Title
Cabatan vs. Southeast Asia Shipping Corp.
Case
G.R. No. 219495
Decision Date
Feb 28, 2022
Seafarer denied disability benefits due to failure to prove work-related injury and non-compliance with mandatory three-day reporting requirement post-repatriation.
seafarer
permanent disability benefits
injury
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 177766)

Factual Background

Cabatan boarded the vessel M/V BP Pioneer on January 30, 2010 under a three-month contract. During his 12-hour duty on March 29, 2010, while repairing a generator and carrying assigned spare parts including a heavy connecting rod, the vessel suddenly swayed due to big waves despite a restricted alley. Cabatan reported that he bent and nearly fell to his knees, after which he experienced excruciating pain in his scrotal/inguinal area. He also stated that he felt pain and numbness in his left leg down to his foot, yet he continued carrying the parts and finished repairing the generator until he was relieved by another oiler.

After his duty, Cabatan took a pain reliever and then went to the ship’s clinic for examination. The ship doctor’s Report of Illness advised him to rest until further observation, which the doctor treated as possibly due to tiredness, and ruled out hernia and trauma. On May 19, 2010, Cabatan underwent re-examination. He still felt pain on prolonged standing or walking and had numbness in his lower extremity, but the doctor concluded it was normal considering age and advised only pain relievers.

Upon expiration of his contract on May 25, 2010, Cabatan disembarked at the port of Takoradi, Ghana and was repatriated to the Philippines. Cabatan believed his scrotal/inguinal pain was normal and, following the medical advice to rest, took a complete rest for about a month. SEASCORP later called him for possible deployment, and he underwent PEME at Merita Diagnostic Clinic (a company-accredited clinic). During the examination, Cabatan informed the doctor about the injury sustained on board. The doctor requested x-rays of the scrotal/inguinal area and lumbar spine. The July 2, 2010 Merita findings noted perineal pain extending to the medial aspects of both thighs, and a lumbosacral x-ray result suggesting retrolestheses L2 over L3, osteodegenerative changes, and related assessments, with an orthopedic surgeon’s recommendation to consider nerve root compression and to undertake further studies such as EMG/NCV and MRI of the lumbosacral area; it also recorded genital findings including penile implant history and ruled out bulging mass, with hypertension controlled by medication.

On July 30, 2010, Cabatan underwent MRI of the lumbo-sacral spine, which showed central canal and bilateral neural foraminal stenosis at L4-L5 and L5-S1 secondary to posterior disc protrusion, ligamentum flaval thickening, and facet arthropathy, disc bulging at L2-L3 and L3-L4, lumbar osteophytes with disc desiccation, posterior annular tears at L4-L5 and L5-S1, Grade I spondylolisthesis at L4/L5, and other recorded findings including a subcutaneous cyst. He also underwent EMG NCV, which interpreted findings compatible with mild chronic lumbar radiculopathy involving the L4-5 and L5-S1 spinal roots.

Cabatan then consulted physicians who recommended surgical intervention. He consulted Dr. Detabali of De los Santos Hospital, who advised L4-S1 Laminectomy and L4-L5 Instrumented Posterolateral Fusion, but the cost compelled Cabatan to request financial assistance from SEASCORP through its crewing manager, Mr. Aguinaldo, which did not lead to the desired assistance. Later, on August 26, 2010, Cabatan consulted Dr. David M. Cabatan, Jr., who diagnosed spinal stenosis at L4-L5 and L5-S1 with Grade 1 spondylolisthesis at L4-L5, and recorded complaints of greatly diminished standing and walking tolerance due to low back pain radiating down the lower extremities, with numbness and paresthesias, aggravated by standing or walking for about fifteen minutes. Dr. Cabatan also described the MRI findings as causing moderate to severe spinal stenosis and advised decompression surgery, with estimated total surgery cost of P473,000.00.

Procedural History

On March 1, 2011, Cabatan filed a complaint against the respondents for permanent and total disability benefits, among other monetary claims. Respondents denied liability and argued that during Cabatan’s last employment he underwent PEME and was certified fit for sea duty. They further asserted that after the contract ended on May 25, 2010, Cabatan disembarked and, upon arrival in Manila, did not report to the manning agency for the mandatory post-employment medical examination, nor did he request medical assistance for any injury or illness.

