Saturday, April 12, 2008 PCBSI withdraws TRO petition By Edmund B. Sestoso and Victor L. Camion
IN A surprise move, Prudential Customs Brokerage Services Incorporated (PCBSI) withdrew its petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the striking port workers of Dumaguete City.
Lawyer Joel Obar, PCBSI head legal department, made the announcement in a press conference held Friday afternoon at their office.
The PCBSI lawyer earlier filed a petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) at the National Labor Relations Commission questioning some alleged illegal acts committed by port workers who are still on strike at the port area in the coastal village of Looc. The pier falls under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) local office.
In the same media conference, Obar explained that his client no longer needed the TRO since the former port workers admitted in one of the court hearings that there was no employee-employer relationship between them and the company.
In the same vein, the labor commission dismissed the petition of the Cipres Stevedoring Union.
"The matter therefore is not a labor dispute," stressed the lawyer in the same conference.
He said the problem is not a labor dispute but a peace and order situation that should be best dealt with by the police.
He said that under the local government code, the local chief executive has coordinative powers over national agencies within his jurisdiction.
"In short, the problem at the base port of Dumaguete is also within the jurisdiction of the local government," emphasized the PCBSI lawyer.
Obar said the company felt sad when the picketers announced that they are ready to use even illegal means to obtain their objective.
"We leave this matter to the proper authorities," he said.
The lawyer also said the ongoing picket can be considered economic sabotage and the picketers can be classified as political destabilizers.
"They have virtually compromised the economic and social development of the province as a vital link to the strong republic under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," Obar added.
He called on local and national government agencies to "subdue" by any reasonable means the ongoing mob at the Dumaguete port.
On the other hand, ALU-TUCP district coordinator Felizardo Calimpong said it is not Dupimico members who staged the strike in the first place but the ALU-TUCP union.
The Cipres Stevedoring and Arrastre Inc. Employees Union-ALU-TUCP, a legitimate labor organization, is the one who staged the strike, he added, quoting the motion for dismissal.
"The respondent cooperative did not stage a strike or made concerted mass action as alleged by the petitioners," stated the union's motion to dismiss.
"There is no basis for the respondent cooperative to stage a strike or to engage in mass action, as contented by the petitioners (PCBSI)," the motion added.
Dupimuco argued that since the NLRC has no jurisdiction over the case, the TRO it issued is null.
Obar further said the port issue is now a problem of Mayor Agustin Perdices and the police.
"If they want to prolong the problem, it's their problem," he said.
"We have given them all that they need to implement but they don't. We wait until the people get angry at them," he added.
Obar also said his client has no plan to write to the police or the mayor to have the strikers dispersed.
"What for?" he asked adding, "They don't know what they want to do anyway."
