BANDILA SHIPPING, INC., G.R. No. 177100
MR. REGINALDO A. OBEN,
BANDILA SHIPPING, INC.
and FUYOH SHIPPING, INC.,
Petitioners, Present:
CARPIO, J., Chairperson,
- versus - BRION,
DEL CASTILLO,
ABAD, and
PEREZ, JJ.
MARCOS C. ABALOS,
Respondent. Promulgated:
February 22, 2010
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ABAD,
J.:
Statement
of the Case
This case is about a Filipino
seafarer’s claim for disability benefits from cholecystolithiasis or gallstone that was discovered when he
suffered excruciating pain while working on board an ocean-going vessel, an
illness that was not in the list of compensable diseases listed in the standard
seafarer’s contract that he signed with the vessel owner.
The
Facts and the Case
On
July 25, 2002 respondent Marcos C. Abalos entered into a contract of employment
with petitioner Bandila Shipping, Inc. (BSI), a Philippine manning agency acting
on behalf of its co-petitioner Fuyoh Shipping, Inc., as fourth engineer for the
ocean-going vessel M/V Estrella Eterna at US$765.00 per month for 10 months.[1] Prior to embarkation, Abalos underwent pre-employment
medical examination and was found to be “fit
for sea service.”[2] He boarded his vessel in
As
the vessel headed towards
On
January 25, 2003 respondent Abalos was repatriated to the P80,000.00.[5] Unable to get the company’s approval for his
surgery,[6] Abalos sought the opinion of other physicians who made
the same diagnosis and suggested surgery.[7]
On
June 12, 2003 Abalos filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter for disability
benefits, unexpired portion of his contract, moral and exemplary damages, and
attorney’s fees against petitioner BSI, its claims manager, and its foreign
principal, petitioner Fuyoh Shipping, Inc.,[8] in
NLRC OFW-(M) Case 03-06-1493-00. Persuaded by the opinion of a company-designated
physician that cholecystolithiasis was
not work-related, BSI denied liability.
Meantime, respondent Abalos amended
his complaint to include nonpayment of disability benefits, medical
reimbursement, sickness allowance, compensatory damages, moral and exemplary
damages, and attorney’s fees.[9]
To
establish compensability, respondent Abalos consulted Dr. Efren R. Vicaldo, an
internist of the Philippine Heart Center, who certified that: 1) Abalos had
gall bladder stones requiring surgery; 2) he was unfit to resume work as
seaman; and 3) his illness was work-aggravated with an impediment of grade VII
(41.80%).[10]
Efforts
to amicably settle the dispute did not materialize.[11] Thus, on January 29, 2004 the Labor Arbiter
rendered a decision,[12] granting
respondent Abalos permanent disability benefit, sickness allowance, and 10
percent of the award as attorney’s fees.
The Labor Arbiter found that Abalos became ill while on board his
assigned vessel and the demanding nature of his work aggravated it, thus,
establishing a reasonable connection between the two. He denied the other claims for lack of merit.
But, on appeal by petitioner BSI,
on February 23, 2006 the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) rendered judgment[13] that
set aside the Labor Arbiter’s decision. The
NLRC pointed out that the applicable standard terms of employment did not
regard respondent Abalos’ illness as an occupational disease. He also failed to show that his work on ship
aggravated it. His motion for
reconsideration having been denied,[14]
Abalos went up to the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP 95238.
On January 30, 2007 the CA
rendered a decision,[15]
granting the petition, setting aside the NLRC decision, and reinstating that of
the Labor Arbiter. On March 19, 2007 the
appellate court denied BSI’s motion for reconsideration,[16] hence,
the present petition for review.
Issue
Presented
The
core issue presented in this case is whether or not Abalos’ cholecystolithiasis or gallstone is
compensable and, thus, entitles him to disability benefits and sickness
allowance.
The
Court’s Rulings
Whether or not respondent Abalos’
illness is compensable is essentially a factual issue. Yet the Court can and will be justified in
looking into it considering the conflicting views of the NLRC and the CA.[17]
There is no question as to what respondent
Abalos was sick of. He was sick of cholecystolithiasis or gallstone. It does not develop overnight. It is caused by stone formation in the
gallbladder that blocks the tube leading out of the gallbladder, causing bile
to build up, resulting in gallbladder inflammation. These gallstones are solid accumulations of
the components of bile, particularly cholesterol, bile pigments, and calcium.[18] The formation of gallbladder stones take
months, if not years, to build up.
According to the NLRC, medical
reports show that gallstone relates
to one’s weight or diet and in some instances may be a genetic
predisposition. It is not one of those
enumerated as compensable diseases in the Revised Standard Terms
and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino Seafarers on Board
Ocean-Going Vessels that covered Abalos’ employment. The NLRC denied him disability benefits and
sickness allowance for this reason.
The CA held, however, that Abalos’
diet or sustenance on board the vessel had presumably caused or contributed to
his illness for he had no choice but eat ship food. Consequently, although his gallstone is not a compensable illness under his
employment contract, it can be said that his illness was either work-related or
reasonably connected with his work.
But, since cholecystolithiasis or gallstone
has been excluded as a compensable illness under the applicable standard
contract for Filipino seafarers that binds both respondent Abalos and the
vessel’s foreign owner, it was an error for the CA to treat Abalos’ illness as
“work-related” and, therefore, compensable.
The standard contract precisely did not consider gallstone as
compensable illness because the parties agreed, presumably based on medical
science, that such affliction is not caused by working on board ocean-going
vessels.
Nor has respondent Abalos proved
by some evidence that the nature of his work on board a ship aggravated his
illness. No one knew when he boarded the
vessel that he was sick of gallstone. By
the nature of this illness, it is highly probable that Abalos already had it
when he boarded his assigned ship although it went undiagnosed because he had
yet to experience its symptoms.
If respondent Abalos had instead
been sick of asthma and the shipping company knew of it even as it assigned him
to do work that exposed him to allergens, then it can be said that the company
assigned him work that aggravated his illness. Here, however, he himself was unaware that he
had gallstone until excruciating pains manifested its presence for the first
time when his vessel was sailing the seas.
The Court recognized in Vergara v. Hammonia Maritime Services, Inc.[19]
the significance of the adoption by the Department of Labor and Employment of
the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Standard Employment Contract as
a condition for deploying Filipino seafarers working on foreign ocean-going
vessels. When the foreign shipping
company signs that contract, there is assurance that it voluntarily subjects
itself to Philippine laws and jurisdiction.
If the NLRC orders the payment of benefits not found in that contract,
the particular seaman might be favored but the credibility of our standard
employment contract will suffer. Foreign
shipping companies might regard it as non-binding to the detriment of other
seamen.
ACCORDINGLY, the Court grants the petition, SETS ASIDE the decision of the Court of
Appeals in CA-G.R. SP 95238 dated January 30, 2007 and its resolution dated
March 19, 2007, and REINSTATES the
decision of the National Labor Relations Commission in NLRC NCR CA 039306-04 dated
February 23, 2006.
SO
ORDERED.
ROBERTO A. ABAD
Associate Justice
WE
CONCUR:
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
ARTURO D. BRION MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO
Associate
Justice Associate Justice
JOSE
Associate Justice
ATTESTATION
I attest that the conclusions in the
above Decision had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to
the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
Chairperson, Second Division
CERTIFICATION
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII
of the Constitution and the Division Chairperson’s Attestation, I certify that
the conclusions in the above Decision had been reached in consultation before
the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
REYNATO
S. PUNO
Chief Justice
[1]
Rollo, p. 553.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17] Masangcay v. Trans-Global
Maritime Agency, Inc., G.R.
No. 172800, October 17, 2008, 569 SCRA 592, 607.
[18]
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/774352.overview.
[19]
G.R. No. 172933, October 6, 2008, 567 SCRA 610, 623.