By the Bohol ChronicleAmicable settlements availed by workers laid of by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) were legal and allowed by the Supreme Court.
This is according to a ruling of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Tagbilaran City amid allegations by lawyer Joseph Bernaldez that Hanjin is defiant of the Supreme Court order which granted P66-million in back wages plus attorney's fees to some 521 workers of the construction firm that were laid off sometime in 1996 after the Malinao irrigation dam project (Bohol Irrigation Project Stage 1) was completed.
It may be recalled that Bernaldez alleged, in an interview over Station dyRD, that Gov. Erico Aumentado had helped Hanjin by brokering a deal with the workers to settle their labor case in exchange for a P20-million payoff.
This was denied by the governor saying that it was the group of workers who requested him to ask Hanjin to abort its plan to appeal the case to the higher courts. He declined the request since he finds it "unethical" to request the counsel for such action.
Aumentado challenged Bernaldez to show evidences that he offered such settlement fee. "If he can not prove what he said over the airlanes," the governor said, "I will file libel charges."
In a letter to the Chronicle, Hanjin's legal counsel Antonio Arabejo said that the settlement entered into by the workers were done "freely and voluntarily" and the group were the ones who negotiated for the amicable settlement of their claims.
"There is no unfair labor practice to speak of inasmuch as the main issue in the case between Hanjin and the complaining workers is their status as employees," Arabejo explained.
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