5/28/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly The Court was faced with the same question in Philippine Hammonia v. Dumadag.[24] Applying the similar provisions in the POEA-SEC and in the parties’ CBA, the Court observed that the parties are bound by the terms and conditions contained in these instruments, particularly the above quoted provision on the mechanism prescribed to determine liability for a disability benefits claim. Since the seafarer pursued his claim before the labor tribunals without referring the conflicting opinions to a third doctor for final determination, the seafarer actually breached his contractual obligation. In reversing the labor tribunals’ rulings (and the CA which affirmed it), the Court said: We find the rulings of the labor authorities seriously flawed as they were rendered in total disregard of the law between the parties — the POEA-SEC and the CBA — on the prescribed procedure for the determination of disability compensation claims, particularly with respect to the resolution of conflicting disability assessments of the company-designated physician and Dumadag’s physicians, without saying why it was disregarded or ignored; it was as if the POEA-SEC and the CBA did not exist. This is grave abuse of discretion, considering that, as labor dispute adjudicators, the LA and the NLRC are expected to uphold the law. In the present case, since there is a conflict in the assessment of the companydesignated physicians and Dr. Sabado’s certification in relation to Pellazar’s fitness or unfitness to work, the matter should have been referred to a third doctor for final determination as required by the POEA-SEC and the parties’ CBA. Since Pellazar was responsible for the non-referral to the third doctor because of his failure to inform the manning agency that he would be consulting Dr. Sabado, he should suffer the consequences of the absence of a binding third opinion. Thus, the NLRC was well within the bounds of its jurisdiction, in upholding the disability assessment of Drs. De Guzman and Banaga as against Pellazar’s physician of choice. ii. The company designated physician’s findings, although not binding on the Court, generally prevails over other medical findings By recognizing that a disagreement between the company-designated physicians and the physician chosen by the seafarer may exist, the POEA-SEC itself impliedly recognizes the seafarer’s right to request a second medical opinion from a physician of his own choice. That the seafarer should not be prevented from seeking an independent medical opinion proceeds from the theory that a company-designated physician, naturally, may downplay the compensation due to the seafarer because that is what the employer, after all, expects of him.[25] Accordingly, the Court observed that labor tribunals and the courts are not bound by the medical findings of the companydesignated physician and that the inherent merits of its medical findings will be weighed and duly considered.[26] elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/57342 8/12