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799 Phil. 539
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 209098, November 14, 2016 ]
JUAN B. HERNANDEZ, PETITIONER, V. CROSSWORLD MARINE
SERVICES, INC., MYKONOS SHIPPING CO., LTD., AND ELEAZAR
DIAZ, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
DEL CASTILLO, J.:
Assailed in this Petition for Review on Certiorari[1] are the November 29, 2012
Decision[2] of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R SP No. 124685 which set aside the
February 23, 2012 Decision[3] and March 16, 2012 Resolution[4] of the National Labor
Relations Commission (NLRC) in NLRC LAC (OFW-M)-11-000995-11 and dismissed
herein petitioner's Complaint[5] in NLRC-NCR Case No. (M) 04-05732-11. Also assailed
herein is the CA's September 3, 2013 Resolution[6] denying reconsideration of its
assailed Decision.
Factual Antecedents
The Labor Arbiter, NLRC, and CA adopt an identical narrative of the salient facts.
Petitioner Juan B. Hernandez has been working continuously for respondents Mykonos
Shipping Co., Ltd. (Mykonos), Crossworld Marine Services, Inc. (Crossworld), and
Eleazar Diaz (Diaz) - Crossworld's President/Chief Executive Officer - since November
14, 2005, under different employment contracts covering the latter's several
oceangoing vessels.
On October 7, 2008, petitioner was once more engaged by respondents to work as
Chief Cook aboard the vessel M/V Nikomarin. This latest employment was for a period
of nine months, with a monthly salary ofUS$587.00, plus fixed overtime pay, food
allowance, leave pay, and long service bonus. When his contract expired, petitioner's
service was extended for an additional five months. Thereafter, he was repatriated on
December 19, 2009.
With a view to serving respondents anew under a new contract, petitioner was made to
undergo a pre-employment medical examination on March 22, 2010, and he was found
to be suffering from hypertension and diabetes mellitus. He was declared fit for duty
and required to take maintenance medication. However, respondents deferred his
employment on account of his state of health.
In 2011, petitioner consulted two separate physicians who turned out the same
diagnosis: that he was suffering from hypertension, stage 2, and type 2 diabetes
mellitus, and was therefore unfit for sea duty in whatever capacity as seaman.
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