G.R. No. 247409, February 03, 2020
MICHAEL ANGELO T. LEMONCITO, PETITIONER, V. BSM CREW SERVICE CENTRE PHILIPPINES, INC./BERNARD SCHULTE SHIPMANAGEMENT (ISLE OF MAN LTD.), RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

Petitioner Michael Angelo T. Lemoncito was hired by respondents as a motor man on July 16, 2015, and boarded the vessel on July 22, 2015. While on board, he complained of fever, cough, and his blood pressure reached 173/111. He was medically repatriated on February 22, 2016. The company-designated doctors diagnosed him with lower respiratory tract infection and hypertension, giving an interim disability assessment of Grade 12. Their final report dated July 1, 2016, noted his hypertension was responding to medication. Petitioner consulted his own doctor, Dr. Antonio Pascual, who certified him as “unfit to work as a seaman” due to Hypertensive Heart Disease, Stage 2, and Degenerative Osteoarthritis. Petitioner filed a complaint for total permanent disability benefits before the Panel of Voluntary Arbitrators, which ruled in his favor. The Court of Appeals reversed the Panel’s decision, dismissing the complaint. Petitioner elevated the case to the Supreme Court via a Petition for Review on Certiorari.

ISSUE

Can petitioner be declared as totally and permanently disabled by reason of his hypertension?

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court granted the petition, reversing the Court of Appeals and reinstating the decision of the Panel of Voluntary Arbitrators. The Court ruled that the company-designated physicians failed to issue a valid final and definitive assessment of petitioner’s fitness to work or disability within the mandatory 120-day period, extendable to 240 days under the law. Their July 1, 2016 report was issued beyond the 120-day period but within the 240-day period. However, the Court found this report insufficient as it did not contain a clear and categorical declaration of petitioner’s fitness to work or degree of disability; it merely stated he was “cleared cardiac wise” and his hypertension was “responding to medication.” The absence of a valid final assessment within the prescribed periods results, by operation of law, in the seafarer’s disability being considered total and permanent. The Court also cited jurisprudence granting permanent total disability compensation to seafarers with cardiovascular diseases or hypertension whose assessments extended beyond the prescribed periods.