1/5/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly The POEA-SEC should never be read in isolation with other laws such as the provisions of the Labor Code on disability and the AREC. Otherwise, the disability rating of the seafarer will be completely at the mercy of the company-designated physician, without redress, should the latter fail or refuse to give one.[38] It must be emphasized that the POEA SEC is not the only contract between the parties that governs the determination of the disability compensation due the seafarer.[39] The POEA-SEC should be read hand in hand with the Labor Code and the AREC in resolving disability compensation cases. Article 198[192](c)(1), Chapter VI, Title II, Book IV of the Labor Code instructs, thus: Art. 198 [192]. Permanent and total disability. xxxx (c) The following disabilities shall be deemed total and permanent: (1) Temporary total disability lasting continuously for more than one hundred twenty days, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules[.] In addition, Section 2(b) of Rule VII of the AREC defines disability as follows: Sec. 2. Disability. - x x x. (b) A disability is total and permanent if as a result of the injury or sickness the employee is unable to perform any gainful occupation for a continuous period exceeding 120 days, except as otherwise provided for in Rule X of these Rules. Likewise, Section 2, Rule X of the AREC reads: Sec. 2. Period of entitlement. - (a) The income benefit shall be paid beginning on the first day of such disability. If caused by an injury or sickness it shall not be paid longer than 120 consecutive days except where such injury or sickness still requires medical attendance beyond 120 days but not to exceed 240 days from onset of disability in which case benefit for temporary total disability shall be paid. However, the System may declare the total and permanent status at any time after 120 days of continuous temporary total disability as may be warranted by the degree of actual loss or impairment of physical or mental functions as determined by the System. There is no question that the referral to a third doctor as provided in Section 20(A)(3) of the POEA-SEC is mandatory in case there are disagreements made by the companydesignated physician and the seafarer's chosen physician as to the seafarer's medical condition. This Court in the recent cases of Murillo v. Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc.[40] and Dionio v. Trans-Global Maritime Agency, Inc.,[41] reiterated the settled rule that the referral to a third doctor is mandatory, and that the seafarer's failure to abide thereby is a breach of the POEA-SEC which makes the assessment of the companydesignated physician final and binding. However, our jurisprudence is replete with cases which pronounce that before a https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/65828 8/15