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724 Phil. 374
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 178564, January 15, 2014 ]
INC SHIPMANAGEMENT, INC., CAPTAIN SIGFREDO E.
MONTERROYO AND/OR INTERORIENT NAVIGATION LIMITED,
PETITIONERS, VS. ALEXANDER L. MORADAS, RESPONDENT.
DECISION
PERLAS-BERNABE, J.:
Assailed in this petition for review on certiorari[1] are the Decision[2] dated October 31,
2006 and Resolution[3] dated June 25, 2007 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CAG.R. SP No. 84769
which granted respondent Alexander L. Moradas's
(respondent) claim to permanent total disability benefits in the amount of
US$60,000.00, or its peso equivalent, and attorney's fees.
The Facts
On July 17, 2000, respondent was employed as wiper for the vessel MV Commander
(vessel) by petitioner INC Shipmanagement, Inc. for its principal, petitioner Interorient
Navigation, Ltd. (petitioners), for a period of I 0 months, with a basic monthly salary of
US$360.00, plus benefits.[4]
On October 13, 2000, respondent claimed that while he was disposing of the garbage in
the incinerator room of the vessel, certain chemicals splashed all over his body because
of an explosion.[5] He was sent to the Burns Unit of the Prince of Wales Hospital on the
same day wherein he was found to have suffered deep burns. Eventually, upon his own
request, respondent was sent home.[6]
On October 21, 2000, he was admitted to the St. Luke’s Medical Center.[7]
Subsequently, he was diagnosed to have sustained “thermal burns, upper and lower
extremities and abdomen, 2º-3º, 11%” [8] for which he underwent debridement.
He was referred to a physical therapist for his subsequent debridement through
hydrotherapy. On November 10, 2000, the attending physician, Dr. Natalio G. Alegre II,
reported that the respondent’s thermal burns were healing well and that they were
estimated to fully heal within a period of 3 to 4 months.[9]
Claiming that the burns rendered him permanently incapable of working again as a
seaman, respondent demanded[10] for the payment of his full disability benefits under
Section 20 (B) in relation to Sections 30 and 30-A of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Agency (POEA) Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC), in the
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