4/9/2020
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In Accord With Law And/Or [Applicable] Jurisprudence Of The Honorable
Court When It Granted Petitioner’s Petition For Certiorari Under Rule 65.
Grounds For The Petition
Petitioners respectfully submit that the appellate court decided the petition
not in accord with applicable laws and jurisprudence when:
I. The Appellate Court Disregarded The Terms And Conditions Of The
POEA Standard Employment Contract When It Rendered Petitioners
Liable To Respondent For Disability Benefits.
II. The Appellate Court Failed To Give Due Weight And Consideration
To The Assessment Made By The Company- Designated Physician As
To Respondent’s Condition; And
III. The Appellate Court Found Respondent With A Grade 1 Disability
And Awarded Him Disability Benefits In The Amount Of
U[S]$60,000.00 Which Is Equivalent To A Finding Of Total And
Permanent Disability, Despite The Lack Of Any Basis Therefor.
IV. Respondent Is Not Entitled To Attorney’s Fees.[19]
Discussion
The crux of the controversy boils down to the propriety of awarding disability benefits
to Penales in light of the fact that he was neither declared fit to work nor given a
disability grade rating within the period allowed by the law.
Applicability of the Labor Code
Provisions on Disability Benefits to Seafarers
The petitioners claim that the benefits to be awarded to Penales should be determined
and delimited by the POEA SEC, the contract which governs their relationship.[20] The
petitioners argue:
Entitlement of a seafarer to disability compensation does not depend on
whether or not he is still capable of working as a seafarer but on whether he
suffers an impediment which hinders him from doing his customary work or
any kind of work of a similar nature which a person of his mentality and
attainment could as defined by jurisprudence in the very cases relied upon
by the appellate court in the assailed Decision and Denial Resolution. x x x.
[21]
The petitioners add that Penales is not “totally disabled” as although he may have
suffered an injury that would render him unfit to work as a seafarer, he could still get a
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