8/20/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Veritably, if the illness which caused the employee's death was either contracted in the course of his employment or aggravated during the same period, the clear causal connection between such illness and the employee's eventual death already legally exists, making the death compensable regardless of when such subsequent death occurred.[45] It is not even required that the illness contracted during the course of employment be the exact same illness that caused the eventual death, for as long as it can be established that the work-related ailment he contracted during the course of his employment be that which triggered the deterioration of his body's resistance against the said illness, any related condition, or any other affliction that he may have subsequently had.[46] In the present case, Eduardo's causes of death included acute respiratory failure which was diagnosed as secondary to pulmonary thromboembolism. It does not demand a stretch of the imagination to reasonably presume that the conditions to which Eduardo was exposed to during the fulfillment of his duties as Second Officer aboard petitioners' vessel at the very least contributed to either the contracting of said respiratory illness or the aggravation thereof. Such a seafarer's sacrifice of labor and health for the petitioners' ultimate profit as in this case demands that the death resulting therefrom be duly indemnified, consistent with our avowed doctrine of protection of the rights of labor and our high aspirations for social justice. WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The assailed Decision dated December 22, 2011 and Resolution dated February 24, 2012 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 109711 are AFFIRMED. SO ORDERED. Bersamin, C. J., (Chairperson), Del Castillo, Gesmundo, and Carandang, JJ., concur. [1] Rollo, pp. 28-72. [2] Id. at 14-24. Penned by Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta, concurred in by Associate Justices Mario V. Lopez and Socorro B. Inting. [3] Id. at 26. [4] Id. at 173-180. [5] Id. at 200-201. [6] POEA Memorandum Circular No. 9, Series of 2000, Amended Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino Seafarers On Board Ocean-going Vessels. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/64957 6/9