Case Digest (G.R. No. 213465)
Facts:
Career Philippines Shipmanagement, Inc.; Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd. Liberia; and/or Sampaguita D. Marave v. Donard P. Silvestre, G.R. No. 213465, January 08, 2018, Supreme Court Second Division, Peralta, J., writing for the Court. Petitioners (the employer/shipowners and a company representative) sought review of the Court of Appeals’ decision awarding respondent Donard P. Silvestre permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance and attorney’s fees.On November 2, 2010, petitioners hired Silvestre as an ordinary seaman on M/V Gallia under a 2000 POEA Standard Employment Contract (POEA‑SEC). On May 6, 2011, while climbing out of Hold No. 2, a closing hatch cover struck Silvestre’s head; he sustained an avulsed wound to the right forehead, lost his helmet and experienced blurred vision. He was treated in Pointe Noire, Congo, repatriated to the Philippines on May 19, 2011, underwent imaging (CT May 20, 2011) and further treatment including scar revision (admitted June 27–discharged July 1, 2011). He continued to complain of intermittent pain and throbbing headaches.
Silvestre filed a complaint for disability benefits and damages on September 20, 2011. He submitted medical evaluations by private physicians opining he was no longer fit for sea duty and describing sensory deficits and persistent pain; one private doctor assessed a permanent partial disability Grade 9. Petitioners relied on company‑designated physician Dr. Nicomedes Cruz, who, according to petitioners, cleared Silvestre as healed within the 120‑day period and later issued a November 23, 2011 certification declaring Silvestre fit to work (presented on appeal).
The Labor Arbiter (LA) dismissed Silvestre’s complaint (March 5, 2012), finding from the Crew Member Accident Report that Silvestre admitted he “forgot” to put the safety pin and thus failed to observe safety procedures, barring recovery under Section 20(D) of the POEA‑SEC. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed (August 31, 2012). The Court of Appeals (CA), however, reversed and granted Silvestre US$60,000 permanent disability, US$1,720 sickness allowance and attorney’s fees (March 25, 2014), holding the accident was not shown to be willful and that Silvestre was deemed permanently disabled for lack of a timely company physician assessment. The CA denied reconsideration (July 11, 2014).
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Issues:
- Did petitioners meet the burden under Section 20(D) of the 2000 POEA‑SEC to prove that Silvestre’s injury resulted from his willful or intentional breach of duties, thereby excluding him from compensation?
- Was Silvestre properly deemed permanently and totally disabled despite the company‑designated physician’s later fit‑to‑work certification issued within 240 days?
- Were the awards of permanent disability benefits, sickness allowance and attorney’s fees properly granted and, if so, sh...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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