Good News
National Conciliation and Mediation Board
Regional Branch No. NCR
October 19, 2016

Less than an hour – comparable to a ride in LRT from Monumento to Baclaran – was all it took Conciliator-Mediator Rubilyn M. Abando to settle the notice to arbitrate (NTA) filed by a seaman from Imus, Cavite.

Romeo D. Macapia, an Able Seaman, with approved POEA contract of nine (9) months, came to RCMB-NCR office on September 07, 2016 to file a complaint for alleged non-payment of disability benefits, illness allowance, reimbursement of medical expenses, damages and attorney’s fees against his employer, Pacific Ocean Manning, Inc.

“We were unable to settle the issues during our grievance meetings,” he said.

Abando immediately scheduled a conference between the complainant and manning agency on September 27, 2016.

During the conference, Con-Med Abando gathered that the complainant figured in an accident that caused a fractured right middle finger on board MV ”FRONT ENDURANCE“, and caused his repatriation.

The accident and his eventual repatriation brought the seaman to RCMB-NCR.

The responding party’s counsel disclosed that offer and counter-offer in their grievance proceedings are not acceptable to either one of them.

To resolve the complaint peacefully and avoid an actual litigation, they agreed to settle in the amount of P3,767,120.00.

Macapia received the said amount on even date. He signed a release and quit claim from the agency and thanked Con-Med Abando and RCMB-NCR for helping him in his predicament.

The Notice to Arbitrate program is introduced by Department Order No. 40-03, Series of 2011, as an amendment to Book V of the Labor Code pertaining to voluntary arbitration. Notice to Arbitrate (NTA) aims to help the parties’ select their voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators in cases where there is failure to select an arbitrator, or there is refusal from one party to submit any grievable issue/s to voluntary arbitration. Prior to submission to arbitration, the NCMB conciliator-mediator exerts best efforts to reconcile differences of parties and assist them to come-out with possible amicable settlement.

The conciliation-mediation services prove to be one of the most acceptable modes of dispute settlement where trust and confidence of parties are preserved and harmonious relationship are maintained.

END/ Renato R. Canutal