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SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 230919, January 20, 2021 ]
BLUE MANILA, INC. AND/OR OCEANWIDE CREW MANILA, INC.,
PETITIONERS, VS. ANTONIO R. JAMIAS, RESPONDENT.
[G.R. No. 230932, January 20, 2021]
ANTONIO R. JAMIAS, PETITIONER, VS. BLUE MANILA, INC.
AND/OR OCEANWIDE CREW MANILA, INC., RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
LOPEZ, J.:
Must the seafarer's ailment be a necessary consequence or directly connected to the
cause of medical repatriation to be compensable? The Court shall resolve this issue in
these Petitions for Review on Certiorari[1] under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, assailing
the Court of Appeals' (CA) Decision[2] dated September 9, 2016 and Resolution[3]
March 29, 2017 in CA-G.R. SP No. 133729.
ANTECEDENTS
Petitioners Blue Manila, Inc. (Blue Manila), and/or Oceanwide Crew Manila, Inc. (G.R.
No. 230919), are the former and present manning agents of Wagenborg
Crewmanagement BV (Wagenborg)/The Netherlands, owner of the vessel M/V
Kwintebank. Seafarer Antonio R. Jamias (Jamias) worked for petitioners since 1998. In
February 2011, he was rehired as Cook AB by Blue Manila under a 6-month contract,[4]
which is covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between Associated
Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines and Wagenborg.[5] After passing
the mandatory Pre-Employment Medical Examination (PEME), Jamias boarded M/V
Kwintebank. Jamias alleged that as a cook, he was tasked to: (1) prepare and cook
food for the officers and crew, including desserts and pies; (2) maintain cleanliness in
work areas, equipment, kitchen tools, and cold rooms; (3) clean, wash and paint the
gallery, kitchen, and store rooms as scheduled, as well as sweep garbage disposed
from the freezers daily; (4) receive food stores or provisions delivery and bring it inside
to be arranged in the walk-in freezers; (5) paint and chip rust on deck and
superstructure of the ship; (6) deckhand on various repairs and maintenance works on
deck; and (7) perform other work required by his superiors. His duties involve constant
strenuous manual work like pushing, lifting, and carrying heavy provisions on board the
vessel. In August 2011, while doing his usual work on board the vessel, 1amias claimed
that he had a bout of coughing which triggered pain in his umbilical area. Then, as he
was lifting 2 sacks of potatoes, he felt excruciating pain as if something snapped at his
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