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694 Phil. 239
FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 162809, September 05, 2012 ]
PACIFIC OCEAN MANNING, INC. AND CELTIC PACIFIC SHIP
MANAGEMENT CO., LTD., PETITIONERS, VS. BENJAMIN D.
PENALES, RESPONDENT.
DECISION
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.:
This is a Petition for Review on Certiorari[1] to reverse and set aside the December 4,
2003 Decision[2] and February 23, 2004 Resolution[3] of the Court of Appeals in CAG.R. SP No. 75126.
The facts, as summarized by the Court of Appeals, are as follows:
Petitioner Benjamin Penales (Penales) is a seafarer. He was contracted by
private respondent Pacific Ocean Manning, Inc. (Pacific) for x x x its foreign
principal, private respondent Celtic Pacific Ship Management (H.K.) Ltd.
Penales was assigned to work on board the vessel, MV “Courage Venture”
under the following terms and conditions:
Duration of Contract
Position
Basic Monthly Salary
Hours of Work
Overtime
Vacation Leave with pay
:
:
:
:
:
:
10 months
Ordinary Seaman
US$396.00
48 hours per week
US$2.60/hour
6.0 days per month
Penales underwent the pre-employment medical examination (PEME) as part
of the prescribed employment procedure and was pronounced fit to work by
the company doctors.
Penales joined the vessel of assignment and started working thereon on May
24, 1999.
Penales’ scheduled repatriation coincided with the vessel’s docking
operations at the port of Nigeria making his return to Manila difficult. Hence,
his supposed disembarkation in Singapore where he is scheduled to sign off
and repatriated to Manila following the termination of his employment
contract was not followed. Instead, he was made to stay longer than the
ten-month contract duration stipulated in the Philippine Overseas
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