Case Digest (G.R. No. 228550)
Facts:
Joemar Babiera Bacabac v. NYK-Fil Shipmanagement Inc. and NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd., G.R. No. 228550, July 28, 2021, the Supreme Court First Division, Lopez, M., J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Joemar B. Bacabac was hired by local manning agency NYK-Fil Shipmanagement Inc., acting for and in behalf of its principal NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd. Respondents employed Joemar as an oiler under a contract executed November 25, 2011, with the service period from December 8, 2011 to September 8, 2012; he was deployed aboard the MV IKI on December 8, 2011.
On March 11, 2012, while aboard the vessel, Joemar experienced dizziness and abdominal pain; initial shipboard care did not resolve his symptoms and, upon the vessel’s call in Chile, he vomited blood and was taken ashore. Diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in Chile revealed kidney dysfunction requiring dialysis and later surgery for bile duct stones; he was hospitalized from March 15 to May 19, 2012. He was medically repatriated to the Philippines on May 21, 2012, where Manila doctors performed duodenostomy and endoscopy; on May 23, 2012 a company-designated physician diagnosed Severe Acute Cholangitis and declared the condition not work-related. Respondents paid for the treatment.
On September 24, 2012, Joemar filed a complaint before the Labor Arbiter for total and permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance, medical reimbursement, and damages, claiming inability to work after hospitalization. The Labor Arbiter rendered judgment on April 15, 2013 awarding full disability benefits and sickness wages (US$62,256.00) plus ten percent attorney’s fees, dismissing other claims for lack of merit; the arbiter relied on the presumption that illnesses manifesting during a seafarer’s contract are disputably presumed work-related under the POEA Standard Employment Contract (POEA‑SEC).
Respondents appealed to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), which, on November 29, 2013, reversed the Labor Arbiter and dismissed the complaint for lack of merit, giving weight to the company physician’s opinion that Joemar’s ailment was not work-related and finding Joemar failed to establish a causal connection between his work and his illness. Reconsideration before the NLRC was denied.
Joemar then sought judicial relief in the Court of Appeals via a petition for certiorari (CA‑G.R. SP No. 134377). On April 27, 2016, the CA affirmed the NLRC decision, holding that contracting an illness during the contract does not automatically make it work-related and that petitioner failed to prove the nature of h...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether Joemar’s illness that manifested during his employment is disputably presumed work-related under the POEA‑Standard Employment Contract.
- Whether the company-designated physician’s medical report sufficiently rebutted the disputable presumption of work-relatedness.
- Whether Joemar is entitled to total and permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance,...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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