G.R. No. 212098 , July 26, 2017
JULIO C. ESPERE, Petitioner, vs. NFD INTERNATIONAL MANNING AGENTS, INC./TARGET SHIP MANAGEMENT PTE LTD./CYNTHIA SANCHEZ, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Julio C. Espere was hired as a Bosun by respondent manning agency. Five months into his contract, he complained of dizziness and malaise. A physician in Vancouver diagnosed him with “uncontrolled hypertension” and declared him unfit for duty, leading to his medical repatriation. In the Philippines, company-designated physicians at Metropolitan Medical Center consistently treated him for hypertension from December 2011 to May 2012. Their reports stated his condition was multifactorial, not work-related, and that with medication and control, it was not a contraindication to resuming work. Petitioner received sickness allowance during this period.
Dissatisfied, petitioner consulted an independent orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Manuel Jacinto, who issued a certificate stating petitioner suffered from “uncontrolled essential hypertension” that was work-related and work-aggravated. Petitioner then filed a complaint for permanent total disability benefits. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint, finding the illness not work-related. The NLRC reversed, awarding Grade 1 disability benefits, ruling that his stressful work aggravated his condition and that the lapse of 120 days from repatriation entitled him to permanent total disability.

ISSUE

Whether petitioner is entitled to permanent total disability benefits due to his hypertension.

RULING

No, the petitioner is not entitled to permanent total disability benefits. The Supreme Court reinstated the Labor Arbiter’s decision dismissing the complaint. The legal logic is anchored on the failure to prove work-relatedness and the proper application of the 120/240-day rule for assessment. For an illness to be compensable, the seafarer must prove that it is work-related, meaning it was acquired during the term of his contract and that the working conditions contributed to its aggravation. The company-designated physicians, who monitored petitioner consistently for nearly six months, categorically stated his hypertension was not work-related but multifactorial (genetic, lifestyle, etc.). The Court found the opinion of Dr. Jacinto, an orthopedic surgeon, insufficient to overturn these findings, as it was not shown he was a specialist on the illness and his evaluation was not as comprehensive.
Furthermore, the NLRC erroneously applied the 120-day rule to declare permanent total disability. The correct rule, established in jurisprudence, is that the company-designated physician has 120 days from repatriation to provide a final assessment, extendable to 240 days if justifiable. Here, the physicians were actively treating and evaluating petitioner within this period. Their April 24, 2012 report indicated his condition, with medication, was not a bar to resuming work. Since a final assessment of fitness was issued within the allowable period, and petitioner failed to substantiate his claim of work-relatedness, no entitlement to disability benefits arises. The award was therefore set aside.