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417 Phil. 263
THIRD DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 118943, September 10, 2001 ]
MARIO HORNALES, PETITIONER, VS. THE NATIONAL LABOR
RELATIONS COMMISSION, JOSE CAYANAN AND JEAC
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONTRACTOR SERVICES,
RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J.:
It is sad enough that poverty has impelled many of our countrymen to seek greener
pastures in foreign lands. But what is more lamentable is when a Filipino recruiter, after
sending his unlettered countrymen to a foreign land and letting them suffer inhuman
treatment in the hands of an abusive employer, connives with the foreign employer in
denying them their rightful compensation. Surely, there shall be a day of reckoning for
such a recruiter whose insatiable love for money made him a tyrant to his own race.
At bench is a petition for certiorari seeking to annul and set aside the (a) Decision[1]
dated July 28, 1994 of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) reversing the
Decision[2] of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in POEA Case
No. (L) 92-07-939,[3] and (b) Resolution[4] dated October 6, 1994 denying petitioner's
motion for reconsideration.
The facts as shown by the records are:
On July 15, 1992, Mario Hornales (herein petitioner) filed with the POEA a complaint[5]
for non-payment of wages and recovery of damages against JEAC International
Management & Contractor Services (JEAC) and its owner, Jose Cayanan (herein private
respondents). As private respondents' surety, Country Bankers Insurance Corporation
(Country Bankers) was later on impleaded by petitioner. The complaint alleged that on
October 8, 1991, private respondents sent petitioner, together with other Filipinos, to
Singapore. At their departure, they were advised that someone would meet them in
Singapore. True enough, they were welcomed by Victor Lim, the owner of Step-Up
Employment Agency (Step-Up Agency).[6] He informed them that they would be
working as fishermen with a monthly salary of US $200.00 each. Thereafter, they
boarded Ruey Horn #3, a vessel owned by Min Fu Fishery Co. Ltd. of Taiwan.
On board the vessel, petitioner was subjected to inhumane work conditions, like
inadequate supply of food and water, maltreatment by the ship captain, and lack of
medical attendance. He was also required to work for twenty-two hours a day without
pay. Unable to bear his situation any longer, he joined the other Filipino workers in
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