THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 117056. February 24, 1998]
ABD OVERSEAS MANPOWER CORPORATION, Petitioner, vs. NATIONAL LABOR
RELATIONS COMMISSION, MARS INTERNATIONAL MANPOWER, INC. and
MOHMINA MACARAYA, Respondents.
DECISION
ROMERO, J.:
Can an accredited transferee recruitment agent of a foreign employer/recruitment office
be held liable under POEA Rules and Regulations (POEA Rules) for the illegal
dismissal of an overseas worker who filed the case prior to the transferee agents
accreditation?
In December 1989, respondent Mohmina Macaraya applied for employment as a
dressmaker with respondent Mars International Manpower, Inc. (MARS). After paying
MARS the amount of P12,000.00 as processing or recruitment fee, she signed a twoyear employment contract whereby she would earn a monthly salary of US$250.00.
Without her knowledge, however, MARS submitted to the POEA an overseas contract
worker information sheet stating that she would be employed as a domestic helper for
two years with a monthly salary of US$200.00.
On January 30, 1990, Macaraya was deployed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her employer
took the only copy of her employment contract and never returned it to her. She was
made to work as a domestic helper over her objections and in violation of the contract
she signed in Manila. After working for three months and thirteen days, Macaraya was
dismissed by her employer, paid merely 700.00 Saudi riyals, and repatriated to the
Philippines on May 13, 1990.
Immediately upon her arrival in the Philippines, Macaraya filed with the POEA a
complainti[1] for illegal dismissal and salary underpayment/ nonpayment against MARS,
M.S. Al Babtain Recruitment Office and Times Surety and Insurance Co. Later, in her
position paper, she included claims for overtime pay and attorneys fees. MARS filed an
answer to the complaint on July 5, 1990, through its president and general manager,
Adelaida Manabat.
After several hearings, with hopes of an amicable settlement getting more remote, the
case was submitted for decision. On January 9, 1992, MARS filed a manifestation and
motion praying that petitioner ABD Overseas Manpower Corporation be impleaded in
the case, because the latter apparently became the accredited recruitment agency in
this country of M.S. Al Babtain Recruitment Office on September 8, 1990. Thus, after
being summoned, petitioner filed an answer alleging affirmative and special defenses,