G.R. No. 182430 December 4, 2009 LEOPOLDO ABANTE vs. KJG !

LEET "ANAGE"ENT "AN#LA

!A$T%
On January 4, 2000, Leopoldo Abante was hired by KJGS Fleet Manageent Manila !KJGS" to wor# as ablebodied
seaan$ Soetie in June, 2000, while %arrying e&uipent on board the 'essel, petitioner slipped and hurt his ba%#$
(pon the 'essel)s arri'al in Kaohsiung, *aiwan on July 4, 2000, petitioner was brought to a hospital whereupon he was
diagnosed to be su++ering +ro ,lower ba%# pain r-o old +ra%ture lesion 4th lubar body$, .e'ertheless, he was still
de%lared to be +it +or restri%ted wor# and was ad'ised to see another do%tor in the ne/t port o+ %all$ (nable to bear the
pain, petitioner was, on his re&uest, repatriated to the 0hilippines on July 12, 2000$
On July 21, 2000, petitioner reported to KJGS and was re+erred to a %opany3designated physi%ian, 4r$ 5oberto 4$ Li
!4r$ Li", at the Metropolitan 6ospital$ A+ter a series o+ tests, he was diagnosed to be su++ering +ro,Forainal stenosis
L73L14 and %entral dis% protrusion L43L8, on a%%ount o+ whi%h he underwent Laine%toy and 4is%e%toy on August 19,
2000, the %ost o+ whi%h was borne by KJGS$ 6e was dis%harged +ro the hospital 10 days later, but was ad'ised to
%ontinue physi%al therapy$ 6e was seen by 4r$ Li around 10 ties +ro the tie he was dis%harged until February 20,
2001 when he was pronoun%ed +it to resue sea duties$ 0etitioner later sought the opinion o+ another do%tor, 4r$ Jo%elyn
Myra 5$ :a;a, who diagnosed hi to ha'e ,+ailed ba%# syndroe, and ga'e a grade < disability rating 333 whi%h rating
rendered hi edi%ally un+it to wor# again as a seaan$
#&E% '(N Ab)*+e ,s e*+,+-e. +o .,s)b,-,+/ be*e0,+s1
DE$##ON% 2E.
:ourts are %alled upon to be 'igilant in their tie3honored duty to prote%t labor, espe%ially in %ases o+ disability or ailent$
=hen applied to Filipino seaen, the perilous nature o+ their wor# is %onsidered in deterining the proper bene+its to be
awarded$ *hese bene+its, at the 'ery least, should appro/iate the ris#s they bra'e on board the 'essel e'ery single day$
A%%ordingly, i+ serious doubt e/ists on the %opany3designated physi%ian)s de%laration o+ the nature o+ a seaan)s in;ury
and its %orresponding ipedient grade, resort to prognosis o+ other %opetent edi%al pro+essionals should be ade$ >n
doing so, a seaan should be gi'en the opportunity to assert his %lai a+ter pro'ing the nature o+ his in;ury$ *hese
e'iden%es will in turn be used to deterine the bene+its right+ully a%%ruing to hi$ >t is understandable that a %opany3
designated physi%ian is ore positi'e than that o+ a physi%ian o+ the sea+arer)s %hoi%e$ >t is on this a%%ount that a sea+arer
is gi'en the option by the 0O?A Standard ?ployent :ontra%t to see# a se%ond opinion +ro his pre+erred physi%ian$
*he 0O?A standard eployent %ontra%t +or seaen was designed priarily +or the prote%tion and bene+it o+ Filipino
seaen in the pursuit o+ their eployent on board o%ean3going 'essels$ >ts pro'isions ust be %onstrued and applied
+airly, reasonably and liberally in their +a'or$ Only then %an its bene+i%ent pro'isions be +ully %arried into e++e%t$
0eranent disability re+ers to the inability o+ a wor#er to per+or his ;ob +or ore than 120 days, regardless o+ whether he
loses the use o+ any part o+ his body$ =hat deterines petitioner)s entitleent to peranent disability bene+its is his
inability to wor# +or ore than 120 days$
14
>n the %ase at bar, it was only on February 20, 2001 that the :erti+i%ate o+
Fitness +or =or# was issued by 4r$ Li, ore than < onths +ro the tie he was initially e'aluated by the do%tor on July
24, 2000 and a+ter he underwent operation on August 19, 2000$
>t is gathered +ro the do%uents eanating +ro the O++i%e o+ 4r$ Li that petitioner was seen by hi +ro July 24, 2000
up to February 20, 2001 or a total o+ 17 ties@ and e/%ept +or the edi%al reports dated February 8, 2001 and February
20, 2001 !when the do%tor +inally pronoun%ed petitioner +it to wor#", 4r$ Li %onsistently re%oended that petitioner
%ontinue his physi%al rehabilitation-therapy and re'isit %lini% on spe%i+i% dates +or re3e'aluation, thereby iplying that
petitioner was not yet +it to wor#$
Gi'en a sea+arer)s entitleent to peranent disability bene+its when he is unable to wor# +or ore than 120 days, the
+ailure o+ the %opany3designated physi%ian to pronoun%e petitioner +it to wor# within the 1203day period entitles hi to
peranent total disability bene+it in the aount o+ (SA<0,000$00$
=6?5?FO5?, the de%ision and resolution o+ the :ourt o+ Appeals dated 4e%eber 10, 200B, and April 1, 2009,
respe%ti'ely, are 5?C?5S?4 and S?* AS>4?$ 5espondents are held ;ointly and se'erally liable to pay petitioner the
+ollowingD a" peranent total disability bene+its o+ (SA<0,000$00 at its peso e&ui'alent at the tie o+ a%tual payent@ and
b" attorneyEs +ees o+ ten per%ent !10F" o+ the total onetary award at its peso e&ui'alent at the tie o+ a%tual payent$