ZAIDA G. RARO, petitioner,
vs. EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION and GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM
(Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences), respondents
G.R. No. 58445 | April 27, 1989
FACTS:
Petitioner worked as a clerk, then later as
a Mining Recorder, in the Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences at its Daet,
Camarines Norte regional office. Four years into the job, she began suffering
from severe and recurrent headaches coupled with blurring of vision. Petitioner
was later diagnosed to be suffering from brain tumor causing here to lose her
memory, sense of time, vision and reasoning power.
When petitioner’s husband filed for
disability benefits with the GSIS, his claim was denied based on the fact that
medical science cannot positively identify the causes of various types of
cancer. It is a disease that strikes people in general. The nature of a
person’s employment appears to have no relevance. It makes no difference
whether the victim is employed or unemployed, a white collar employee or a blue
collar worker, a housekeeper, an urban dweller or a resident of a rural
area.
ISSUE:
Whether or not brain tumor is a compensable
disease
RULING:
The law itself requires the claimant to
prove a positive thing —–that the illness was caused by employment and the risk
of contracting the disease is increased by the working conditions. To say that
since the proof is not available, therefore, the trust fund has the obligation
to pay is contrary to the legal requirement that proof must be adduced. The
existence of otherwise non-existent proof cannot be presumed.
In Navalta v. Government Service Insurance
System the Court recognized the fact that cancer is a disease of still unknown
origin which strikes people in all walks of life, employed or unemployed.
Unless it be shown that a particular form of cancer is caused by specific
working conditions (e. g. chemical fumes, nuclear radiation, asbestos dust,
etc.) it cannot be concluded that it was the employment which increased the
risk of contracting the disease.
If diseases not intended by the law to be
compensated are inadvertently or recklessly included, the integrity of the
State Insurance Fund is endangered. Compassion for the victims of diseases not
covered by the law ignores the need to show a greater concern for the trust
fund to which the tens of millions of workers and their families look for
compensation whenever covered accidents, diseases, and deaths occur.
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