Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 199344
March 5, 2014
VETYARD TERMINALS & SHIPPING SERVICES, INC./ MIGUEL S. PEREZ, SEAFIX, INC., Petitioners,
vs.
BERNARDINO D. SUAREZ, Respondent.
DECISION
ABAD, J.:
Petitioners Vetyard Terminals and Shipping Services, Inc., Miguel S. Perez, and Seafix, Inc. (collectively
referred to here as the Company) hired respondent Bernardino D. Suarez to work as Welder/Fitter for
12 months on board MV "1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez"1 at US$392 per month.2 Suarez began to work on
January 9, 2007 but was repatriated home four months later in May 2007.
When examined at the Medical City, respondent Suarez was found to be suffering from posterior
cataract and pseudophakia.3 On the next day, Dr. Victor Caparas examined him anew and gave a more
specific diagnosis: "right eye- posterior subs capsular cataract" and "left eye- pseudophakia, posterior
capsule opacification."4 Dr. Caparas issued a certification that Suarez's ailment, which commonly occurs
after cataract operation, is not associated with his claim that paint injured an eye while he was working
on board the vessel.5 On June 20, 2007, he signed after a debriefing a release and quitclaim in favor of
the Company.6
On August 23, 2007 Suarez filed against the Company a complaint for total and permanent disability
benefits, sickness allowance, and reimbursement of medical expenses, alleging that he was painting the
vessel’s ceiling in February 2007 when paint accidentally hit his eye for which he suffered pain. He
claimed that he afterwards experienced blurred vision, yet the Company refused to give him medical
and financial assistance.
The Company countered that Suarez was not entitled to disability benefits since his illness was not workrelated and he deliberately concealed a prior cataract operation. Still the Company paid for his
emergency and consultation fees.
On January 8, 2008 the Labor Arbiter dismissed Suarez’s claim, holding that cataract was the primary
cause of his ailment, not paint droppings. Suarez failed to prove that his illness was work-related.
On November 28, 2008 the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed the Labor Arbiter’s
ruling. It also ruled that Suarez’s alleged incapacity for work for more than 120 days did not render his