Found illegally dismissed was Ruben G. dela Cruz, who was hired by Centennial Transmarine Inc. on May 9, 2000 in behalf of its foreign principal Centennial Maritime Services Corp. for nine months as chief officer of oil tanker MT Aquidneck owned by B+H Equimar, Singapore, Pte. Ltd.

In a decision written by Justice Consuelo Ynares Santiago, the SC affirmed with modification the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) that declared illegal the dismissal of Dela Cruz on Sept. 14, 2000. Justices Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Minita V. ChicoNazario, Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, and Ruben T. Reyes concurred in the decision.

The CA had reversed the ruling of the labor arbiter and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) that Dela Cruz was validly dismissed for breach of trust and confidence.

Dela Cruz boarded the oil tanker on May 15, 2000 and assumed his duties as chief officer, the second officer-in-command of the vessel.

However, while the vessel was docked in Lake Charles in the United States, another chief officer boarded the oil tanker, prompting Dela Cruz to inquire why he had a reliever. The master of the ship, Capt. Kowalewski, gave no reply but showed Dela Cruz an e-mail from B+H Equimar stating that the new chief officer would board the ship to take over the operations.

On Sept. 14, 2000, Dela Cruz was relieved of his duties and repatriated to the Philippines eight days later. Centennial Transmarine Inc. in Manila could not explain why Dela Cruz was relieved.

In its Aug. 31, 2007 decision reversing the findings of the NLRC and the labor arbiter, the CA said that the tanker owners violated Dela Cruz’s right to due process when they failed to observe the twonotice rule — written notice and hearing — in terminating his services.

The CA said that the rules governing officers and crew working in foreign vessels provide that the ship master or captain should furnish the erring seaman a written notice of the charges against him, conduct a formal investigation to give him the opportunity to defend himself, and furnish him with a written notice of the penalty imposed upon him, and the proceedings must be duly documented in the ship’s logbook.

It said the records support the allegations of Dela Cruz that none of these procedures took place.

"These documents and their contents have to be duly identified and authenticated lest an injustice would result from a blind adoption of such contents," the SC said in affirming the CA’s ruling.