G.R. No. 234346, August 14, 2019
Marlow Navigation Phils., Inc., Marlow Navigation Netherlands B.V., and Captain Leopoldo C. Tenorio, Petitioners vs. Primo D. Quijano, Respondent

FACTS

Respondent Primo D. Quijano was hired as a Cook for a six-month contract. He was declared fit for duty and boarded the vessel on August 18, 2013. He was signed off on January 30, 2014, purportedly due to contract completion. Upon repatriation, he reported to the petitioners’ office, was paid his final wages, and underwent a debriefing. He was subsequently re-hired under a new contract dated March 5, 2014, but this employment did not materialize due to his confinement on March 18, 2014, where an independent physician diagnosed him with liver abscess, cholecystitis with cholelithiasis, diabetes mellitus type II, and panophthalmitis.
Quijano filed a complaint for disability benefits, alleging his illnesses were work-related and acquired during his last employment. He claimed he experienced symptoms on board, reported them, and was unjustly refused medical assistance upon repatriation, forcing him to seek independent medical attention. Petitioners countered that Quijano disembarked due to contract expiration without any incident, denied his request for medical assistance, and argued he forfeited his claim by failing to undergo a post-employment medical examination with the company-designated physician as required.

ISSUE

Whether or not the Court of Appeals committed reversible error in affirming the award of total and permanent disability benefits to respondent Quijano.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the award of disability benefits, but ordered a recomputation of the amount. The Court held that Quijano’s failure to report to the company-designated physician was justified. The legal logic is that the mandatory reporting requirement presupposes that the seafarer is not abandoned by his employer. Here, substantial evidence, including the unexplained pre-termination of his contract and the petitioners’ denial of his request for medical assistance, supported the finding that petitioners effectively refused to provide post-employment medical examination, thereby abandoning him. This justified Quijano’s recourse to an independent physician.
Consequently, the company-designated physician was unable to assess Quijano within the statutory periods. Under the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-Standard Employment Contract and prevailing jurisprudence, when a seafarer’s illness or disability persists beyond 120 or 240 days without a definitive assessment from the company doctor, the disability is deemed total and permanent by operation of law. The Court also found substantial evidence that his illnesses were work-related, noting that as a Cook, his duties and working conditions could have contributed to their development or aggravation. However, the Court remanded the case for recomputation, finding that the PVA and CA erroneously classified him as a junior officer under the CBA; his correct classification was as a rating, which carries a lower benefit rate.