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any option except to live in their quarters, eat the diet provided to them, and exist
within the hours that are fully controlled by the officers of the vessel under the
command of the owners.
That the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration already puts a cap on the
amount that can be recovered by a seafarer for a work-related illness caused or
aggravated by the working conditions of the employers is already a major and
gargantuan compromise. The true cost of hiring a human being therefore will not be
internalized. On many occasions, this Court stood as a mute witness to the paltry
amounts received—even for permanent and total disabilities—compared with the illness
Filipino seafarers have to suffer or the deaths that their families have to endure.
Fairness and social justice demand that we give the petitioner's families all that they
are due—as a Filipino seafarer who sacrificed and as a human being.
WHEREFORE, the Petition for Review is GRANTED. The Decision and Resolution of the
Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP. No. 06715 dated September 30, 2015 and April 7, 2017
are SET ASIDE. Respondents Magsaysay Mitsui Osk Marine, Inc., Francisco D. Menor,
and Mol Ship Management Co. Ltd. are solidarity liable to pay petitioners Daisy Ree
Castillon, Jureeze Phoebe Castillon, and Drew Wyatt Castillon the following:
1) Death benefit of US$50,000.00;
2) Additional death benefit of US$7,000.00 for each of Junlou
Castillon's two (2) children;
3) Burial expenses of US$1,000.00;
4) Attorney's fees equivalent to 10% of the total monetary award;
and
5) Legal interest of six percent (6%) per annum of total monetary
award, computed from the date of finality of judgment until full
satisfaction.
SO ORDERED.
Carandang, Zalameda, and Gaerlan, JJ., concur.
Gesmundo, J., Pls. see dissenting opinion.
October 26, 2020
NOTICE OF JUDGMENT
Sirs / Mesdames:
Please take notice that on March 2, 2020 a Decision, copy attached hereto, was
rendered by the Supreme Court in the above-entitled case, the original of which was
received by this Office on October 26, 2020 at 11:05 a.m.
Very truly yours,
https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66406
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