6/5/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly full cost of repatriations in the even[t] the seafarer is declared fit for repatriation. True, private respondent signed-off and disembarked for medical reasons but this [is] not tantamount to the denial of the private respondent's right to claim any disability benefits under the POEA SEC. It bears stressing that seafarers are contractual employees. Their employment is governed by the contracts they sign and are fixed for a period of time. Their entitlement to disability benefits is a matter governed, not only by medical findings but also by contract. By contract means the Employment Contract and POEA Standard Employment Contract (POEA SEC), x x x xxxx Petitioners posit that the opinion of the company-designated physician is the best and most reliable source of information as to the private respondent's state of health. The declaration that private respondent's illness is not workrelated should not only be given great weight in determining disability benefits but also be considered as conclusive. xxxx Any dispute as to private respondent's claim and state of health could have been easily resolved had the parties observed the provisions of the POEA SEC. However, the parties did not jointly choose a third doctor to assess private respondent's condition. We are therefore constrained to make a ruling based on the evidence already submitted by the parties and made part of the records of the case, including the medical certification of private respondent secured from this [sic] attending physicians. It is undisputed that private respondent submitted himself to the treatment and medical evaluation of company-designated physician, Dr. Robert Lim. It has also been established that private respondent was found to be suffering from a heart ailment. The problem arose when he was diagnosed with hypertensive cardiovascular disease and the company-designated physician opined that his illness is not work-related and found to be generic in origin. xxxx On the other hand, private respondent's own physician declares that the illness suffered by him is work-related/work-aggravated. True, it is the company-designated physician who is entrusted with the task of assessing the seaman's disability under the POEA SEC. Nonetheless, private respondent also had the right to seek medical treatment other than [from] the company-designated physician. A claimant may dispute the companydesignated physician's report by seasonably consulting another doctor. In such a case, the medical report issued by the latter shall be evaluated by the labor tribunal and the court, based on its inherent merit.[41] The records elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/61296 9/20