4/1/2020
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principal (Panstar) had a valid reason for terminating Flores' employment. The Master,
Capt. B.H. Mun, decided to dismiss him not only for agitating the crew to rebel against
the authorities of the vessel M/V Morning Charm (which the NLRC considered as the
main reason for the dismissal), [19] but for several other infractions. As the records
show, and as Capt. B.H. Mun stressed in his letter of November 17, 1997 to the agency
management, [20] Flores was also charged with inefficiency or neglect of duty,
insubordination, insolent and disrespectful behavior, and other actuations which made
him unfit for his position and rank.
Capt. B.H. Mun's letter chronicled the bases of the charges lodged against Flores, and
its salient points may be summarized as follows:
1. Since Flores came on board, he had been complaining about the deduction of
US$40.00 from the crew's monthly allotment for the Associated Marine Officers'
and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) Fund. To Capt. B.H. Mun's
knowledge, the crew members were aware of the deduction. Despite this, Flores
prepared a letter to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and
asked the crew members to sign it. Capt. B.H. Mun asked Flores to explain the
contents of the ITF letter to the crew to avoid any misunderstanding. Instead of
pacifying the crew, he stirred them up and made them even more agitated. Also,
despite Capt. B.H. Mun's instructions to the contrary, he prepared letters for the
crew containing his own complaints and sentiments against the company rather
than those of the crew.
2. He revealed to the crew all outgoing and incoming messages, without informing
Capt. B.H. Mun.
3. Contrary to Capt. B.H. Mun's instructions, Flores issued shore-passes to the deck
crew without the permission of the chief mate when the vessel made a port call at
Maputo during its last voyage. The deck crew members were not supposed to go
on shore as cargo was being unloaded at the time. It was a rush operation which
had to be supervised and monitored to avoid damage to the cargo and to be on
alert for stowaways. Flores went on shore nevertheless, with some of the crew to
whom he had issued shore-passes.
4. Flores entered in his overtime sheet 40-50 hours in excess of the monthly 85
hours, despite the captain's instructions to the crew not to go over 85 hours;
Flores did this to give the impression that he was doing a lot of work.
5. Flores stayed most of the time at the crew restroom while on duty instead of the
radio room, resulting in the failure, at times, of the charterer and the Panstar
Busan Office to communicate with the vessel by INMARSAT phone. This gave rise
to several complaints, especially from the charterer who was compelled to use
two communication devices -- the facsimile machine and the telex -- to send the
same instruction or message to the vessel.
Capt. B.H. Mun considered the foregoing infractions and a few more mentioned in his
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/52684
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