Three ambitious sisters who inherited a 73-year-old Philippine empire in educational publishing just suffered another stinging reversal in their bitter power struggle.

Insiders told Nosy Tarsee the National Labor Relations Commission’s (NLRC) fifth division has once again ruled against the siblings, upholding a compromise agreement that reinstates their embattled former executive as CEO of the family-controlled group.

The labor body firmly rejected the sisters’ claim that their own chairman and president lacked authority to sign the September 2025 settlement, applying the doctrine of apparent authority and declaring the agreement binding and immediately enforceable, complete with back wages.

This marks the second NLRC decision in favor of the executive in the same dispute, coming at a particularly awkward time. The sisters are simultaneously staring down an SEC enforcement action and a Department of Justice syndicated estafa complaint involving them and their accountants.

With a DoLE-ordered reinstatement already in motion and adverse rulings piling up, the returning CEO is set to regain full access to company records and personnel — precisely the same materials now under scrutiny in the ongoing regulatory probe.

After seven decades of building one of the most trusted names in the local educational field, those still fighting to safeguard the legacy may finally get the breathing room they need.