Subsequently, the parties were required to file various pleadings with this Court
including comments to the petition by respondent Osco Shipping Services, Inc.
(Osco)[8]and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG),[9] petitioners reply to these
comments,[10] as well as respondents rejoinder to the reply.[11]
In a Resolution dated February 3, 1999, this Court referred the instant case to the
CA for appropriate action and disposition in accordance with this Courts decision in St.
Martin Funeral Homes vs. National Labor Relations Commission, et al.[12]
On May 31, 1999, the CA rendered the herein assailed decision denying due course
to the petition and dismissing the same for lack of merit.[13] Petitioners motion for
reconsideration was denied in the questioned Resolution of November 29, 1999. [14]
Hence, this petition filed by Norma Hermogenes contending that:
[T]he Honorable Court of Appeals committed serious errors when it dismissed the
petition for certiorari of the petitioner and denied her Motion for Reconsideration
without due regard to the merits of the same and despite the clear wordings of the law
and of the parties contract.[15]
Prefatorily, it bears to emphasize that under the prevailing law, jurisdiction over
claims arising out of any law or contract involving overseas Filipino workers, whether
land-based or sea-based, is now vested in the NLRC, pursuant to Section 10 of
Republic Act No. 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas
Filipinos Act of 1995, which took effect on July 15, 1995. In the present case, the
complaint was filed with the NLRC on August 15, 1995. Hence, at the time of the filing
of the complaint, jurisdiction over the case is already vested in the NLRC.
Going into the main issues raised, petitioner claims that the CA erred in declaring
that Ciriacos death is not compensable because it only occurred after his repatriation.
Petitioner claims that the very reason why Ciriaco was repatriated was that he was then
suffering from various illnesses which he contracted during the term of his contract with
Osco.
The petition is without merit.
Memorandum Circular No. 41, Series of 1989, which provides for the Standard
Employment Contract Governing the Employment of Filipino Seamen On Board OceanGoing Vessels, and which was in force at the time Ciriaco was employed by Osco,
states that for the death of a seafarer to be compensable, the same must have occurred
during the term of his contract. Paragraph No. 7 of the said Memorandum provides:
7. Compensation and Benefits:
a. In case of death of the seaman during the term of his Contract, the
employer shall pay his beneficiaries the PHILIPPINE CURRENCY
EQUIVALENT TO THE AMOUNT OF: