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throat and took antibiotics for five days on his own initiative to ease the pain.[10] Upon
arrival at the Caribbean, he allegedly requested for a medical check-up at the hospital
but was refused by the ship master.[11]
On 4 April 2004, he forced the ship master to allow him a medical check-up due to
worsening pain and experiencing difficulty swallowing and breathing.[12] On 26 April
2004 he claimed to have been brought to a government hospital in Las Palmas in
Europe, where he was only given antibiotics and a pain reliever since there were no
specialists to attend to his needs.[13]
The vessel arrived in Denmark on 2 May 2004 and he again requested for a medical
check-up.[14] A biopsy was conducted due to the presence of lymph nodes in his voice
box.[15] On 3 May 2004, his condition deteriorated and a request for medicine with the
ship master was denied due to a lack of antibiotics.[16] On 5 May 2004, Doroteo was
subject to medical repatriation on order of Philimare and he arrived in the Philippines
on 16 June 2004.[17]
Doroteo was examined by Philimare's physician, Dr. Emmanuel Cruz of Supercare
Medical Services, Inc., on 23 June 2004, and was advised to undergo direct
laryngoscopy and biopsy with possible tracheotomy due to possible laryngeal cancer,
but did not come back to the company physician.[18]
Subsequently, Doroteo filed a Complaint on 3 November 2004 before the NLRC for nonpayment of sick leave pay and disability/medical benefits.[19]
In his Position Paper dated 23 May 2005, Doroteo claimed that the company-designated
physician refused to accord him the proper medication if he would not pay the amount
of P200,000.[20] Thus, he shouldered the cost of his major surgery which consisted of a
total laryngectomy and pectoralis major myocutaneous flap on 4 October 2004.[21] On
7 October 2004, he underwent tomography at St. Luke's Medical Center which showed
that he had "laryngeal mass probably malignant."[22] St. Luke's issued a medical
certificate finding him physically unfit for work.[23]
Philimare contested the claim, asserting that Dorotea's illness is not a compensable
occupational disease because cancer of the larynx or voice box was primarily cause by
excessive and repeated exposure to tobacco, either smoked or chewed, as well as
alcohol consumption.[24] Hence, Philimare contended that the illness was not workrelated and that the disease was present even before Dorotea's employment.[25]
Moreover, Philimare decried Dorotea's failure to disclose his condition as a violation of
his contract and equivalent to fraudulent misrepresentation.[26]
Before the resolution of the dispute, Doroteo died of cancer on 29 May 2005, and was
substituted by his sister, Lucida Heramis.[27]
The Labor Arbiter decided on 7 September 2005 that Dorotea's cancer was not workrelated and was a pre-existing illness.[28] It cited the fact that he was in the employ of
Philimare for less than three months before he fell ill.[29] Based on the evidence
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/62954
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