8/26/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of the said Periods.[31] (Citations omitted, emphasis and underscoring supplied) Consistent with the aforesaid pronouncements in C.F. Sharp Crew, the Court, in Calimlim v. Wallem Maritime Services, Inc.,[32] stressed that a seafarer who consulted with his physician of choice after the filing of his complaint for disability does not have a cause of action to sustain his claim, thus: The Court notes, however, that Calimlim sought consultation of Dr. Jacinto only on July 9, 2012, more than sixteen (16) months after he was declared fit to work and interestingly four (4) days after he had filed the complaint on July 5, 2012. Thus, as aptly ruled by the NLRC, at the time he filed his complaint, he had no cause of action for a disability claim as he did not have any sufficient basis to support the same. The Court also agrees with the CA that seeking a second opinion was a mere afterthought on his part in order to receive a higher compensation.[33] From the foregoing, it is clear that if the company-designated physician made an assessment declaring the seafarer fit to work within the applicable period as prescribed under the POEA-SEC and in relevant laws and jurisprudence, the seafarer may pursue his claim for disability benefits only after securing a contrary medical opinion from his physician of choice. In other words, a seafarer seeking compensation for his disability cannot file his claim before seeking a second opinion. In this case, it is undisputed that the company-designated physicians were able to issue a medical certificate declaring De Vera fit to work on April 2, 2013, or after 48 days of continuous treatment counted from the date of the initial consultation on February 13, 2013, or after 58 days counted from De Vera's repatriation to the Philippines on February 3, 2013. Obviously, the fitness for sea duty declaration by the companydesignated physicians was made within the 120-day period prescribed under the POEA-SEC. On the other hand, a plain reading of the records would reveal that De Vera filed the present complaint on April 18, 2013. Records also disclose that De Vera secured a contrary medical opinion from his physician of choice only on July 25, 2013, or 98 days after he filed his complaint. From these factual considerations, it is very clear that De Vera had no cause of action when he filed the present complaint on April 18, 2013. Thus, the NLRC and the CA did not commit any error when they ruled that De Vera is not entitled to total and permanent disability compensation. As a matter of fact, the Labor Arbiter should have dismissed De Vera's complaint for lack of cause of action at the first instance. De Vera argues, however, that the company-designated physicians' recommendation in their final medical report that he has already "maximally medically improved" could not be considered as their "fit to work" assessment. He contends that the term "maximum medical improvement" refers to the stage wherein the injured person's condition could no longer be improved, or when a treatment plateau in a person's healing process has been reached. While the term could mean that the patient has fully recovered from the injury, it could also mean that the patient could no longer be healed, or his condition https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/65369 7/14