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753 Phil. 676
THIRD DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 211454, February 11, 2015 ]
MAUNLAD TRANS., INC./CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES, INC., AND MR.
AMADO L. CASTRO, JR., PETITIONERS, VS. RODOLFO M. CAMORAL,
RESPONDENT.
RESOLUTION
REYES, J.:
On petition for review[1] is the Decision[2] dated November 13, 2013 of the Court of
Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 122396 affirming the Decision dated July 27, 2011 and
Resolution dated October 14, 2011 of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)
in NLRC NCR-OFW-02-01759-10. The NLRC sustained the Decision dated November 10,
2010 of the Labor Arbiter (LA) awarding to Rodolfo M. Camoral (Camoral) total
disability benefits and attorney’s fees.
Antecedent Facts
For 18 years since 1991, Camoral was continuously deployed overseas by Carnival
Cruise Lines, Inc., a foreign shipping company, through its local agent, Maunlad Trans.,
Inc. (petitioners). In April 2009, they took him on board M/S Carnival Sensation as ice
carver for a period of eight months, the company doctors having declared him “Fit for
Sea Duty (Without Restriction)” after the requisite physical evaluations. As ice carver,
Camoral’s job required lifting and carrying heavy blocks of ice and using heavy
equipment and tools, working for hours inside the freezer in sub-zero temperature. One
day in September 2009 while at work, he suddenly felt excruciating pain in his neck.
The pain quickly radiated to his shoulder, chest and hands. It became so intense that
he dropped to the floor. Pain relievers could not relieve the pain, and the ship’s doctor
advised the Chief Chef that Camoral was unfit for further duty on board. On advice of
the company doctor in Florida, United States of America, Dr. James E. Carter (Dr.
Carter), a Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan was performed on Camoral’s cervical
spine on September 25, 2009, revealing the following:[3]
IMPRESSION:
1. At C5-6, there is a moderately large, broad-based posterior disc
herniation of the protrusion type with resultant obliteration of the
subarachnoid space ventrally and severe right greater than left bilateral
neural foraminal stenosis. There is probable compression of the exiting right
greater than left C6 nerves bilaterally.
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