Title
Deocampo vs. Seacrest Maritime Management, Inc.
Case
G.R. No. 236570
Decision Date
Jun 14, 2021
Seafarer Lemuel Deocampo, diagnosed with stroke after onboard illness, claimed total disability benefits. Supreme Court ruled his disability total and permanent due to the company physician's failure to issue a final assessment within 120 days, entitling him to full benefits.
seafarer
medical assessment
required period

Case Summary (G.R. No. 236570)

Factual Background and Medical Course

The record established that Deocampo was certified fit for sea duty by the company physician and was allowed to board the vessel on October 2, 2014. On March 3, 2015, after almost five months on board, he complained of dizziness and fainted in the bathroom. He was found to have increased blood pressure and was referred to medical treatment in Spain, where he was diagnosed with Acute Vestibular Syndrome of Peripheral Origin on March 30, 2015 and given medication.

After repatriation to Manila on April 5, 2015, Deocampo continued treatment through the Alegre Medical Clinic in St. Luke’s Medical Center, where laboratory testing on April 9, 2015 showed elevated cholesterol. On April 16, 2015, the company-designated physician, Dr. Alegre, issued his second progress report, stating that Deocampo suffered from Syncope and Benign Paroxymal Positional Vertigo. Subsequent evaluation included a hearing test on July 22, 2015, showing mild to moderate conductive hearing loss on both ears. A brain MRI taken on May 21, 2015 suggested gliosis or chronic lacunar infarct at the left corona radiata, describing a brain area associated with neural information pathways.

Eventually, on August 12, 2015, Dr. Alegre issued his 12th and Final Progress Report, stating that the vertigo was refractory to treatment and persistent and assigning a disability Grade 12 based on the “nearest similarity” under Abdomen #5, resulting in slight residuals of disorder with moderate tenderness. Deocampo contested this rating and sought a second opinion from Dr. Rommel Galvez, an independent cardiologist, who issued a medical report dated August 19, 2015 diagnosing Cerebrovascular Accident with Infarct on his Lacunar Area and also noted mild to moderate hearing loss. Dr. Galvez opined that Deocampo was unfit to work in any capacity as a seaman. The records, however, did not show the specific tests performed by Dr. Galvez upon which the opinion was based.

Claims, PVA Decision, and Denial of Employer’s Demands

After treatment and continued difficulty with his condition, Deocampo claimed unpaid amounts including a balance of sick leave pay and reimbursement for medical expenses. The respondents rejected his claims, and when his condition did not improve, Deocampo demanded permanent and total disability benefits, sick leave pay balance, reimbursement of medical expenses, damages, and attorney’s fees under the CBA provisions invoked.

The dispute proceeded before the PVA. In a Decision dated March 3, 2016, the PVA ruled in Deocampo’s favor and ordered Seacrest and Nordic—jointly and severally—to pay US$129,212.00 as permanent and total disability benefits, US$369.00 as the balance of sick leave pay, and attorney’s fees equal to ten percent (10%) of the total claims. The PVA reasoned that although Deocampo was fit when he began work, the toxic and arduous nature of the job led to fainting and vertigo during employment, and that post-employment tests showed ailments including mild stroke, vertigo, and hearing loss. The PVA further found Dr. Alegre’s Grade 12 disability assessment incorrect and not definitive, noting that Deocampo’s condition was not resolved at the time Dr. Alegre issued the report because the report indicated the symptoms were recurrent and persistent and advised continuation of medication.

CA Reversal and Modification

The respondents appealed to the CA. In its Decision dated August 16, 2017, the CA reversed and modified the PVA ruling. The CA held that Deocampo was not entitled to permanent and total disability benefits or attorney’s fees, although it accepted that his disability was permanent in nature. It classified the disability as partial and gave weight to Dr. Alegre’s Grade 12 disability findings, stating they were supported by the results of hearing tests and laboratory examinations and were not contradicted by Dr. Galvez’s opinion.

The CA also reasoned that it was unnecessary to determine whether Dr. Alegre issued his 12th and Final Progress Report within the 120- to 240-day period because Dr. Alegre had already declared Deocampo’s disability to be permanent, albeit partial. As a result, the CA ordered only a disability compensation equivalent to a Grade 12 rating as permanent partial disability, affirmed the unpaid sick leave pay award, and deleted the attorney’s fees. The CA denied Deocampo’s motion for reconsideration on January 4, 2018, prompting the present Rule 45 petition.