The Labor Arbiter (LA), in its August 31, 2011 Decision, ruled in Cabatan’s favor and directed respondents, jointly and severally, to pay permanent and total disability compensation equivalent to $60,000.00, plus attorney’s fees equivalent to 10% of the total judgment award, while dismissing other claims. The LA found that Cabatan suffered an injury while performing his duties as an oiler. It treated the injury as work-related and therefore compensable. On the respondents’ argument regarding failure to comply with the three-day reporting requirement for post-employment examination, the LA rejected the contention as untenable, reasoning that Cabatan was repatriated due to contract expiration rather than medical reasons. Consequently, it held that the three-day mandatory reporting requirement under Section 20(B)(2) and (3) of the POEA-SEC did not apply.

On appeal, the NLRC reversed and dismissed Cabatan’s claim. It found Cabatan’s assertion that he suffered a work-related injury during the term of his employment that rendered him permanently and totally disabled to be unsupported. It characterized the documentary record as reflecting discomfort in the scrotal and inguinal area rather than substantiating a work-related spinal injury. The NLRC also relied on the rule that a seafarer who claims to be medically infirm must be examined by the company-designated physician within three days from repatriation. It held that Cabatan’s failure to report within the mandatory period, absent justifiable cause, resulted in forfeiture of his right to disability benefits under the POEA-SEC. The NLRC motion for reconsideration was denied on June 18, 2012.

Cabatan thereafter filed a petition for certiorari before the CA. He argued that Section 20(B)(3) covers only seafarers medically repatriated, and because he was repatriated upon completion of his contract, he was entitled to disability benefits based on the findings of the company-accredited clinic that he was unfit for sea duty. He also contended that the controlling factor was a work-related illness or injury suffered during the contract term, and that his failure to report to the company physician should not bar his claim. He further explained that the ship doctor did not recommend immediate medical attention; hence, he did not proceed to the company physician until he learned of his disability upon a later declaration that he was unfit for sea duty.

The CA denied the petition in its January 23, 2015 Decision and later denied reconsideration in its July 20, 2015 Resolution, holding that Cabatan’s non-compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement resulted in forfeiture of the right to claim compensation and benefits.

Issues Raised Before the Supreme Court

Cabatan raised the following principal issues: first, whether the CA failed to consider the ship doctor’s Report of Illness indicating that his illness of spondylolisthesis was contracted during his term of employment; second, whether the three-day reporting requirement under Section 20(B)(3) of the 2000 POEA-SEC was an absolute rule contrary to jurisprudence; and third, whether he was entitled to disability compensation under Section 20(B)(6) and to attorney’s fees equivalent to ten percent of the award.

Ruling of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court denied the petition for review and affirmed the CA’s January 23, 2015 Decision and July 20, 2015 Resolution, thereby sustaining the NLRC’s dismissal of Cabatan’s disability claim and the forfeiture consequence of non-compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court recognized the general rule that a petition for review on Rule 45 raises questions of law only, not questions of fact. However, it treated the case as falling under an exception because the factual findings of the LA and NLRC conflicted with those of the CA, which justified the Court’s re-evaluation of the factual issues in the interest of equity.

The Court held that Cabatan’s contract executed on January 30, 2010 was governed by the 2000 POEA-SEC, specifically Paragraph 3, Section 20(B) on disability benefits. The Court quoted the rule that upon sign-off for medical treatment, sickness allowance would apply until the seafarer was declared fit or permanent disability had been assessed by the company-designated physician, and that for this purpose the seafarer had to submit to a post-employment medical examination by a company-designated physician within three working days upon return, except when physically incapacitated. It further emphasized the express consequence: failure of the seafarer to comply with the mandatory reporting requirement shall result in forfeiture of the right to claim the benefits.

In applying the POEA-SEC, the Court stated that to claim compensability, the seafarer had to show both that he suffered a work-related injury or illness during the term of the contract and that he submitted himself to the mandatory post-employment medical examination within three working days upon arrival. The Court explained, citing Jebsens Maritime, Inc. v. Undag, that the rationale for the three-day requirement was to allow the company physician to determine whether the illness or injury was work-related, because beyond that period it would be difficult to ascertain the real cause and would expose employers to unrelated disability claims.

The Court reviewed prior applications of the rule, including Wallem Maritime Services, Inc. v. Tanawan, InterOrient Maritime Enterprises, Inc. v. Creer III, Scanmar Maritime Services, Inc. v. De Leon, and Manila Shipmanagement & Manning, Inc. v. Aninang, where t

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