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FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 236498, September 16, 2020 ]
TRANS-GLOBAL MARITIME AGENCY, INC. AND/OR GOODWOOD
SHIP MANAGEMENT, PTE., LTD., AND/OR ROBERT F. ESTANIEL,
PETITIONERS, V. MAGNO T. UTANES, RESPONDENT.
DECISION
LOPEZ, J.:
Before this Court is a petition for review on certiorari assailing the Decision[1] dated
April 21, 2017, and Resolution[2] dated January 3, 2018 of the Court of Appeals (CA)
that upheld the findings of the labor tribunals and declared Magno T. Utanes (Utanes)
entitled to permanent and total disability benefits.
ANTECEDENTS
On November 13, 2014, respondent Utanes was hired by petitioner Trans-Global
Maritime Agency, Inc. (Trans-Global), in behalf of its foreign principal, Goodwood Ship
Management, Pte., Ltd., as Oiler on board MTG.C. Fuzhou for a period of nine months.
He was declared fit for sea duty in his pre-employment medical examination (PEME)
and was thereafter allowed to board the vessel on November 15, 2014.
In the course of carrying out his duties, on January 25, 2015, Utanes suddenly felt
severe chest pain, accompanied by dizziness and weakness. He was made to endure his
condition until his repatriation on May 18,2015. Upon arrival in the Philippines, Utanes
was referred to Marine Medical Services. From May 20, 2015, Utanes was subjected to
various tests and treatment for coronary artery disease. After five months of treatment,
the company doctors discontinued his treatment. Consequently, Utanes consulted an
independent cardiologist, Dr. May S. Donato-Tan, who concluded that the nature and
extent of Utanes' illness rendered him permanently and totally unfit to work as a
seaman. Thus, on January 19, 2016, Utanes filed a complaint for disability benefits,
medical expenses, damages and attorney's fees.
For its part, petitioners alleged that Utanes denied history of high blood pressure or any
kind of heart disease when he ticked the "No" box opposite 'High Blood Pressure' and
'Heart Disease Vascular/Chest Pain' under the section, Medical History in his PEME. It
was on May 17, 2015, that Utanes complained of back and chest pains, with difficulty of
breathing and easy fatigability, and was thereafter medically repatriated. During the
course of his treatment by the company-designated physicians, sometime in September
2015, Utanes disclosed that, as early as 2009, he was diagnosed with Coronary Artery
Disease, for which he underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention of the left
anterior descending artery. Consequently, Utanes stopped receiving treatment from the
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