694 Phil. 239
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.:
Petitioner Benjamin Penales (Penales) is a seafarer. He was contracted by private respondent Pacific Ocean Manning, Inc. (Pacific) for x x x its foreign principal, private respondent Celtic Pacific Ship Management (H.K.) Ltd. Penales was assigned to work on board the vessel, MV “Courage Venture” under the following terms and conditions:
Duration of Contract : 10 months Position : Ordinary Seaman Basic Monthly Salary : US$396.00 Hours of Work : 48 hours per week Overtime : US$2.60/hour Vacation Leave with pay : 6.0 days per month
Penales underwent the pre-employment medical examination (PEME) as part of the prescribed employment procedure and was pronounced fit to work by the company doctors.
Penales joined the vessel of assignment and started working thereon on May 24, 1999.
Penales’ scheduled repatriation coincided with the vessel’s docking operations at the port of Nigeria making his return to Manila difficult. Hence, his supposed disembarkation in Singapore where he is scheduled to sign off and repatriated to Manila following the termination of his employment contract was not followed. Instead, he was made to stay longer than the ten-month contract duration stipulated in the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) approved contract of employment.
On or about August 2000, the vessel “Courage Venture” went to the Port of Chennai, India. On its way to the designated port and while preparing to moor, the vessel, through its line (rope) tied on the starboard, was pulled by tugboat MV “Matchless.” In preparation for mooring, the Chief Mate ordered Penales to stand at the forward masthead and wait for further instruction.
While awaiting further instructions, the rope rifted and directly recoiled in Penales’ direction, hitting him severely in the chest, left arm and head. The impact caused him to miss his balance, [become] unconscious and sustain a fracture on his left arm.
Penales was brought to the National Hospital in India under the medical supervision of Dr. Arvind Rajagopalan. He was initially diagnosed to have suffered from “fracture shaft of left humerus mid third with radial nerve injury.” He was operated on, fixing the fracture on his left humerus with an eight-screwed stainless steel plate. After the operation, Penales was signed off and repatriated to Manila.
In Manila, Penales reported to the office of Pacific. He was referred to the Fatima Medical Clinic and was diagnosed as suffering from “Fracture, closed, committed, M/3, humerus, S/P Open Reduction, internal fixation, plate and screws, Radial nerve pulsy left, Cerebral Concussion, Contusion chest left” [as per the Medical Certificate[4] issued by the Fatima Medical Clinic. Penales however failed to go back to the clinic for the management of his injuries, as reported by Fatima Medical Clinic on October 10, 2000.[5]] [Penales was thereafter] referred to the Mary Chiles General Hospital and finally to the Medical Center Manila for treatment and rehabilitation [wherein he continued treatment until January 26, 2001].[6]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered ordering respondents Pacific Ocean Manning, Inc. and Celtic Pacific Ship Management Ltd. (Hongkong), to pay, jointly and solidarily, complainant Benjamin D. Penales disability benefits in the sum of US$16,795.00 representing 33.59% of the maximum amount of US$50,000.00 payable in Philippine Currency at the rate of exchange prevailing at the time of payment as well as ten (10%) percent thereon as attorney’s fees; and DISMISSING all other claims for lack of merit.[9]
We find Penales clearly entitled to the maximum amount given to totally and permanently disabled seafarers. It is undisputed that even now, Penales has fragile extremities that [affect] his upper body strength and he can no longer perform draining shipboard activities. Since disability benefits are based on the impairment of earning capacity, then Penales is entitled to the maximum amount granted to disabled seafarers.
Consistently, the High Court has ruled that “disability should not be understood more on its medical significance but on the loss of earning capacity. Permanent total disability means disablement of an employee to earn wages in the same kind of work, or work of similar nature that [he] was trained for or accustomed to perform, or any kind of work which a person of [his] mentality and attainment could do. It does not mean absolute helplessness.” [ECC v. Edmund Sanico, 321 SCRA 268] In disability compensation, it is not the injury which is compensated, but rather it is the incapacity to work resulting in the impairment of one’s earning capacity.[16]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is GRANTED. Private Respondents are hereby ordered to pay Penales, jointly and severally, the amount of US$50,000.00 (maximum rate) x 120% or US$60,000.00 (to be paid in the Philippine currency equivalent to the exchange rate prevailing at the time of payment) representing the maximum disability benefits as per Section 30-A, Appendix 1-A of the POEA Standard Employment Contract.
Private respondents are likewise ordered to pay ten percent (10%) of the awarded amount of US$60,000.00 as and for attorney’s fees.[17]
Statement Of The Issue
Whether Or Not The Court Of Appeals Decided The Case A Quo In A Way Not In Accord With Law And/Or [Applicable] Jurisprudence Of The Honorable Court When It Granted Petitioner’s Petition For Certiorari Under Rule 65.Grounds For The Petition
Petitioners respectfully submit that the appellate court decided the petition not in accord with applicable laws and jurisprudence when:
I. The Appellate Court Disregarded The Terms And Conditions Of The POEA Standard Employment Contract When It Rendered Petitioners Liable To Respondent For Disability Benefits.
