GR 42713; (May, 1978) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-42713 May 31, 1978
NORBERTA MARTILLO, petitioner, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES (National Library) and THE WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Norberta Martillo was employed as a provincial librarian for the National Library for thirty-nine years until her retirement on December 31, 1972, at age 62. During her employment, she was hospitalized in 1972 for gall-bladder and appendectomy operations and later for Cholecystitis Acute With Cholelithiasis and Myocardial Ischemia. Her attending physician advised her retirement. In 1975, she filed a claim for disability compensation.
The Hearing Officer awarded compensation and medical reimbursement. However, the Workmen’s Compensation Commission reversed this award. The Commission held that the evidence did not show her illnesses were contracted during employment and that her claim was filed after her separation from service, thus implying a jurisdictional defect.
ISSUE
The sole issue is whether petitioner’s illnesses arose out of or were aggravated by her employment, making them compensable under the Workmen’s Compensation Act.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the Commission’s decision and reinstated the Hearing Officer’s award. The legal logic is anchored on established presumptions and procedural rules under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. First, the timing of the claim filing is not a jurisdictional bar. Consistent jurisprudence holds that failure to file a claim within the period under Section 24 of Act No. 3428 is non-jurisdictional, especially when the employer had knowledge of the illness and was not prejudiced by the delay. The employer’s duty to provide medical benefits can subsist even after separation if the illness is compensable.
Second, and crucially, the Court applied the statutory presumption of compensability. Since Martillo’s illnesses (Cholelithiasis and Myocardial Ischemia) supervened during her employment, the law presumes they arose out of or were aggravated by her work. The burden to rebut this presumption shifts to the employer. Here, the National Library failed to appear at the hearing or present evidence to overthrow this presumption. The employer’s inaction left the presumption unrebutted, making the illnesses compensable.
The Court also rejected the Solicitor General’s argument that the employee must positively prove work-connection for non-occupational diseases. Under the Act, the initial showing of illness during employment triggers the employer’s burden to disprove compensability. The Commission’s factual findings were reviewable because it ignored the weight of medical certificates and the circumstance that her physician-advised retirement itself indicated physical incapacity, a condition entitling her to disability benefits. Thus, the award was rightfully reinstated.