Status Maritime Corporation vs. Doctolero

A seafarer's claim for permanent and total disability benefits is premature and without cause of action when filed before the company-designated physician has determined fitness to work or disability grading, and before the lapse of the 120-day period under Section 20(3) of the POEA-SEC.

Status Maritime Corporation, acting for and in behalf of its principal Admibros Shipmanagement Co., Ltd., engaged Filipino seafarers for ocean-going service under the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC). Rodrigo C. Doctolero was engaged as Chief Officer, a rank subject to pre-employment medical examination and to the POEA-SEC regime on work-related illness, medical repatriation, sickness allowance, and disability assessment by the company-designated physician.

On July 28, 2006, Status Maritime, acting for and in behalf of Admibros as its principal, hired Rodrigo C. Doctolero as Chief Officer on board the vessel M/V Dimitris Manios II for nine months with a basic monthly salary of US$1,250.00. Prior to embarkation, Doctolero underwent the required Pre-Employment Medical Examination and was declared fit to work. He boarded the vessel in August 2009 as stated in the decision.

On October 28, 2006, while M/V Dimitris Manios II was in Mexico, Doctolero experienced chest and abdominal pains. He was brought to a medical clinic in Vera Cruz, Mexico, but when no clear diagnosis could be made, he resumed work on board. In the evening of the same day, he again complained of abdominal pains and was brought to Clinic San Luis, also in Mexico, where he was diagnosed with Esophago-Gastritis-Duodenitis. The attending physician, Dr. Jorge Hernandez Bustos, recommended his repatriation.

On October 29, 2006, while waiting for his return flight schedule, Doctolero again experienced difficulty of breathing. He informed the ship's agent and requested assistance, but the latter extended no assistance. Doctolero then went by himself to Hospitales Nacionales, where he was admitted, paying the hospital bills amounting to MXN$7,032.17 on his own. Upon discharge, he sought assistance from the Philippine Embassy until his repatriation to the Philippines in the second week of November 2006.

On November 16, 2006, the company-designated physician evaluated Doctolero and found normal upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy and negative H. pylori test. Doctolero was recommended for several other tests that were, however, not administered. On January 22, 2007, on account of the illness suffered while working on board, Doctolero filed his NLRC complaint demanding total and permanent disability benefits, reimbursement of medical and hospital expenses, sick wage allowance, moral and exemplary damages, and legal interest. The Labor Arbiter dismissed for lack of merit for failure to prove work-relatedness or aggravation; the NLRC affirmed denial of sickness and disability pay as premature but ordered medical reimbursement; the Court of Appeals reversed and awarded full disability and other benefits.

• State of Health and PEME: Petitioner argued that the PEME did not reveal the real state of health of Doctolero.
• Work-Relatedness and Occurrence During Contract: Petitioner maintained that Doctolero did not show that his illness had occurred during the term of his contract and had been work-related or had been aggravated by the conditions of his work.
• Listing Under POEA-SEC: Petitioner argued that his illness was not listed either as a disability or as an occupational disease under Section 32 and Section 32-A, respectively, of the 2000 POEA-SEC.
• Independent Medical Finding and Prematurity: Petitioner stressed in reply that there was no finding by an independent physician that the illness had been work-related or aggravated by working conditions, and that the complaint was premature for being filed before expiration of the 120-day treatment period and in the absence of disability grading.

• Correctness of CA Decision: Respondent countered that the CA did not err because its assailed decision was based on law and jurisprudence.

• Entitlement to Permanent and Total Disability Benefits: Whether Doctolero was entitled to claim permanent and total disability benefits from the petitioners.

• Entitlement to Permanent and Total Disability Benefits: No. The claim was prematurely filed before the company-designated physician could determine fitness or disability grading and before lapse of the 120-day period, so no cause of action for disability pay and sickness allowance had accrued.

• Entitlement to Permanent and Total Disability Benefits: Temporary total disability lasting continuously for more than 120 days is deemed total and permanent under Article 198(c)(1) of the Labor Code, implemented by Section 2, Rule X allowing extension to 240 days where medical attendance is still required, to be read with Section 20(3) of the POEA-SEC limiting sickness allowance until fitness or disability assessment but not exceeding 120 days. A claim prospers only upon conditions such as failure to declare fitness or disability after 120 days with no indication for extension, lapse of 240 days without certification, conflicting opinions under Section 20-B(3), acknowledged partial but claimed total disability, dispute on grading, non-compensability finding contradicted by chosen doctors, refusal to pay despite total disability finding, or continued incapacity after the periods despite partial disability finding. Although disability extent is factual, conflict between Labor Arbiter/NLRC and CA findings warranted re-examination. Here, disability during the contract term was undisputed, but the complaint was filed before the physician could determine nature and extent of disability or before the initial 120-day period lapsed, while further tests were still pending, leaving no basis for fit-to-work certification or grading.

