DAVAO CITY- A prominent labor lawyer in this city has clarified that there is nothing wrong with executing a quit claim for an employee whose death was work-related, as this only serves as a defense for the management that has ostensibly given the due benefits of the deceased.
Atty. Lorraine Macasa-Meneses, former inspector of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and now regional labor counsel for Associated Labor Unions (ALU) in Southern Mindanao, made the clarification in relation to the continuing refusal of the alleged sister of Joel Walawala, a miner who died on duty, to sign a quit claim document upon receiving the just compensation due to an employee.
“This is not a bribe, as how Ms. Walawala misinterpret it. The financial benefit and the quit claim are lawful compliances of the company to the labor law and it should not be maliciously viewed as a bribe in exchange for the family of the deceased to not file complaints,” the lawyer said.
“Usually, naga-execute gyud ug naga-require ang management nga magpirmahanay sila ug quit claim ug waiver. Para man god depensa sa management nga later on kon naay claimant ilang mapakita na bayad an ang mga benefits (Usually, the management requires that the claimant should execute a quit claim and waiver. This is some sort of defense for the management to show proof that the benefits due to the employee whose death was work-related have been paid),” Meneses said in an interview with DXDC RMN Davao.
She noted that it should be the parents who should claim the death benefits for their son who died while working at the mining camp.
“Usually, ang gina-request sa management is birth certificate sa namatay para mapamatuod nga anak nila kon ginikanan man ang mag-claim. Kon igsoon, basin mangayo ang kompanya ug affidavit o siguro birth certificate nga pareho sila ug ginikanan (Usually, the management requests for the birth certificate of the deceased if the parents will be the claimants. If the claimant is the sibling, the company asks for an affidavit or maybe birth certificate that shows they have the same parents), ” Meneses said.
She added that even if the parents of the deceased issue a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) to their daughter Eva, the latter should also present her birth certificate as proof that they have the same parents.
However, she explained that even if the claimant has signed the quit claim and waiver, he or she can still take some legal actions if he or she was compelled without understanding the document because it was written in English or if he or she did not actually receive the legally binding compensation from the management.
Meneses encouraged the claimants to go to the DOLE offices to explain the quit claim document to them.
