Moonelf

Rocky Road and Double Dutch! Tsalaptsalap!!!

Try to have faith in our justice system.

 

I had a case, for the seaman-employee, for illegal dismissal. We won at the arbiter level, commission, CA and SC against the erring employer.

 

We still have hope.

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wow, dami pala ditong naive or freenhorn, the justice system here in the philippines only service the power broker and influence peddler. i thought the SC was insulated from this kind of influences or pressure group, but sadly no.... read the decisions... the decision flipflop depending on the parties involve.  s@%t!!!!

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That's what you call "undermining" the judicial system.

 

If you are one of us, I am so sorry with your attitude.

And may I remind you that this is a free legal help desk.

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Mr. Bonito I would rather not argue this point with you. I too do not like seeing anyone get exploited. All I am saying is that people open their eyes to the consequences of what they are about to do, actionable rights notwithstanding. You cite your recent case involving the seaman, good for your client then if he has the means to support himself while the wheels of justice slowly grind.  Faith? Yes, that would be nice but I'd rather be a realist. My first concern is the welfare of my client.

 

My apologies for the off topic remark, this is after all, a free legal help forum.

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If I may suggest a middleground. True, you may go and file a complaint with the NLRC or do nothing at all lest you risk you mother-in-law losing her job. However, you may try another tack. Try going to the Department of Labor and Employment and complain about the violations committed by your mother's employer. If the sari-sari store and bakery is under one business, I would think that it has enough employees to fall under the coverage of the minimum wage law (establishments with less than 15 employees are exempt, right? for the number). If your mother-in-law is getting less than the minimum wage, complaint about it.  If she is not being paid overtime, complaint about that too, and all the other abuses being committed by the employer. If Im not mistaken, the Dole will treat your complaint in confidence thus there is no risk of the employer finding out that it was your mother-in-law who complained. On the basis of your complaint, the DOLE will send an investigator to visit the establishment concerned and verify the allegations. A letter will be issued telling the employer to rectify the violations and if the employer fails to do so, the DOLE itself will go after the employer.

 

Same thing with the SSS. I am almost certain that this employer is not collecting and remitting  the proper employee contributions to the SSS. Criminal violation yan. You may also complain to the SSS and the said agency will send an investigator to the establishment.

 

Through this, you are able to do something about your mother-in-law's plight and at the same time, protect her present employment.

 

Good luck.

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Gentlemen,

May I extend my deep gratitude to all who have given their precious time on my querry.

Your opinions and knowledge gave a little more spark to my dimming trust to our justice system.

Even if Mr. Teasoy may be right on some occasions I would still want to extend my trust in our current justice system. It's just so hard to risk something that is what we are plainly in short of, which is the finacial resource that may tide us over while the wheels of justice slowly grinds.

My thanks to you Dr. P for reminding me for the risks, I just hope that the person we would get help from would be as just as you guys. Mind me for saying this but (maybe I've watched too many movies) some public defenders are more concerned for their own well being rather than their clients.

And to you Agent Jack, my thanks to you for extending your suggestions. This would really be a big help. You've given me a new hope for my mother in-law. I just hope that the provincial branches are not corrupt to carry out such complaint. I'm not sure if the owners have connections on these said institutions.

But nevertheless I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

You have a strong case against the bakery/sarisari employers.

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Probably. But consider the consequences. File something in DOLE. Of course the mom-in-law gets fired.  Hire a lawyer, prepare complaint, get documents, follow up in DOLE. More expenses. Hearings, postponements, appeal etc. Bottom line is she still loses her job.  Strong case not withstanding, he would still have to consider the economics.

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Sir bonito I too think that way, but due to my lack of legal knowledge keeps me in the dark. And yet what Dr P stated may be disheartening but still is the cruel truth we face right now.

Even if we decided on going thru with it and with the understanding of a strong case on our part we don't know up to what extent we can endure the trial process let alone the professional expenses that it may incurr.

It just really saddens me that there are people (not to mention them being rich) thriving on other peoples misery. So how can the small people like us even believe in the justice system?

Those are consequences that I would prefer than having his  mother get exploited.

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Thats what I thought too but what can we do? We can't fight them head-on. A former employee of theirs made a complaint due to alledged physical injuries incurred from the male owner. They even went to Mon Tulfo about it, but I heard from my mother in-law the case got sacked even with Tulfo's help I think...

Well I thank you for your comments, I just wanted to get this load off that's been bugging me for quite some time now. I hope that you could extend me your views further in future inquirries.. :thumbsupsmiley:

Gentlemen,

Its my first time to consult something here in this thread, hope you would pardon my indulgence because I'm not sure if its a valid case/claim or not (my apologies to thunderboy123, really need to ask this).

First I would like to give you an overview of my mother in-law's situation. She is working as a hired help in a medium sari-sari store which also has a bakery. At first we were thankful that someone still took her in considering her old age, and still supports 2 of my wife's sisters. Before she was hired to help-out on checking sales of different branches of the sari-sari store/bakery, later due to lack of workers she was transferred in one of these branches. It was supposed to be a temporary set-up just until they get a replacement for the last hired help that have resigned that post.

Eventually the temporary status became a permanent one, of course its still well and good because it beats not having a job at all right? She used to work a typical 7-5 shift / monday-saturday for a small business. Now comes the irritating part, the owners changed it to a 7-8 daily shift (13 hrs.), to which she is not paid any overtime. After that drastic change we suggested for her to find other work, but she reluctantly disagreed. She said that at her age and situation it would be impossible for her to get a better job that she knows. Well got stumped there, because both me and my wife can't offer much to them for we struggle as well. Not much we could do now because we used most of our savings to pay-off some of my in-laws's debts. Actually that didn't stop there, aside from changing it to 7am - 8 pm they also took out the only day-off she had which was sunday and they even made her help in packaging of some of the bread the bakery is making (while tending the store too). So I thought to myself WTF! They're taking advantage of my in-law's sorry situation. They even have the guts to say that she has "utang na loob" to them for the job they're giving her to which I think is too much! We urged her to resign but she stubbornly declined our suggestions. Because with all those bills and outstanding debts she's still paying she can't stop she said, not to mention the medical needs of one of my sister in-law. But I wanted to help her if not in financial terms, maybe I can help give her a better understanding of her rights as a worker.

So this may be far fetched but does she or could she claim for overtime pay? The pay is not to be desired either, she gets a mere PhP 200 for a days work (for 13 hrs and w/o day-off). So can she stake such claim? Do we have basis for a complaint?

Come to think of it, even if she does have a claim I don't know if we could even fight for it in court.

I guess I just wanted to ask for comments on this on a professional point of view.

My thanks in advance.

for those interested in my stuff's and wan't to puchase than the minimium required , the fastest way is by cargo , pm me for details ... same goes to those in the provinces  :cool:

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Hi prof, tried a set of Santi (got it from party KC).

And its great, reallyimproved my performance even more he he he.

Can U PM me ur contact#, party KC needs it too he lost your # coz he also lost his phone a week ago I think. So he asked me if I could ask you for it.

Anyways thanks!

Got it from a friend at work, so thought of checking it out.

Hope this works out