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Sameer v. Cabiles170139 - Brion
Sameer v. Cabiles170139 - Brion
Sameer v. Cabiles170139 - Brion
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Id. at 312-324.
(e) Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal
assistance shall not be denied to any person by reason of poverty. In this
regard, it is imperative that an effective mechanism be instituted to ensure
that the rights and interests of distressed overseas Filipinos, in general, and
Filipino migrant workers, in particular, documented or undocumented, are
adequately protected and safeguarded.
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attracting the market," 24 a scheme that sadly reduces our OFWs to mere cash
cows.
And third, the "incentive scheme" effectively benefits the
recruitment/manning agencies and foreign principal/employer at the
expense of the OFWs from whom the salaries for the unexpired portion
of the contract are taken and to whom these salaries rightfully belong. 25
In effect, "the principals/employers and the recruitment/manning agencies
profit from their violation of the security of tenure that an employment
contract embodies." 26 The OFWs, on the other hand, are afforded lesser
protection because: (1) they are afforded reduced recovery by operation of
law; (2) the reduced recovery renders wrongful dismissal situations more
alluring, easier to facilitate and less onerous to undertake which foreign
employers will most certainly consider in termination of employment
decisions. 27
These inimical effects obviously will remain as long as the subject
clause remains in Section 10 of R.A. No. 8042, this time as reinstated by
R.A. No. 10022. The "inherently oppressive, arbitrary, confiscatory and
inimical provision [under Section 10 of R.A. No. 8042 should, therefore,] be
struck down for its conflict with the substantive aspect of the constitutional
due process guarantee. 28 Thus, I vote to declare as unconstitutional the
phrase "for three (3) months for every year of the unexpired terms,
whichever is less" in the fifth and final paragraph of Section 10 of R.A.
8042."
QPWDM~
ARTURO D. BRION
Associate Justice
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Id.
Id. at 320.
Id. at 320-321.
Id. at 321.
Id.