G.R. No. 52254 - Abadiano vs. Government Service Insurance System

Petitioner Mercedes Abadiano, for and in behalf of the minors Josephine, Rodolfo, Jose, Honorio, and Catalino, all surnamed Buenvenida, filed a petition for certiorari to review a decision of the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) in ECC Case No. 1334.
Respondents were the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Employees’ Compensation Commission.
The ECC decision dated December 6, 1979 affirmed a GSIS decision denying the claim for income benefits for death.

The deceased, Catalina B. Buenvenida, served for about twenty four (24) years as an elementary grades teacher at the Department of Education (later Ministry of Education and Culture).
Her last assignment when her ailment supervened was at Catbalogan III Elementary School in Catbalogan, Samar.
An attending physician, Dr. Damaso J. Salinas Jr. of the Samar Provincial Hospital in Catbalogan, Samar, certified that liver cancer started in September 1978.
The initial symptoms were gradual weight loss, nausea, and vomiting.
The symptoms later included emaciation and gradual enlargement of the upper abdomen.
The deceased was confined at the Samar Provincial Hospital starting December 5, 1978.
The deceased died on December 13, 1978, at the age of 51 years.
Death was attributed to cancer of the liver.

After the deceased’s death, the petitioner, as judicial guardian of the minor legitimate children, filed a claim for compensation benefits under P.D. 626, as amended, with the GSIS.
The GSIS denied the claim on the ground that the ailment causing death was neither an occupational disease nor work-related.
The petitioner appealed to the ECC.
The ECC denied the claim and affirmed the GSIS ruling in its decision dated December 6, 1979.

The ECC found that carcinoma of the liver or liver cancer was “definitely not accepted as an occupational disease” in the deceased’s employment.
The ECC reasoned that the cause of cancer of the liver was unknown.
The ECC further stated that medical authorities observed most cases are associated with liver cirrhosis, described as diffuse liver cell death caused mainly by chronic alcohol ingestion plus impaired nutrition.

The petitioner invoked Rule III, Section 1(b) of the rules implementing P.D. 626, as amended, which provided that:

For sickness to be compensable, it must be the result of an occupational disease listed under Annex “A,” with the conditions satisfied; otherwise, proof must be shown that the risk of contracting the disease is increased by the working conditions.

The petitioner argued that because the rule allows compensability even if the ailment is not an occupational disease, the claim fell within coverage upon showing increased risk by working conditions.
The petitioner alleged that a teacher’s work is demanding and subjects the teacher to physical and mental stress and strain and exposure to the vagaries of nature.
The petitioner asserted the deceased was overworked and underpaid, which allegedly caused her to be unusually undernourished.
The petitioner argued that undernourishment was accepted by the ECC as a contributing factor in the irritation of liver cells and the eventual development of liver cancer.
The petitioner contended that the fact that cancer may be caused by other etiological factors did not defeat compensability.
The petitioner relied on Abana vs. Quisumbing (1968), quoted in the petition, emphasizing that employment need not be the sole facto...(Subscriber-Only)

Whether the death of Catalina B. Buenvenida from cancer of the liver was compensable under P.D. 626, as amended, considering that the illness was not accepted as an occupational disease in her employment.

Whether, despite the illness not being listed as an occupational disease under Annex “A,” the petitioner proved that the risk of contracting the disease was increased by the deceased’s working conditions as a teacher.
Whether it was sufficient that the deceased’s employment contributed to the aggravation or development of her illness, even if other etiological factors might also have contributed.
Whether the circumstances ...(Subscriber-Only)