On the other hand, Siojo insisted that all the acts imputed to him were fabricated by petitioner in
order to avoid its liability for his illegal dismissal. In support of his allegations, Siojo submitted
photocopies of the ships logbook for the period March 25 to April 11, 1994, showing that there
was no report of any offense or violation of company rules he had supposedly committed. He
pointed out that the logbook had no entries of the infractions he allegedly committed on March
27 and 28, 1994, respectively.
On June 21, 1996, Labor Arbiter Manuel Caday ruled that Siojo was dismissed without just
cause and without being accorded due process. The dispositive portion of the decision reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered declaring the dismissal of the
complainant illegal and ordering respondent Stolt Nielsen Marine Services, Inc. to pay the
corresponding salaries for the unexpired portion of his contract but not exceeding the equivalent
of three (3) months salaries or in the amount of $3,072.00 which under the current peso dollar
exchange rate is equivalent to P80,486.40.
For having been compelled to hire services of counsel to prosecute his valid and just claims, the
respondent is further ordered to pay the complainant (sic), the equivalent of 10% of the
recoverable award in this case.
All other claims are hereby dismissed for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.i[1]
Aggrieved by the labor arbiters decision, petitioner appealed to the NLRC. The latter denied the
appeal for lack of merit and affirmed the decision of the labor arbiter. The NLRC likewise
denied petitioners motion for reconsideration.
Hence, this petition for certiorari.
Petitioner claims that the labor arbiter and the NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion in not
considering its evidence and in finding that Siojo was illegally dismissed.
On the labor arbiters and NLRCs appreciation of the facts, it is worth reiterating the wellentrenched rule that when the conclusions of the labor arbiter are sufficiently corroborated by the
evidence on record, the same should be respected by appellate tribunals since he is in a better
position to assess and evaluate the credibility of the contending parties.ii[2] Moreover, it should
be noted that factual issues are not a proper subject for certiorari, as the power of the Supreme
Court to review labor cases is limited to the issue of jurisdiction and grave abuse of
discretion.iii[3]
In the case at bar, the findings of the labor arbiter Siojo was dismissed without just cause and
without being accorded due process is supported by the facts and evidence on record. In support
of his denial of the infractions he allegedly committed, Siojo presented in evidence photocopies
of the ships official logbook entries for the period March 25 to April 11, 1994. Such entries