II. The Appellate Court Failed To Give Due Weight And Consideration To The Assessment Made By The Company- Designated Physician As To Respondent’s Condition; And
III. The Appellate Court Found Respondent With A Grade 1 Disability And Awarded Him Disability Benefits In The Amount Of U[S]$60,000.00 Which Is Equivalent To A Finding Of Total And Permanent Disability, Despite The Lack Of Any Basis Therefor.
IV. Respondent Is Not Entitled To Attorney’s Fees.[19]
Entitlement of a seafarer to disability compensation does not depend on whether or not he is still capable of working as a seafarer but on whether he suffers an impediment which hinders him from doing his customary work or any kind of work of a similar nature which a person of his mentality and attainment could as defined by jurisprudence in the very cases relied upon by the appellate court in the assailed Decision and Denial Resolution. x x x.[21]
The standard employment contract for seafarers was formulated by the POEA pursuant to its mandate under [Executive Order] No. 247 to “secure the best terms and conditions of employment of Filipino contract workers and ensure compliance therewith” and to “promote and protect the well-being of Filipino workers overseas.” Section 29 of the 1996 POEA [Standard Employment Contract] itself provides that “[a]ll rights and obligations of the parties to [the] Contract, including the annexes thereof, shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, international conventions, treaties and covenants where the Philippines is a signatory.” Even without this provision, a contract of labor is so impressed with public interest that the New Civil Code expressly subjects it to “the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor and similar subjects.”
Thus, the Court has applied the Labor Code concept of permanent total disability to the case of seafarers. In Philippine Transmarine Carriers v. NLRC, seaman Carlos Nietes was found to be suffering from congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy and was declared as unfit to work by the company-accredited physician. The Court affirmed the award of disability benefits to the seaman, citing ECC v. Sanico, GSIS v. CA, and Bejerano v. ECC that “disability should not be understood more on its medical significance but on the loss of earning capacity. Permanent total disability means disablement of an employee to earn wages in the same kind of work, or work of similar nature that [he] was trained for or accustomed to perform, or any kind of work which a person of [his] mentality and attainment could do. It does not mean absolute helplessness.” It likewise cited Bejerano v. ECC, that in a disability compensation, it is not the injury which is compensated, but rather it is the incapacity to work resulting in the impairment of one’s earning capacity.[30] (Emphases ours, citations omitted.)
The standard terms [of the POEA SEC] agreed upon, x x x, are intended to be read and understood in accordance with Philippine laws, particularly, Articles 191 to 193 of the Labor Code and the applicable implementing rules and regulations in case of any dispute, claim or grievance.
B. Compensation and Benefits for Injury or Illness
x x x x
3. Upon sign-off from the vessel for medical treatment, the seafarer is entitled to sickness allowance equivalent to his basic wage until he is declared fit to work or the degree of permanent disability has been assessed by the company-designated physician but in no case shall this period exceed one hundred twenty (120) days.
ART. 192. Permanent Total Disability
x x x x
(c) The following disabilities shall be deemed total and permanent: (1) Temporary total disability lasting continuously for more than one hundred twenty days, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules[.]
SEC. 2. Period of entitlement. – (a) The income benefit shall be paid beginning on the first day of such disability. If caused by an injury or sickness it shall not be paid longer than 120 consecutive days except where such injury or sickness still requires medical attendance beyond 120 days but not to exceed 240 days from onset of disability in which case benefit for temporary total disability shall be paid. However, the System may declare the total and permanent status at any time after 120 days of continuous temporary total disability as may be warranted by the degree of actual loss or impairment of physical or mental functions as determined by the System.
As these provisions operate, the seafarer, upon sign-off from his vessel, must report to the company-designated physician within three (3) days from arrival for diagnosis and treatment. For the duration of the treatment but in no case to exceed 120 days, the seaman is on temporary total disability as he is totally unable to work. He receives his basic wage during this period until he is declared fit to work or his temporary disability is acknowledged by the company to be permanent, either partially or totally, as his condition is defined under the POEA Standard Employment Contract and by applicable Philippine laws. If the 120 days initial period is exceeded and no such declaration is made because the seafarer requires further medical attention, then the temporary total disability period may be extended up to a maximum of 240 days, subject to the right of the employer to declare within this period that a permanent partial or total disability already exists. The seaman may of course also be declared fit to work at any time such declaration is justified by his medical condition.
As we outlined above, a temporary total disability only becomes permanent when so declared by the company[-designated] physician within the periods he is allowed to do so, or upon the expiration of the maximum 240-day medical treatment period without a declaration of either fitness to work or the existence of a permanent disability. x x x.[37]