GR 213482; (June, 2019) (Digest)
G.R. No. 213482 June 26, 2019
George M. Toquero, Petitioner vs. Crossworld Marine Services, Inc., Kapal Cyprus, Ltd., and Arnold U. Mendoza, Respondents
FACTS
Petitioner George M. Toquero was employed as a fitter by respondent Crossworld Marine Services, Inc. On April 24, 2012, while on board the vessel, he was assaulted by a fellow seafarer, who struck his head with a metal spanner, rendering him unconscious. He underwent emergency craniectomy in Togo, Africa, leaving a hole in his skull, and was repatriated to the Philippines on May 14, 2012. The company-designated physician, after examinations including an EEG which yielded normal results, declared Toquero fit to work on June 18, 2012. Dissatisfied, Toquero consulted his private physicians, Dr. Leonardo Pascual and Dr. Renato Runas. Dr. Runas diagnosed him with total permanent disability, declaring him permanently unfit for sea duty due to frequent headaches, dizziness, skull defect, and the dangerous shipboard environment for his condition.
ISSUE
Whether the company-designated physician’s assessment declaring Toquero fit for work is conclusive, thereby barring his claim for total and permanent disability benefits.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court granted the petition and awarded Toquero total and permanent disability benefits. The Court emphasized that for a company-designated physician’s assessment to be conclusive and binding, it must be complete and definitive. A medical assessment is complete if it is issued within the mandated 120/240-day period and is definitive when it precisely states the seafarer’s fitness or disability grade. Here, the company physician’s declaration of fitness was not definitive as it failed to consider the unresolved and significant physical condition of Toquero—specifically, the persistent hole in his skull and the associated symptoms documented by his private doctors. The assessment was rendered incomplete because it did not address the need for a metal plate implant to cover the skull defect, a procedure Toquero had requested for his safety. Consequently, the company’s assessment could not reflect his true medical condition. Given this incompleteness and the conflicting, detailed assessment of permanent unfitness from his private physicians, the doubt was resolved in favor of the seafarer, entitling him to total permanent disability benefits under the POEA-SEC and the collective bargaining agreement.