5/28/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly employer liable for each of these three kinds of liabilities. In other words, employers must: (1) pay the seafarer sickness allowance equivalent to his basic wage in addition to the medical treatment that they must provide the seafarer with at their cost; and (2) compensate the seafarer for his permanent total or partial disability as finally determined by the company-designated physician.[31] Significantly, too, while Section 20 of the POEA-SEC did not expressly state that the employer’s liabilities are cumulative in nature – so as to hold the employer liable for the sickness allowance, medical expenses and disability benefits – it does not also state that the compensation and benefits are alternative or that the grant of one bars the grant of the others. Under this setup, the Court must be guided by the principle that as a labor contract, the POEA-SEC is imbued with public interest. Accordingly, its provisions must be construed fairly, reasonably and liberally in favor of the seafarer in the pursuit of his employment on board ocean-going vessels. After all, the constitutional policy, which we here uphold and emphasize in construing as we do these POEA-SEC provisions, accords and guarantees full protection to labor, both local and overseas.[32] Notably, POEA Memorandum Circular No. 10, Series of 2010 (or the Amended Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Overseas Employment of Filipino Seafarers OnBoard Ocean-Going Ships)[33] makes more explicit the POEA-SEC’s intent we earlier discussed. As matters stand, the pertinent POEA-SEC provisions now expressly and clearly state that, in addition to the obligation of the employers to provide the seafarer with the needed medical attention at their cost, they shall likewise provide the latter sickness allowance equivalent to his basic wage.[34] It also expressly states that the disability benefits to which the seafarer may be entitled shall be based solely on the listed disability gradings without regard to the duration of the seafarer’s medical treatment or the period with which he was given sickness allowance.[35] Without doubt, medical expenses, sickness allowance and disability benefits are separate and distinct from one another. Employers are liable to provide these compensation and benefits, subject to the satisfaction of the requisite degree of proof. Since the sickness allowance was already paid, it should be deleted from the monetary award In the May 31, 2005 decision, the LA awarded Alberto the total monetary award of US$68,886.40, consisting of US$60,000.00 as permanent and total disability benefits, US$2,624.00 as sickness allowance for 120 days and US$6,262.40 as attorney’s fees. The LA denied Alberto’s prayer for reimbursement of medical expenses and for damages. On the other hand, the NLRC affirmed this LA’s ruling, but ordered the deduction, from the total monetary award, of the medical expenses and sickness allowance. In ordering the deduction, the NLRC pointed to the certification dated April 12, 2004 that Alberto executed, and which he did not dispute, acknowledging receipt in full of his sickness allowance and of the respondents’ full payment of his medical expenses. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/57200 8/13