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738 Phil. 564
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 180343, July 09, 2014 ]
BAHIA SHIPPING SERVICES, INC. AND FRED OLSEN CRUISE LINES
LIMITED, PETITIONERS, VS. CRISANTE C. CONSTANTINO,
RESPONDENT.
DECISION
BRION, J.:
We resolve this Petition for Review on Certiorari[1] assailing the February 26, 2007
decision[2] and September 28, 2007 resolution[3] of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CAG.R. SP No. 94260.
The Antecedents
On February 27, 2002, respondent Crisante C. Constantino (Constantino) entered into a
nine-month contract of employment[4] as utility (at a basic monthly salary of
US$261.00) with petitioners Bahia Shipping, Services, Inc. and its principal, Fred Olsen
Cruise Lines, Limited (petitioners), for the vessel M/S Braemar. The contract had been
verified and approved by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
Constantino boarded the vessel on March 26, 2002.
Sometime in April 2002 while at work onboard the vessel, Constantino complained of
low back pain radiating to his right thigh after allegedly lifting several pieces of heavy
luggage. The ship doctor gave him medications and advised him to rest. When the
vessel arrived at the Barbados, he was referred to a shore-based physician, orthopedic
surgeon Dr. Jerry A.W. Thorne, for examination and magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI).
The MRI revealed mild to moderate desiccation of Constantino’s lumbar
intervertebral disc at L3L4, L4L5 and L5S1. Dr. Thorne diagnosed Constantino to be
suffering from an acute exacerbation of a pre-existing lumbar disc syndrome and
declared him unfit to work for 10 days.[5]
On April 25, 2002, Constantino was repatriated and referred to petitioners’ physician,
Dr. Robert D. Lim (Dr. Lim) of the Metropolitan Hospital, who placed him under the care
of an orthopedic surgeon. Constantino underwent an excision biopsy of a mass in his
right flank and was subjected to medication, treatment, rehabilitation and therapy for
several months starting early May 2002[6] until October 2, 2002 when Dr. Lim issued a
report[7] on his medical condition, stating that “patient is now asymptomatic.”
The
orthopedic surgeon opined that “patient is now fit to work.”[8] Accordingly, Dr. Lim
pronounced Constantino fit to work as of October 2, 2002.[9] On the same day,
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