GR 218330; (June, 2018) (Digest)
G.R. No. 218330. June 27, 2018
HEIRS OF MARCELIANO N. OLORVIDA, JR., REPRESENTED BY HIS WIFE, NECITA D. OLORVIDA, PETITIONER, V. BSM CREW SERVICE CENTRE PHILIPPINES, INC., AND/OR BERNHARD SCHULTE SHIP MANAGEMENT (CYPRUS) LTD. AND/OR NARCISSUS L. DURAN, RESPONDENTS.
FACTS
Marceliano Olorvida, Jr. was employed as a motorman by respondents from 2003 to 2009. His last contract ended on November 11, 2009. Upon repatriation, he allegedly reported his deteriorating health to the manning agency but was not referred to a company physician. He sought independent medical care and was diagnosed with Lung Adenocarcinoma Stage IV. He died on January 17, 2012. His heirs filed a claim for death benefits, arguing his lung cancer was work-related due to exposure to toxic fumes as a motorman. The Labor Arbiter dismissed the claim, citing Marceliano’s failure to comply with the mandatory post-employment medical examination under the POEA-SEC and noting he was a smoker. The NLRC reversed, awarding death benefits, finding the reporting obligation reciprocal and ruling the illness was compensable.
ISSUE
Whether the heirs of Marceliano Olorvida, Jr. are entitled to death benefits under the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC).
RULING
No. The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision. The legal logic centers on the failure to establish that the illness was work-related and contracted during the term of the employment contract. While lung cancer is a disputably presumed work-related illness under the POEA-SEC, this presumption was sufficiently rebutted. The Court emphasized that for an illness to be compensable, the seafarer must prove a reasonable linkage between the work and the illness, and that it was contracted during the effectivity of the contract. Here, the diagnosis was made over a year after his contract ended, and no evidence was presented that symptoms manifested during his employment or that his work conditions increased the risk of contracting lung cancer. The medical certificates did not attribute the cause to his work. Furthermore, the Court upheld the mandatory nature of the three-day post-employment medical examination requirement. The seafarer’s failure to submit to this examination without justifiable reason is fatal to his claim, as it deprives the employer of the opportunity to assess his condition. The claim for death benefits, therefore, cannot prosper.