8/27/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly designated physician, the company shall approve the appropriate mode of transportation and accommodation. The reasonable cost of actual traveling expenses and/or accommodation shall be paid subject to liquidation and submission of official receipts and/or proof of expenses. For this purpose, the seafarer shall submit himself to a post-employment medical examination by a company-designated physician within three working days upon his return except when he is physically incapacitated to do so, in which case, a written notice to the agency within the same period is deemed as compliance. In the course of the treatment, the seafarer shall also report regularly to the company-designated physician specifically on the dates as prescribed by the company-designated physician and agreed to by the seafarer. Failure of the seafarer to comply with the mandatory reporting requirement shall result in his forfeiture of the right to claim the above benefits. If a doctor appointed by the seafarer disagrees with the assessment, a third doctor may be agreed jointly between the Employer and the seafarer. The third doctor's decision shall be final and binding on both parties. (Emphasis supplied) The assessment referred to in this provision is the declaration of fitness to work or the degree of disability. It presupposes that the company-designated physician came up with a valid, final, and definite assessment on the seafarer's fitness to work before the 120-day or 240-day period expires.[65] In Marlow Navigation Philippines, Inc. v. Osias,[66] this Court held that the referral to a third doctor is mandatory when: (1) there is a valid and timely assessment made by the company-designated physician; and (2) the seafarer's appointed doctor refuted such assessment. These two (2) conditions must be present to trigger the mandatory rule on third doctor referral. However, as the one contesting the company-designated physician's findings, it is the seafarer's duty to signify the intention to resolve the conflict through the referral to a third doctor.[67] If the seafarer' does not contest the findings and fails to refer the assessment to a third doctor, "the company can insist on its disability rating even against a contrary opinion by another physician[.]"[68] Securing a third doctor's opinion is the duty of the employee,[69] who must actively or expressly request for it.[70] This Court has held that despite the wording of the provision in Section 20 of the POEA Standard Employment Contract, the referral of a disputed medical assessment to a third doctor is mandatory. Its significance was explained in INC Shipmanagement, Inc. v. Rosales,[71] where this Court emphasized that the procedure is mandatory: This referral to a third doctor has been held by this Court to be a mandatory procedure as a consequence of the provision that it is the companydesignated doctor whose assessment should prevail. In other words, the company can insist on its disability rating even against a contrary opinion by another doctor, unless the seafarer expresses his disagreement by asking for https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/65396 8/20