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FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 200774, February 13, 2019 ]
GERMAN MARINE AGENCIES, INC., ET AL. PETITIONERS, VS.
TEODOLAH R. CARO, IN BEHALF OF HER HUSBAND EDUARDO V.
CARO, RESPONDENT.
DECISION
JARDELEZA, J.:
This petition for review on certiorari[1] assails the December 22, 2011 Decision[2] and
February 24, 2012 Resolution[3] of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No.
109711. The CA reversed the Resolutions of the National Labor Relations Commission
(NLRC) dated January 30, 2009[4] and April 30, 2009 in LAC No. 07-000550-08,[5] and
ordered petitioners German Marine Agencies, Inc., (German Marine) and/or Baltic
Marine Mgt., Ltd. (Baltic Marine), or Carlos Anacta to pay respondent Teodolah R. Caro
(Teodolah) death benefits and burial expenses in accordance with the 2000 Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration-Standard Employment Contract[6] (2000 POEASEC) for the death of her husband Eduardo V. Caro (Eduardo).
German Marine is a domestic corporation which recruited Eduardo for and in behalf of
its foreign principal, Baltic Marine.[7] Since May 1996, German Marine had continuously
hired Eduardo until he signed his last employment contract with them as Second Officer
on February 15, 2005 for a period of nine months.[8] Prior to the signing of this
contract, Eduardo underwent the Pre-Employment Medical Examination and was
declared "[f]it to [w]ork."[9] Eduardo thereafter boarded the vessel "Pacific Senator" on
March 16, 2005.[10]
On Januarr; 3, 2006, Eduardo finished his contract of employment and was repatriated.
[11] On June 25, 2007, Eduardo died of "acute respiratory failure" while he was
confined at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.[12]
On August 28, 2007, Teodolah filed a complaint[13] with the Labor Arbiter for death
benefits, medical expenses, and attorney's fees. Teodolah alleged that: (1) during
Eduardo's employment, he suffered dry cough and experienced difficulty in breathing
and urinating; (2) Eduardo's illness, which he tried to address by self-medication, is
attributed to exposure to chemicals on board the vessel; (3) Eduardo felt very ill at the
time of his repatriation but he merely endured it in the hopes of getting another
contract; and (4) Eduardo consulted a physician at the Lung Center of the Philippines
who diagnosed him to be suffering from bronchial asthma induced by chemicals.[14]
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