G.R. No. L-50545. May 23, 1986.
LYDIA D. MILANO, petitioner, vs. EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION and GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM (Katipunan National Agricultural School, Katipunan Zamboanga del Norte), respondents.

FACTS

Samuel Milano worked for the government starting in 1955, first as a FACOMA bookkeeper and later, from October 1, 1958, at the Katipunan National Agricultural School. He served as a bookkeeper for about seventeen years before becoming an administrative assistant on April 10, 1975. In early 1975, he began experiencing epigastric pain. He was later diagnosed with a penetrating duodenal ulcer. On February 6, 1977, he was hospitalized for ascites, marked weight loss, and epigastric discomfort, and was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas with metastases. He was discharged on March 15, 1977, and died the same day from cardiorespiratory arrest due to pancreatic cancer.
His widow, Lydia D. Milano, filed a claim for death benefits with the GSIS on May 30, 1977. The GSIS denied the claim, stating the illness was not an occupational disease. The Employees’ Compensation Commission affirmed this denial. The petitioner argued her husband’s duodenal ulcer, which she claimed developed over years, was the proximate cause of death and could be traced to the period before the New Labor Code took effect on January 1, 1975, potentially invoking the more favorable provisions of the old Workmen’s Compensation Act.

ISSUE

Whether the death of Samuel Milano is compensable under the prevailing employees’ compensation law.

RULING

No, the death is not compensable. The Court first addressed the applicable law. The petitioner’s argument that the illness originated pre-1975 was deemed a mere conjecture unsupported by evidence. The medical records indicated the earliest period of treatment was from November 17 to 29, 1976, with a history of epigastric pain of only six months’ duration. Therefore, the ailment clearly occurred after January 1, 1975, making the claim governed by the provisions of the New Labor Code (P.D. 626, as amended), not the old Workmen’s Compensation Act.
Under the new law, for a non-listed illness like cancer of the pancreas to be compensable, the claimant must prove that the risk of contracting the disease was increased by the employee’s working conditions. The Court found that cancer of the pancreas is not an occupational disease for a bookkeeper or administrative assistant. The petitioner failed to present any evidence, such as medical literature, establishing that such clerical work increases the risk of pancreatic cancer. Her allegation that her husband’s irregular eating habits due to work pressure caused his ulcer and subsequent cancer was insufficient. The Court agreed with the GSIS that such conditions are not peculiar to his occupation and, more critically, are not established causative factors for pancreatic cancer. The legal principles of presumption of compensability and aggravation, applicable under the old law, are expressly not grounds for compensation under the new regime. Consequently, the denial of the claim was affirmed.