GR L 16600; (December,1961) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-16600 December 27, 1961
ILOILO CHINESE COMMERCIAL SCHOOL, petitioner, vs. LEONORA FABRIGAR and THE WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION, respondents.
FACTS
Santiago Fabrigar, employed as a janitor-messenger by the Iloilo Chinese Commercial School from 1947 until March 12, 1956, died on June 28, 1956. His heirs, led by common-law wife Leonora Fabrigar, filed a claim for death benefits under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, alleging his death from pulmonary tuberculosis was work-related. The Hearing Officer denied the claim, finding insufficient proof linking the employment to the death and noting the death certificate listed the cause as “beriberi adult.”
On appeal, the Workmen’s Compensation Commission reversed the Hearing Officer’s decision. The Commission found that on March 11, 1956, Fabrigar performed unusually strenuous work preparing for graduation, carrying furniture and working extended hours despite feeling unwell. He spat blood on March 13 and subsequently stopped working. Medical evidence from Dr. Quirico Villareal showed he was treated for far-advanced pulmonary tuberculosis and heart disease from April to May 1956. The Commission concluded his pre-existing tuberculosis was aggravated by his strenuous employment, leading to his death, and awarded compensation.
ISSUE
The core issues were: (1) whether substantial evidence supported the Commission’s finding that Fabrigar’s employment aggravated his illness causing death; (2) whether an employer-employee relationship existed between Fabrigar and the school; and (3) whether the school, as an educational institution, was exempt from the Workmen’s Compensation Law.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the Commission’s decision. On the cause of death, the Court upheld the Commission’s factual finding, supported by substantial evidence, that Fabrigar died from pulmonary tuberculosis aggravated by his employment. The Court deferred to the Commission’s assessment of the conflicting medical evidence, giving more weight to the treating physician’s (Dr. Villareal) diagnosis over the death certificate completed by a sanitary inspector who never examined the deceased. The short interval between his last strenuous workday and his death substantiated the causal connection.
Regarding the employer-employee relationship, the Court found substantial proof that the school exercised control over Fabrigar’s work through its supervisor (encargado), satisfying the control test. The school’s claim that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was the true employer was unavailing. Finally, the Court refused to entertain the school’s new argument that it was exempt as a non-industry devoted to learning, as this factual issue was not properly raised before the Commission and could not be raised for the first time on appeal. The award of death benefits was thus sustained.