Administration (POEA), was for a fixed period of one (1) month and for a
specific undertaking of conducting said vessel to and from Japan. It quoted
Delos Santos basic monthly salary and other monetary benefits in US
currency. Under POEA rules, all employers and principals are required to
adopt the POEA - standard employment contract (POEA-SEC) without
prejudice to their adoption of terms and conditions over and above the
minimum prescribed by that agency.[3]
On the vessels return to the Philippines a month after, Delos Santos
remained on board, respondent having opted to retain his services while
the vessel underwent repairs in Cebu. After its repair, MV Wild Iris, this
time renamed/registered as MV Super RoRo 100, sailed within domestic
waters, having been meanwhile issued by the Maritime Industry Authority
a Certificate of Vessel Registry and a permit to engage in coastwise trade
on
the
Manila-Cebu-Manila-Zamboanga-General
Santos-Manila
[4]
route. During this period of employment, Delos Santos was paid by and
received from respondent his salary in Philippine peso thru a payrolldeposit arrangement with the Philippine Commercial & Industrial Bank.[5]
Some five months into the vessels inter-island voyages, Delos Santos
experienced episodes of chest pain, numbness and body weakness which
eventually left him temporarily paralyzed. On 17 February 1996, he was
brought to the Manila Doctors Hospital a duly accredited hospital of
respondent - where he underwent a spinal column operation. Respondent
shouldered all operation-related expenses, inclusive of his post operation
confinement.
As narrated in the assailed decision of the Court of Appeals, the
following events next transpired:
1. After his discharge from the Manila Doctors, Delos Santos was made to
undergo physical therapy sessions at the same hospital, which compelled the
Batangas-based Delos Santoses to rent a room near the hospital at P3,000.00 a
month;
2. Delos Santos underwent a second spinal operation at the nonaccredited Lourdes Hospital at the cost of P119, 536.00; and
3. After Lourdes, Delos Santos was confined in a clinic in San Juan,
Batangas where P20,000.00 in hospitalization expenses was incurred.