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employment contract. This was effectively corroborated by Nahas herself when she
admitted before the Labor Arbiter that Olarte was a walk-in applicant in the said office.
When finally deployed, the local agency appearing in Olarte’s papers was Royal Dream.
Hence, when Olarte was repatriated and later filed a Complaint, she lodged it against
Nahas and PETRA/ Royal Dream and summons was served upon them at Room 401,
Gochangco Building, T.M., Kalaw, Ermita, Manila.[29] Besides, to concede to this claim
of Nahas would in effect allow her, PETRA and Royal Dream to hide behind the cloak of
corporate fiction in order to evade the rightful claims of Olarte. It bears emphasizing
that “the statutorily granted privilege of a corporate veil may be used only for
legitimate purposes.”[30] “[T]he corporate vehicle cannot be used as a shield to protect
fraud or justify wrong,”[31] which clearly in this case is what Nahas, PETRA and Royal
Dream are attempting to achieve but which the Court cannot allow.
The propriety of the grant of moral and
exemplary damages in favor of Olarte is
being raised for the first time with this
Court.
Notably, Nahas did not question before the NLRC and the CA the Labor Arbiter’s grant
of moral and exemplary damages in favor of Olarte; hence, the Court need not belabor
upon the same. “[P]oints of law, theories, issues, and arguments not adequately
brought to the attention of the lower court (or in this case, the appropriate quasijudicial administrative body) need not be considered by the reviewing court as they
cannot be raised for the first time on appeal x x x because this would be offensive to
the basic rules of fair play, justice and due process."[32]
As a fmal note, it is worth stating that recruitment agencies, as part of their bounden
duty to protect the welfare of the Filipino workers sent abroad from whom they take
their profit,[33] should in conscience not add to the misery of maltreated and abused
Filipino workers by denying them the reparation to which they are entitled. Instead,
they must "faithfully comply with their government prescribed responsibilities"[34] and
be the first to ensure the welfare of the very people upon whose patronage their
industry thrives.[35]
WHEREFORE, the Petition is DENIED. The assailed Decision dated April29, 2005 and
Resolution dated July 8, 2005 of the Court of Appeals in CA G.R. SP No. 79028 are
AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
Carpio, (Chairperson), Velasco, Jr.,* Brion, and, Perez, JJ., concur.
* Per raffle dated April 29, 2013.
[1] Depositaria v. Hervias, 206 Phil. 651, 653 (1983).
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