Zealand, Jordan, and even the Philippine National Team,” Santos said during the hearing.

Labor secretary Francis Tolentino asked the difference between an employer-employee agreement and consultancy agreement. With this, Santos answered: “In an employer-employee relationship, the employer has the power to control the means and methods of the employee’s work. On the other hand, a consultant like Coach Baldwin is a specialist and he has the discretion to perform the work in a manner that he sees fit.”

Tolentino also asked the counsel if there is another provider of Baldwin’s compensation. Santos said that they are not aware of the source of the resigned coach’s compensation.

However, the Labor secretary pointed out a clause in the agreement where Baldwin is obligated to perform duties such as conducting basketball clinics and participating in sports-related activities of MVP Group of Companies, a company he said was mentioned in the agreement. When asked if they also represent the said company, Santos answered in the negative.

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Tolentino then asked the role of the company, and Santos said is one of the sponsors of the Ateneo men’s basketball team. Tolentino also quizzed if it covers Baldwin’s compensation under the consultancy agreement, to which Santos said: “possibly.”

Atty. Philippe Quimbo also said that the ADMU “never had the power to control” Baldwin’s way of coaching the university’s men’s basketball team, noting that the most important element of an employment contract is the “power to control.”

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“The ADMU does not control the means and methods of how coach Tab Baldwin conducts his training programs, he was hired for his specialized skills in coaching a basketball team. It is very normal for an independent contractorship to have a consideration because I am not sure coach tab would have done it for free,” Quimbo said in the same hearing.

Meanwhile, Dole Undersecretary Gerard Mosquera then pointed out the do’s and don’t’s for Baldwin as stated in the agreement. He then asked if this portion means that there is a substantial control over Baldwin’s performance and functions as a consultant.

Quimbo said that the do’s and don’t’s do not control the manner as to how Baldwin will perform his duties, noting that the said activities are general.

“These duties and obligations do not prohibit coach Tab or do not control the means by which coach Tab will execute these duties and obligations,” Quimbo noted.

“There’s jurisprudence to the effect that an independent contractor may be limited by the principal but only in so far as there is a general prohibition on certain activities but an independent contractor, as long as he is able to control the means and the methods of the performance of his duties, then there is no employer-employee relationship,” Quimbo added.

Tolentino also asked the university to submit to the Dole a memorandum which incorporates all necessary documents within seven documents before the agency issues its final resolution on the case.

‘No AEP needed’

Meanwhile, Atty. Jose Feliciano, who served as a witness during the hearing, maintained that Baldwin did not need to secure an alien employment permit (AEP), noting that Baldwin’s status as a resident alien exempted him from the said requirement.

READ: Tab Baldwin admits not having required permit to work in PH

However, Tolentino cited the Article 40 of the Labor Code of the Philippines that a foreigner seeking employment in the country, whether on resident or non-resident status, must secure an AEP from the Dole before working.

Feliciano shared that he helped Baldwin secure a quota immigrant visa for the coach in 2015 and an alien certificate of registration (ACR) issued by the Bureau of Immigration.

“When we secured the quota immigrant visa for coach Tab back in 2015, we did not apply for an AEP because it is our position, your honor, that as a permanent resident, as a resident alien, he is exempted from the AEP,” Feliciano said in the same hearing.

Tolentino then said that an AEP is still required “whether you’re here as a resident or non-resident irrespective of your status.”

During the first clarificatory hearing last June 29, Baldwin admitted not having an AEP while working for a coach since 2013. Tolentino showed Baldwin a sample copy of an AEP, to which Baldwin said: “I do not have nor do I believe I’ve ever had a card like that.”

However, Baldwin said that he once received an AEP application form that was partially filled out by electronic mail around 2015. His legal counsel said that he was exempted from securing an AEP due to his status as a permanent visa holder.

In the first hearing, Mosquera pointed out an issuance in January 2025 requiring a certification of exemption (COE) to be exempted from securing an AEP. He noted that Baldwin has neither applied for nor secured any COE from January 2025 to present.

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His counsel at that time said that: “[A]t the time his permanent visa status was vested in him, there was no requirement for Mr. Baldwin to secure a COE.” /jpv