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762 PHIL. 421
FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 169158, July 01, 2015 ]
PENTAGON INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING SERVICES, INC.,
PETITIONER, VS. THE COURT OF APPEALS, FILOMENO V. MADRIO,
LUISITO G. RUBIANO, JDA INTER-PHIL. MARITIME SERVICES
CORPORATION, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
CONTINUED, J.:
We review the decision promulgated on May 27, 2005,[1] whereby the Court of Appeals
(CA) annulled and set aside the resolutions dated June 30, 2003 and December 14,
2004 of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)[2] declaring respondent JDA
Inter-Phil Maritime Services (JDA Inter-Phil) as the manning agency of Baleen Marine
Pte. Ltd. (Baleen Marine) liable to pay respondents Filomeno V. Madrio and Luisito G.
Rubiano the total amount of US$31,254.65 or its peso equivalent at the time of
payment.
Antecedents
Pentagon International Shipping Services, Inc. (Pentagon), a domestic corporation,[3]
was a private manning agency licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) to engage in the recruitment of seafarers to service the crewing
and personnel management needs of shipping companies accredited to it. Respondent
JDA Inter-Phil, also a domestic corporation, was similarly engaged in the recruitment of
seafarers.
On March 27, 1998, Pentagon hired respondents Madrio and Rubiano as chief officer
and second engineer, respectively, in behalf of its foreign principal, Baleen Marine, a
corporation based in Singapore. When their 10-month contract expired, they were
repatriated to the Philippines.[4] Alleging non-payment and underpayment of wages,
and claiming damages and attorney's fees, they separately brought claims against
Pentagon and the owners and managers of Baleen Marine on January 13, 2000 and
January 31, 2000,[5] stating that Pentagon and Baleen Marine had reduced their
monthly gross salary by 20% without the prior approval by the POEA; and that
Pentagon and Baleen Marine had not paid their salaries from November 1, 1998 until
their repatriation on March 24, 1999.
Pentagon denied liability, countering that it had ceased to be the manning agency of
Baleen Marine effective October 1, 1998;[6] that on June 25, 1998, its Executive VicePresident, Meynardo Bugia, Jr., had met with Baleen Marine in Singapore to notify the
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