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744 Phil. 774
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 195832, October 01, 2014 ]
FORMERLY INC SHIPMANAGEMENT, INCORPORATED (NOW INC
NAVIGATION CO. PHILIPPINES, INC.), REYNALDO M. RAMIREZ
AND/OR INTERORIENT NAVIGATION CO., LTD./LIMASSOL,
CYPRUS, PETITIONERS, VS. BENJAMIN I. ROSALES, RESPONDENT.
DECISION
BRION, J.:
We resolve the appeal of the decision[1] dated December 6, 2010 and the resolution
dated February 24, 2011 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 107271. The
appealed decision reversed the resolution dated November 21, 2008 of the National
Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), and reinstated the June 26, 2007 decision of the
Labor Arbiter (LA) finding Benjamin Rosales (Rosales) entitled to Grade 1 disability
benefits.
The Antecedent Facts
On October 12, 2005, INC Shipmanagement Incorporated (INC, now known as INC
Navigation Co., Philippines, Inc.), in behalf of its foreign principal (Interorient Shipping
Co., Ltd.) hired Rosales for a period of ten (10) months as Chief Cook for the vessel
M/V Franklin Strait.
Their contract was pursuant to the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC). Rosales was
to receive a monthly salary of Five Hundred Fifty United States dollars (US$550.00).
His primary function was to prepare, cook, and process food for the ship’s officers and
crew with the corresponding responsibility of maintaining the general cleanliness of the
working area.[2]
Sometime in February 2006, while on board the vessel, Rosales experienced severe
chest pain and breathing difficulties, coupled with numbness on his left arm. On
February 13, 2006, a physician at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida, USA
examined him. He underwent a coronary angiogram and also an angioplasty in the left
anterior artery of his heart. All these were provided by the company at its own
expense. Rosales was thereafter declared unfit to work and was advised to continue
treatment in his home country.[3]
On February 20, 2006, after repatriation to the Philippines, Rosales was confined at the
Manila Medical Center where the company-designated physician, Dr. Nicomedes G. Cruz
(Dr. Cruz) examined
him.
Rosales was diagnosed to be suffering from acute
myocardial infarction secondary to coronary artery disease, hypertension and diabetes
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