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2005, or at any time within three working days from the date of his return,
there is no showing that the deceased required any medical treatment nor
did he report to petitioners any ailment being suffered by him. Instead, he
immediately signed up for another tour of duty, thereby indicating that he
was physically fit to take on another assignment. Thus, the death of
Ildefonso Peñafiel was not compensable under the aforequoted provisions of
the POEA Contract of Employment.
Therefore, this Court finds no substantial evidence to prove that Ildefonso's illness
which caused his death was aggravated during the term of his contract. [T]he death of
a seaman several months after his repatriation for illness does not necessarily mean
that: (a) the seaman died of the same illness; (b) his working conditions increased the
risk of contracting the illness which caused his death; and (c) the death is
compensable, unless there is some reasonable basis to support otherwise.[16]
While the Court adheres to the principle of liberality in favor of the seafarer in
construing the Standard Employment Contract, it cannot allow claims for compensation
based on surmises. When the evidence presented negates compensability, we have no
choice but to deny the claim, lest we cause injustice to the employer.[17]
The law, in protecting the rights of the employees, authorizes neither oppression nor
self-destruction of the employer - there may be cases where the circumstances warrant
favoring labor over the interests of management but never should the scale be so tilted
as to result in an injustice to the employer.[18]
WHEREFORE, the Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Revised Rules
of Court, dated July 2, 2010 of petitioner One Shipping Corp., is hereby GRANTED.
Consequently, the Court of Appeals' Decision dated October 27, 2009 and Resolution
dated May 27, 2010 are hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE, and the Decision dated
September 20, 2006 of the Labor Arbiter, which was affirmed by the NLRC on January
24, 2008, is hereby REINSTATED.
SO ORDERED.
Velasco, Jr., (Chairperson), Villarama, Jr., Reyes, and Jardeleza, JJ., concur.
[1] Penned by Associate Justice Vicente S.E. Veloso, with Associate Justices Andres B.
Reyes, Jr. and Marlene Gonzales-Sison, concurring.
[2] Penned by Labor Arbiter Elias H. Salinas.
[3] Rollo, pp. 110-114.
[4]
Second Division, Penned by Commissioner Victoriano R.
Commissioners Raul T. Aquino and Angelita A. Gacutan, concurring.
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/58917
Calaycay,
with
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