E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly 9 of 14 http://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/57204 and that he was informed that if the disc would not be removed, his condition would worsen to the extent that he could not anymore use his upper extremities. A cursory review of the medical reports of the company-designated physicians would reveal that no such findings were ever made. Dr. Escutin’s bases for his conclusion were, thus, inexistent. The initial finding of the company-designated physician that petitioner suffered from “Grade 1 Spondylolisthesis” does not provide sufficient basis to award him permanent total disability benefits. In determining the severity of one who suffers from spondylolisthesis, the Meyerding classification system is the standard used to determine the degree the vertebral body has slipped forward over the body beneath it.[39] It classifies “Grade 1 Spondylolisthesis” as the least severe of spondylolisthesis with 0% to 25% of the vertebral body having slipped forward, and “Grade 5 Spondylolisthesis” as the most severe, with 75% to 100% of the vertebral body having slipped forward.[40] The conclusion, therefore, is that when petitioner was initially diagnosed on August 2, 2008 by the company-designated physicians with “Grade 1 Spondylolisthesis,” he was suffering the least severe case of spondylolisthesis. The report only intended to give a medical assessment as to the severity of his back injury. It never meant to provide a disability grading of Grade 1 equivalent to permanent total disability. The conclusion that he was diagnosed to have suffered the least severe of spondylolisthesis is buttressed by the fact that the company-designated physicians never remotely suggested the idea of surgery as the only way to correct his back injury and that medication and therapy would suffice to cure his condition. At any rate, as explained above, the August 2, 2008 finding of “Grade 1 Spondylolisthesis” was only the initial prognosis of the company-designated physicians as to the state of health of petitioner. Such a conclusion is undeniable considering that the same medical report also required him to return for reevaluation after continued therapy and medication. Third. Assuming that petitioner indeed suffered the most severe of back injuries, in addition to his neck injury, he could still not be entitled to his claim for permanent total disability benefits. It should be remembered that under the terms of the POEASEC, for an illness suffered by a seafarer to be compensable, it must first fall within the definition of the term “work-related illness,” that is, any sickness as a result of an occupational disease listed under Section 32-A with the conditions set therein satisfied. While work-relatedness is indeed presumed,[41] the Court, in Leonis Navigation Co., Inc. v. Villamater,[42] explained that the legal presumption in Section 20(B)(4) of the POEA-SEC should be read together with the requirements specified by Section 32-A of the same contract, in that Section 20(B)(4) only affords a disputable presumption. 3/27/2020, 12:39 PM