SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 123619. June 8, 2000]
SEAGULL SHIPMANAGEMENT AND TRANSPORT, INC., and DOMINION
INSURANCE CORPORATION, petitioners, vs. NATIONAL LABOR
RELATIONS COMMISSION and BENJAMIN T. TUAZON, respondents.
DECISION
QUISUMBING, J.: Esm
This petition for review is properly a special civil action for certiorari under Rule 65 and
not Rule 45 of the Revised Rules of Court. In it, petitioners assail the Resolution dated
November 24, 1995 of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) which affirmed
the Decision dated January 19, 1995 of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA). The Resolution ordered petitioners to pay, jointly and severally,
complainant Benjamin Tuazon, the amount of US$2,200 representing 120 days
sickness benefits and US$15,000 representing disability benefits as appended to the
POEA Standard Contract.
On March 17, 1991, private respondent Benjamin T. Tuazon, now deceased, and
represented in the instant case by her daughter, Mrs. Noelee TuazonBuenaventura,[1] was deployed by Seagull to work as radio officer on board its
vessel, MV Pixy Maru. The contract was for 12 months commencing on March 7, 1991,
with basic monthly salary of US$550.00 plus a fixed monthly overtime pay equivalent to
thirty (30%) percent of the basic monthly salary.
Prior to his deployment and as a condition to final hiring, Tuazon was required to submit
to a medical examination with the petitioner's accredited clinic which is the LDM Clinic
and Laboratory. The medical examination consisted among others, of the standard Xray exposure, and urine tests.
In 1986, complainant underwent a heart surgery for an insertion of a
pacemaker.[2] Hence, the accredited clinic of Seagull, through Dr. Tordesillas,[3] required
him to secure from his cardiologist a certification to the effect that he could do normal
physical activities. Consequently, he was declared fit to work.
Sometime in December 1991, while on board the vessel, Tuazon suffered bouts of
coughing and shortness of breathing. He was immediately sent to a hospital in Japan
for medical check-up, and was confined at the Kagoshimashiritsu Hospital, Kagoshima
City, from December 12 to 27, 1991.[4] Based on the doctor's diagnosis, an open heart
surgery was needed. Due to this medical findings, on December 28, 1991, he was
repatriated back in the Philippines. Upon arrival, Seagull referred him to its accredited