4/14/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly work-relatedness of an illness and the matter of compensability. The former concept merely relates to the assumption that the seafarer's illness, albeit not listed as an occupational disease, may have been contracted during and in connection with one's work, whereas compensability pertains to the entitlement to receive compensation and benefits upon a showing that his work conditions caused or at least increased the risk of contracting the disease. This can be gathered from Section 32-A of the 2000 POEA-SEC which already qualifies the listed disease as an "occupational disease" (in other words, a "work-related disease"), but nevertheless, mentions certain conditions for said disease to be compensable: SECTION 32-A OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES For an occupational disease and the resulting disability or death to be compensable, all of the following conditions must be satisfied: 1. The seafarer's work must involve the risks described herein; 2. The disease was contracted as a result of the seafarer's exposure to the described risks; 3. The disease was contracted within a period of exposure and under such other factors necessary to contract it; 4. There was no notorious negligence on the part of the seafarer. As differentiated from the matter of work-relatedness, no legal prescription of compensability is accorded in favor of the seafarer. As such, he bears the burden of proving that these conditions are met.[59](Emphasis, italics, and underscoring supplied) Therefore, while Chronic Hepatitis C is not a listed occupational disease, the same standards laid down in Section 32-A of the POEA-SEC should be applied in determining the compensability of Rosales' illness. There are two phases of Hepatitis C, "acute," meaning a new infection, and "chronic," meaning lifelong infection. Acute Hepatitis C "occurs within the first 6 months after someone is exposed to the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C can be a short-term illness, but for most people, acute infection leads to chronic infection."[60] After this period has lapsed, "the hepatitis C virus enters what is known as the 'chronic phase'. This is when hepatitis C becomes a chronic of long-term infection."[61] In this case, it is clear, as it is highly probable, that Rosales contracted the Hepatitis C virus while he was on board the vessel. The incubation period or the time from the moment of exposure to an infectious agent until signs and symptoms of the disease appear for Hepatitis C ranges from two weeks to six months.[62] It should be pointed out that Rosales boarded the vessel Queen Mary 2 on November 26, 2012[63] and that he began complaining of abdominal muscle and joint pains on June 25, 2013, or more than six months from the time he boarded the vessel.[64] Regardless of the phase or stage of his illness at the time he consulted the physician on board and began manifesting the symptoms of the illness, the chronology of the events leading to his repatriation and his medical treatments in the Philippines coincide with the incubation https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66265 7/14