Case Digest (G.R. No. 227523)
Facts:
Amalia S. Menez (In Behalf of the Late Jonathan E. Menez) v. Status Maritime Corporation, Naftotrade Shipping and Commercial S.A., and Moilen Aloysius Villegas, G.R. No. 227523, August 29, 2018, Supreme Court Second Division, Caguioa, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Amalia S. Menez sued in behalf of her deceased husband, Jonathan E. Menez. The private respondents are Status Maritime Corporation (a local manning agency), its foreign principal Naftotrade Shipping and Commercial S.A., and Moilen Aloysius Villegas. Jonathan was engaged as second engineer under a six‑month contract and deployed to the M/V Naftocement II.
Jonathan was hired on February 20, 2009, passed the pre‑employment medical examination (PEME), and embarked on February 25, 2009. While on board he performed typical engine‑room duties and allegedly experienced symptoms—dizziness, nausea, eye redness, purple skin patches, bleeding gums, prolonged nosebleeds and severe urinary and gastrointestinal hemorrhage—which petitioner claims were known to the ship master but not recorded in the ship’s logbook.
Jonathan disembarked on September 11, 2009 and returned to the Philippines on September 12, 2009; he did not submit to a post‑employment medical examination. He consulted an internist‑nephrologist in Bacolod, underwent laboratory tests (showing borderline prostatic enlargement and other non‑specific findings), and was treated conservatively. On October 29, 2009 he was admitted to The Doctors’ Hospital and diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML); on November 4, 2009 he was admitted to Bacolod Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital with intracranial hemorrhages and AML, and died on November 11, 2009.
On April 14, 2010 petitioner filed a complaint with the Labor Arbiter seeking death benefits (US$72,000), medical reimbursement (P147,076), burial expenses and damages. The Labor Arbiter rendered judgment on September 10, 2010 awarding the claimed benefits. Respondents appealed to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), which on December 30, 2010 reversed and dismissed the complaint; the NLRC found lack of merit, noting failure to prove work‑relatedness and noncompliance with post‑employment reporting. Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration with the NLRC was denied on March 29, 2011.
Petitioner then filed a petition under Rule 65 with the Court of Appeals (CA), which affirmed the NLRC in a decision dated April 29, 2016 and denied reconsideration in a Resolution dated October 3, 20...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the death of Jonathan E. Menez is compensable under the 2000 POEA Standard Employment Contract....(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)