The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that nearly 100 talents at GMA Network are regular employees, concluding an 11-year legal battle that challenged the media industry’s long-standing reliance on contractual labor.

In a decision dated 25 November 2025, and made public over the weekend, the court’s Third Division affirmed that 94 petitioners were not independent contractors. The ruling further established that 50 of these workers were illegally dismissed and are now entitled to reinstatement or separation pay, along with back wages.

The court determined that an employer-employee relationship was “plain as day” because the network selected the workers, paid their wages, held the power of dismissal, and controlled their conduct.

It noted that the network’s practice of barring these talents from taking projects with other production outfits prevented them from maintaining an independent business.

The petitioners, including producers, researchers, and cameramen represented by the Talents Association of GMA (TAG), first filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Commission in 2014.

They argued that their roles were “necessary and desirable” to the network’s operations, meeting the legal standard for regular employment under the Labor Code.

Of the 50 workers found to be illegally terminated, 15 were dismissed for unauthorized absences during a protest against changes in payment methods and program assignments. The SC deemed this penalty “too harsh” based on the network’s own rules.

The remaining 35 workers were deemed illegally terminated because the network failed to formally offer contract renewals, which led many to seek employment elsewhere.

The SC rejected the network’s claim that these workers had declined renewals, noting there was “nothing to decline” without a written notice.

In a statement posted to the Buhay Media Facebook page, TAG called the decision a “gift to the next generation” and a victory for media workers nationwide. The group urged media companies to scrap the practice of contractualization through talent systems.

The case has been remanded to the National Labor Relations Commission to calculate the specific back wages and benefits owed to the workers. GMA Network has not yet published a formal statement regarding the decision on its corporate website.