4/1/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly letter as indications of Flores' efforts to bypass his authority and to act at cross purposes with him. It is clear that the letters of Chief Officer De Luna [21] and 1st Assistant Engineer Escarola [22] to Panstar's Capt. Chung, detailing how Flores agitated the crew (with charges of mismanagement of the vessel), and Capt. B.H. Mun's letter to the agency all depict a radio officer who undermined the authority of the shipmaster and the other officers in the guise of raising labor-management issues on board the vessel. Additionally and as an indication of his disrespect for the vessel's management, as well as his low regard for his work, he neglected his duties as radio officer and disobeyed Capt. B.H. Mun's instructions on several occasions. It is no surprise that his record of service [23] yielded a very poor assessment or a "no further employment" assessment. The NLRC grossly erred in rejecting the letters as proof of the validity of Flores' dismissal. It misappreciated the contents of the letters, especially that of Capt. B.H. Mun. They did not contain "a mere accusation of wrongdoing." [24] The letters made direct affirmative statements on Flores' transgressions, all of which only elicited angry denials from him. More significantly, he failed to refute the charges in the compulsory arbitration proceedings, as the labor arbiter emphasized in his decision. This aspect of the case should have been given due consideration by the NLRC. In a different vein, Flores questioned the probative value of Capt. B.H. Mun's statements, contending that they are self-serving. He regarded them as pure hearsay which cannot be considered as evidence. It bears stressing in this regard that under the law, technical rules of evidence are not binding in administrative proceedings, and the NLRC and the labor arbiters "shall use every and all reasonable means to ascertain the facts in each case speedily and objectively and without regard to technicalities of law or procedure, all in the interest of due process." [25] Hearsay or not, and by way of reiteration, Capt. B.H. Mun's statements cannot just be ignored, for Flores himself admitted in his position paper, as noted by the labor arbiter, that the shipmaster asked him to be the coordinator or go-between for several crew members who wanted to pre-terminate their contract. [26] It is not disputed that Flores acted as such coordinator between the crew and Capt. B.H. Mun. Thus, Capt. B.H. Mun specifically asked him to explain to the crew the deduction of US$40.00 from their monthly allotment for the AMOSUP Fund so that they would understand and would not to be agitated; instead of doing this, he stirred up the crew further. In fractured English, Capt. B.H. Mun stated: Notwithstand he should if necessary take all his way be persuaded and kindly explained to the crew about misunderstanding ITF contents, but he did has to say nothing of crew persuasion, more excite with big voices and stir up to the crew to mischief. Two anhalf months ago, I asked him that don't be helping to crew to be sent company their letters specially, because his prepared it for crew had writ down his own complaining with unless and elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/52684 6/10