Pacific Maritime Services Inc vs Ranay : 111002 : July 21, 1997 : J. ... 3 of 4 http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/1997/jul1997/111002.htm therefore, of dubious veracity and reliability although admissible.[8] Likewise, the motive is suspect and the account of the incidents dangerously susceptible to bias since it came from a person with whom private respondents were at odds. All told, petitioners failed to make up for the weakness of the evidence upon which they confidently anchored the merits of their case. Likewise, the belated submission of the report by Villegas, long after the incidents referred to had taken place and after the complaint had been lodged by private respondents, weighs heavily against its credibility. Petitioners did not show any convincing reason why said report was only accomplished on September 22, 1989. They merely argued that as in criminal cases, the witness is usually reluctant to report an incident. At any rate, with present technology, a ship out at sea is not so isolated that its captain cannot instantly communicate with its office. It would appear that the report, filed several months later, is but an afterthought. Aside from petitioners failure to establish the facts constituting the grounds for dismissing private respondents, the Court also takes into account against petitioners their glaring omission to afford private respondents procedural due process, the indispensable elements of which are notice and hearing. We observe that the records are devoid of any proof indicating that the required notices were sent to respondents and a reasonable opportunity accorded them to be heard. The POEA and the NLRC similarly failed to find any, leading to the inescapable conclusion that the dismissal of private respondents was even tainted with procedural infirmity. The Court, however, notwithstanding the employers breach of procedural due process, is disinclined to award damages in line with recent jurisprudence.[9] As regards petitioners contention that both the POEA and the NLRC overlooked the alleged payments they made to private respondents, we rule that the same deserves little consideration. The mere presentation of photocopies of two (2) RCBC checks[10] and two vouchers[11] containing the computation of private respondents remuneration does not conclusively establish payment. In this regard, we call attention to our latest ruling in Jimenez v. National Labor Relations Commission,[12] thus: As a general rule, one who pleads payment has the burden of proving it. Even where the plaintiff must allege non-payment, the general rule is that the burden rests on the defendant to prove payment, rather than on the plaintiff to prove non-payment. The debtor has the burden of showing with legal certainty that the obligation has been discharged by payment. When the existence of a debt is fully established by the evidence contained in the record, the burden of proving that it has been extinguished by payment devolves upon the debtor who offers such a defense to the claim of the creditor. xxx. xxxxxxxxx The positive testimony of a creditor may be sufficient of itself to show non-payment, even when met by indefinite testimony of the debtor. Similarly, the testimony of the debtor may also be sufficient to show payment, but, where his testimony is contradicted by the other party or by a disinterested witness, the issue may be determined against the debtor since he has the burden of proof. The testimony of the debtor creating merely an inference of payment will not be regarded as conclusive on that issue. (Underscoring supplied, citations omitted). The existence of the checks and the supporting vouchers simply establishes the fact that petitioners admit their monetary liability to private respondents and their intention to pay the latters unpaid salaries, overtime pay and leave pay. To reiterate, these documents, standing alone, do not evidence payment. There is no certainty that these were ever delivered to, much less encashed by, private respondents. Absent any evidence to that effect, petitioners are deemed to have failed discharge their burden of proving their affirmative allegation of prior 1/24/2016 9:26 PM