GR 213874; (June, 2019) (Digest)
G.R. No. 213874 June 19, 2019
JEBSENS MARITIME, INC. AND/OR STAR CLIPPERS, LTD., Petitioners vs. EDGARDO M. MIRASOL, Respondent
FACTS
Respondent Edgardo M. Mirasol was hired by petitioners as a First Cook. After a fit-to-work declaration in his pre-employment medical examination, he commenced work. Within ten days onboard, he complained of pain in his right testicle. He was eventually diagnosed with epidydimitis and a solid mass in the right testicle, with malignancy highly considered, leading to a recommendation for radical orchiectomy. Respondent filed a complaint for total and permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance, and attorney’s fees.
The Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of Mirasol, awarding US$60,000.00 for permanent total disability, sickness allowance, and attorney’s fees. The NLRC modified this on appeal, holding that testicular cancer was not work-related but awarding a lower disability grade benefit of US$7,465.00 for the loss of a testicle, while affirming the sickness allowance and attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeals subsequently reinstated the Labor Arbiter’s full award.
ISSUE
Whether respondent Edgardo M. Mirasol is entitled to permanent and total disability benefits.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the CA decision. The pivotal factor was the company-designated physicians’ failure to issue a final and definite assessment on respondent’s fitness to work or disability rating within the 120-day period mandated by law and jurisprudence. The Court examined the medical reports, particularly the fifth report dated August 30, 2012, which stated the treatment was “in progress,” recommended surgery, and set a next appointment. This was deemed an interim report, not a final assessment.
Applying the doctrine established in Elburg Shipmanagement Phils., Inc. v. Quiogue, the Court held that the failure of the company-designated physician to give a final assessment within the 120-day period results in the seafarer’s entitlement to permanent and total disability benefits. This legal consequence operates regardless of any dispute over the work-relatedness of the illness. Since no final assessment was issued within the statutory period, Mirasol was conclusively deemed permanently and totally disabled. The awards for sickness allowance and attorney’s fees were likewise affirmed as proper.