5/19/2021
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11. [Cardiovascular] events – to include heart attack, chest pain (angina),
heart failure or sudden death. Any of the following conditions must be
met:
a. If the heart disease was known to have been present during
employment, there must be proof that an acute exacerbation was
clearly precipitated by an unusual strain by reasons of the nature of his
work.
b. The strain of work that brings about an acute attack must be
sufficient severity and must be followed within 24 hours by the clinical
signs of a cardiac insult to constitute causal relationship.
c. If a person who was apparently asymptomatic before being
subjected to strain at work showed signs and symptoms of cardiac
injury during the performance of his work and such symptoms and
signs persisted, it is reasonable to claim a causal relationship.
d. If a person is a known hypertensive or diabetic, he should show
compliance with prescribed maintenance medications and doctorrecommended lifestyle changes. The employer shall provide a
workplace conducive for such compliance in accordance with Section 1
(A) paragraph 5.
e. In a patient not known to have hypertension or diabetes, as
indicated on his last PEME.
Thus, as this Court has consistently held, for an illness, whether listed or not as an
occupational disease, as well as the resulting disability, to be compensable, the seafarer
must sufficiently show compliance with the conditions for compensability. Indeed, as
opposed to the matter of work-relatedness of diseases not listed as occupational
diseases under Section 32-A, no legal presumption of compensability is accorded in
favor of the seafarer. As such, the claimant-seafarer bears the burden of proving that
the above-enumerated conditions are met.[23] Specifically, a seafarer claiming disability
benefits must prove the positive proposition that there is a reasonable causal
connection between his illness and the work for which he has been contracted. It is
imperative, therefore, to determine the seafarer's actual work, the nature of his illness,
and other factors that may lead to the conclusion that his actual work conditions
brought about, or at least increased the risk of contracting, his complained illness.[24]
Moreover, the seafarer seeking disability benefits must also prove that he complied with
the procedures prescribed under Section 20(A)(3), which requires, among others, his
submission to post-employment medical examination by a company-designated doctor
within three working days from his repatriation.
In all these requirements, consistent with the basic standard in labor cases and
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