FIRST DIVISION [G.R. No. 119080. April 14, 1998] SINGA SHIP MANAGEMENT PHILS., INC., AND ROYAL CRUISE LINE, petitioners, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION and MARIO SANGIL, respondent DECISION BELLOSILLO, J.: SINGA SHIP MANAGEMENT PHILS, INC., (SINGA), and Royal Cruise Line (ROYAL), petitioners, seek to reverse by way of certiorari the Order of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) directing them to pay private respondent Mario Sangil jointly and severally the sum of US $500.00 covering his salaries for the unexpired portion of his employment contract plus 10% thereof as attorney's fees.i[1] On 22 May 1990 respondent Mario Sangil signed an employment contract with petitioner SINGA in behalf of its foreign principal ROYAL of Piraeus, Greece. He was hired to work on board the passenger cruise vessel Crown Odyssey for twelve (12) months as utility man/assistant steward with a basic monthly salary of US $50.00, plus tips. On 2 June 1990 he left the country to board the Crown Odyssey in pursuance of his contract of employment. When Mario Sangil boarded the vessel he was unaware that there was an existing animosity on board between the Filipino crew and the Greek crew. Thus, on 20 July 1990, at around 9:00 o'clock in the morning, while the passengers of the luxury liner were disembarking in Stockholm, Sweden, a heated argument occurred between private respondent Sangil and Greek deck steward Athanasius "Thanasi" Zakkas which resulted in a scuffle between the two. Zakkas pushed respondent Sangil who fell hitting his head against the steel molding of the door . He suffered a cut in the head which had to be stitched by the ship doctor. He was then given three (3) days off from work during which he went to the Philippine Embassy in Stockholm and reported the incident to Consul Eduardo V. Aro. On the same day, Sangil was accompanied back to his ship by Consul Aro. Sangil informed Ship Captain Yannis Katraz that he was leaving the ship because of his head injury and of his fear that further trouble may erupt between him and the Greeks on board. Since he was still dizzy, he was brought to the Sabbatsberg Hospital in Stockholm where he was confined from 20 to 21 July 1990 for observation. That same afternoon of 20 July 1990 Crown Odyssey left for Copenhagen, Denmark, without him. The following day, upon his discharge from the hospital, respondent Sangil went back to the Philippine Embassy in Stockholm and executed an affidavit before Consul Aro narrating how Zakkas and the other Greeks continuously ridiculed him, calling him names, such as malaca, which means son of a prostitute.ii[2] The night before the incident, Zakkas even threatened to pour hot coffee on his head. The following morning,