Issues Raised by Deocampo

Deocampo’s petition raised, in essence, three issues: first, whether the CA erred in according weight to Dr. Alegre’s partial disability assessment which Deocampo claimed was self-serving and issued by a physician allegedly not an expert; second, whether the CA erred in awarding only partial disability when Deocampo’s condition allegedly remained unresolved beyond the permissible period; and third, whether the CA erred in limiting attorney’s fees based on the partial disability finding. Deocampo also argued that he did not receive a copy of the final assessment and thus could not be expected to dispute it through the POEA-SEC procedure for referral to a third physician.

The respondents, in turn, argued that the petition raised questions of fact that were not reviewable in a Rule 45 proceeding. They also emphasized that Dr. Alegre attended to Deocampo for months while Dr. Galvez rendered his assessment after a one-time examination. Finally, respondents contended that Dr. Alegre issued his final assessment on the 129th day from repatriation, which they insisted remained within the 240-day allowable period, thus negating entitlement to permanent total disability benefits.

Supreme Court’s Treatment of the Rule 45 Framework and Exceptions

The Court began by reiterating that under Rule 45, only questions of law may be entertained, and that it was not the Court’s duty to reexamine and recalibrate evidence. It recognized recognized exceptions allowing review of factual matters, including where the CA manifestly overlooked undisputed facts that would justify a different conclusion, or where the CA’s factual findings were contrary to those of the tribunal below. The Court held that review of facts was warranted because the CA allegedly overlooked undisputed considerations relevant to the disability classification rules and because the CA’s conclusions were inconsistent with the PVA’s findings.

Governing Standards on Disability Benefits: Law, IRR, and POEA-SEC

The Court treated the key substantive dispute as whether Deocampo’s disability—admittedly permanent—was partial or total. It cited the applicable legal framework: Articles 197 to 199 of the Labor Code in relation to Rule X, Section 2 of the Amended Rules on Employees’ Compensation and relevant sections of the POEA-SEC and contractual commitments under the parties’ arrangement.

The Court underscored the IRR rule on the period of entitlement: if disability is caused by injury or sickness, the benefit is not paid longer than 120 consecutive days, except where medical attendance is still required beyond 120 days but not beyond 240 days, in which case temporary total disability benefits continue. The Court also drew from Elburg the settled jurisprudential rules governing claims for permanent and total disability, particularly emphasizing that the company-designated physician must issue the final medical assessment within 120 days from the seafarer’s report to the physician. If the physician fails within 120 days without sufficient justification, the disability becomes permanent and total. If the failure is justified by need for further treatment or similar grounds, the diagnostic and treatment period may be extended up to 240 days, but only when the physician performs some significant act to sufficiently justify the extension. If no final assessment is issued within the extended 240-day period, the disability becomes permanent and total regardless of justification.

Application of Elburg: Failure to Justify Extension Beyond 120 Days

The Court held that Deocampo’s final report was issued on August 12, 2015, which was 129 days after he first reported to Dr. Alegre. Under the Elburg doctrine, this delay required justification to avoid the conclusive presumption of permanent total disability that attaches when the final medical assessment is not issued within the 120-day period.

The Court concluded that the respondents failed to show sufficient justification. It found that the records were bereft of evidence that Dr. Alegre made a finding that there was a need to extend the period of diagnosis and medical treatment up to 240 days. While Dr. Alegre’s second progress report noted syncope and vertigo, the Court treated the final report itself as insufficient to establish an endorsed extension process. In particular, the Court emphasized that the employer bore the burden to prove that the company-designated physician had sufficient justification to extend the period.

The Court explained that it was not enough to assert that further treatment was needed absent documentation showing such extension was declared or supported as contemplated by Elburg and its subsequent interpretation. In that regard, the Court referred to cases such as Paleracio v. Selanes Marine Services, Inc., where the Court had ruled against extension for lack of supporting documents declaring the necessity for extension and for lack of presentation of medical reports and test results. The Court stated that the CA did not cite or refer to any document or medical report by Dr. Alegre establishing a need to extend the period to 240 days.

The Court further rejected the CA’s reliance on Jebsens Maritime, Inc., et al. v. Rapiz, explaining that the situation in Jebsens did not resolve the requirement under Elburg that the physician must first perform some significant act to justify an extension. The Court also observed that in any event the CA’s conclusion that the seafarer required further medical tr

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