RAINBOW
MARITIME CO., LTD. and CAPT. SILVINO FAJARDO, respondents
G.R.
No. 232905 | August 20, 2018
FACTS:
On January 17, 2014, petitioner entered
into a 9-month contract of employment with respondents on board the vessel, MV
Oriente Shine, a cargo vessel transporting logs from Westminster, Canada to
several Asian countries.
While petitioner was assisting in the
unloading of raw logs from the vessel, as well as in the clean-up thereafter of
the debris and log residue, the strong odor of the logs left him gasping and
triggered his asthma attack. Petitioner also
claimed that he slipped and lost his footing while going down the ship’s galley.
Such that during the rigging operation, petitioner experienced back pain and
difficulty in breathing prompting his disembarkment for medical consultation at
the Mariner's Clinic, Ltd., in Canada where he was declared unfit for duty due
to his asthma.
Thus, on February 15, 2014, petitioner was
medically repatriated and brought to Marine Medical Services where he was seen
by a company-designated physician, who confirmed his bronchial asthma.
Subsequent check-ups further disclosed that petitioner was suffering from
"Degenerative Changes, Thoracolumbar Spine" and was found to have a
"metallic foreign body on the anterior cervical area noted on x-ray,"
which was pointed out by the company-designated physician, to be not related to
the cause of petitioner's repatriation. Petitioner was thereafter referred to
orthopedic doctors for rehabilitation and therapy.
On May 14, 2014, the company-designated
physician issued a medical report that petitioner still has occasional asthma
attacks that have not been totally controlled despite 3 months of maintenance
medication. She also noted that petitioner still has tenderness and muscle
spasm on his left paraspinal muscle. As such, the company-designated physician
gave an interim assessment of "Grade 8 (orthopedic) - 2/3 loss of lifting
power and Grade 12 - (pulmonary) slight residual or disorder." Likewise,
the orthopedic specialist, consistently reported that petitioner has not been
relieved of his back pain despite rehabilitation, and further recommended that
the latter undergo MRI, which she pointed out could be done only after the
removal of the foreign bodies embedded in petitioner's neck area.
MTI refused to shoulder the extraction
procedure procedure as it was not part of the cause for petitioner’s
repatriation. Thus, on June 4, 2014, petitioner filed a complaint for
nonpayment of his sickness allowance, medical expenses, and rehabilitation
fees, against MTI, before the NLRC.
ISSUE:
Whether or not petitioner is entitled to
disability benefits
RULING:
Under the 2010 POEA-SEC, a “work-related”
illness is defined as “any sickness as a result of an occupational disease
listed under Section 32-A of this Contract with the conditions set therein
satisfied.”
In the case at bar, petitioner was
diagnosed with “Bronchial Asthma; Degenerative Changes, Thoracolumbar Spine,
Left Parathoracic Muscle Strain.” The company-designated physician gave
petitioner an “interim” assessment of Grades 8 and 12 for his orthopedic and
pulmonary conditions, respectively. While the orthopedic specialist opined that
petitioner’s Degenerative Changes, Thoracolumbar Spine, Left Parathoracic
Muscle Strain “may be a preexisting” condition, and therefore not work-related,
the pulmonary specialist, on the other hand, merely reiterated the previous
disability rating of Grade 12. From the foregoing medical report, it can be
reasonably inferred that petitioner’s bronchial asthma was deemed a
work-related illness unlike his degenerative changes of the spine.
However, there are conditions that should
be met before an illness can be considered as preexisting under the 2010 POEA-SEC,
namely: (a) the advice of a medical
doctor on treatment was given for such continuing illness or condition; or (b)
the seafarer had been diagnosed and has knowledge of such illness or condition
but failed to disclose the same during PEME, and such cannot be diagnosed
during the PEME, none of which had been established in this case.
Moreover, degenerative changes of the
spine, also known as osteoarthritis, is a listed occupational disease under
Sub-Item Number 21 of Section 32-A of the 2010 POEA-SEC.
Here, petitioner, as Bosun of respondents’
cargo vessel that transported logs, undeniably performed tasks that clearly
involved unduly heavy physical labor and joint strain. In the same vein,
petitioner’s bronchial asthma, which is also a listed occupational disease,
undeniably progressed while in the performance of his duties and in the course
of his last employment contract. Respondents’ assertion that the said illness
also existed prior to petitioner’s embarkation, and therefore a preexisting
ailment, was not substantiated given that no such declaration was made by the
company-designated physician or the attending specialist.
Pursuant to Section 20(A) of the 2010
POEA-SEC, when a seafarer suffers a work-related injury or illness in the
course of employment, the company-designated physician is obligated to arrive
at a definite assessment of the former’s fitness or degree of disability
within a period of 120 days from repatriation. During the said period, the
seafarer shall be deemed on temporary total disability and shall receive
his basic wage until he is declared fit to work or his temporary disability is
acknowledged by the company to be permanent, either partially or totally, as
his condition is defined under the POEA-SEC and by applicable Philippine laws.
However, if the 120-day period is exceeded and no definitive declaration
is made because the seafarer requires further medical attention, then the
temporary total disability period may be extended up to a maximum of 240
days, subject to the right of the employer to declare within this period that a
permanent partial or total disability already exists. But before the company-designated physician
may avail of the allowable 240- day extended treatment period, he must perform
some significant act to justify the extension of the original 120-day period.
Otherwise, the law grants the seafarer the relief of permanent total disability
benefits due to such noncompliance.
In the case at bar, there is no dispute
that the company designated physician issued an “interim” assessment on May 14,
2014 declaring his disability to be “Grade 8 (orthopedic) – 2/3 loss of lifting
power and Grade 12 – (pulmonary) slight residual or disorder.” The gradings
were based on the findings that petitioner’s asthma was “still not totally
controlled,” while his back problem “still presents with tenderness and muscle
spasm on the left paraspinal muscle.” Being an interim disability grade, the
declaration was merely an initial determination of petitioner’s condition for
the time being and therefore cannot be considered as a definite prognosis.
Notwithstanding the temporariness of his findings, the company-designated
physician, however, failed to indicate the need for further
treatment/rehabilitation or medication, and provide an estimated period of
treatment to justify the extension of the 120-day treatment period.
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