• Permanent and Total Disability; 120-Day / 240-Day Rule — Temporary total disability lasting continuously for more than 120 days is deemed total and permanent under Article 198(c)(1) of the Labor Code, except as otherwise provided in the Rules. Under Section 2, Rule X of the Rules implementing Book IV, income benefit for injury or sickness shall not be paid longer than 120 consecutive days except where medical attendance is still required beyond 120 days but not exceeding 240 days, with the System able to declare total and permanent status after 120 days as warranted by actual loss or impairment. Applied with Section 20(3) of the POEA-SEC, the filing before lapse of 120 days and before any fitness or grading rendered the disability claim premature.
• Conditions for Seafarer's Total and Permanent Disability Claim to Prosper — A claim prospers upon any of the following:
  • (a) the company-designated physician failed to issue fitness or disability declaration after 120 days with no indication justifying extension to 240 days;
  • (b) 240 days lapsed without certification;
  • (c) fitness declared within 120 or 240 days but seafarer's physician of choice and Section 20-B(3) doctor opine contrarily;
  • (d) partial permanent disability acknowledged but consulted doctors believe disability is total;
  • (e) total and permanent disability recognized but grading disputed;
  • (f) non-compensability or non-work-relatedness found by company physician but choice and third doctors find otherwise and declare unfitness;
  • (g) total and permanent disability declared but employer refuses payment; and
  • (h) partial permanent disability declared within period but seafarer remains incapacitated for usual sea duties after lapse thereof. None was shown here because assessment was still pending.
  • Factual Review Despite Finality of Factual Findings — The degree and extent of a seafarer's disability is a factual question ordinarily not reassessed on review. Re-examination was compelled here by the conflict between the factual findings of the Labor Arbiter and NLRC, on one hand, and those of the CA, on the other.

• "Upon sign-off from the vessel for medical treatment, the seafarer is entitled to sickness allowance equivalent to his basic wage until he is declared fit to work or the degree of permanent disability has been assessed by the company-designated physician but in no case shall this period exceed one hundred twenty (120) days." — States the POEA-SEC rule governing sickness allowance and the 120-day assessment period applied to find the claim premature.
• "With Doctolero still undergoing further tests, the company-designated physician had no occasion to determine the nature and extent of his disability upon which to base Doctolero's 'fit to work' certification or disability grading." — Explains why no cause of action for disability pay and sickness allowance had accrued at filing.
• "it is not required that the employment be the sole factor in the growth, development or acceleration of the illness to entitle the claimant to the benefits incident thereto. It is enough that the employment had contributed, even in a small measure, to the development of the disease." — Recites the NLRC's work-relatedness rationale for allowing medical reimbursement despite denying disability pay.

• Vergara vs. Hammonia Maritime Services, Inc., G.R. No. 172933, October 6, 2008, 567 SCRA 610, 627 — Cited as authority for Section 20(3) of the POEA-SEC on sickness allowance until fitness declaration or disability assessment not exceeding 120 days.
• Sharp Crew Management, Inc. vs. Taok, G.R. No. 193679, July 18, 2012, 677 SCRA 296, 315 — Cited as comparative authority for the enumerated conditions under which a seafarer's total and permanent disability claim may prosper.
• Madrigalejos vs. Geminilou Trucking Service, G.R. No. 179174, December 24, 2008, 575 SCRA 570, 573 — Cited to justify re-examination of evidence and factual matters due to conflict between findings of the Labor Arbiter and NLRC and those of the CA.

• Article 198(c)(1), Labor Code — Defines as total and permanent a temporary total disability lasting continuously for more than 120 days, except as otherwise provided in the Rules; applied as the statutory basis for determining permanent and total disability.
• Section 2, Rule X, Rules and Regulations Implementing Book IV, Labor Code — Provides the period of entitlement, limiting income benefit to 120 consecutive days except where medical attendance beyond 120 days up to 240 days is required, and allowing declaration of total and permanent status after 120 days; read together with the Labor Code and POEA-SEC to assess prematurity.
• Section 20(3), POEA-SEC — Entitles a seafarer signed off for medical treatment to sickness allowance equivalent to basic wage until declared fit or disability assessed, not exceeding 120 days; applied to hold that filing before assessment and before lapse of 120 days gave no cause of action.
• Section 32 and Section 32-A, 2000 POEA-SEC — Invoked by petitioners as listing disabilities and occupational diseases; petitioners argued the gastritis-duodenitis illness was not so listed.
• Section 20-B(3), POEA-SEC — Referenced in the enumerated conditions concerning conflicting opinions between the company-designated physician, the seafarer's physician of choice, and the jointly-selected third doctor.

Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr., Chairperson, Bienvenido L. Reyes, Francis H. Jardeleza, Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa