4/29/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly any kind of work permanently."[16] The Compulsory Arbitration Rulings On June 26, 2006, Labor Arbiter (LA) Teresista D. Castillon-Lora rendered a decision finding merit in the complaint.[17] She awarded Capoy permanent total disability benefits of US$70,000.00, pursuant to the NSA/AMOSUP-NSU CBA. Citing Crystal Shipping, Inc. v. Natividad,[18] LA Lora held that Capoy suffered from permanent total disability as the medical records showed that he was unable to perform work or earn a living in the same kind of work for more than 120 days from his repatriation. The petitioners appealed. In its decision of March 28, 2008,[19] the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) denied the appeal and affirmed with modification LA Lora’s award by absolving Eduardo U. Menese, the President of the manning agency, from liability. The NLRC likewise denied the petitioners’ motion for reconsideration,[20] prompting them to elevate the case to the CA through a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court. The CA Decision On December 18, 2009, the CA denied the petition for lack of merit and upheld the NLRC rulings.[21] It sustained the application by the labor authorities of the NSA/AMOSUP-NSU CBA for 2004-2005[22] as basis for Capoy’s claim to disability benefits, in relation to Article 20(B) of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC).[23] The CA pointed out that the petitioners failed to disprove the authenticity of the CBA. The CA brushed aside the petitioners’ contention that Capoy failed to show proof that his injury was work-connected. It stressed that according to jurisprudence, "probability and not the ultimate degree of certainty is the test of proof in compensation proceedings."[24] It thus declared that "Capoy’s repatriation due to medical reasons raises no other logical conclusion but that, he was injured while on board the vessel." [25] With respect to the degree of Capoy’s disability, the CA took note of the compulsory arbitration finding that Capoy could not perform his work as a fitter for more than one hundred twenty (120) days — l97 days to be exact — counted from the date of his last Medical Progress Report.[26] It added that Dr. Salvador, the company-designated physician, failed to assess Capoy’s condition, by way of either a disability grading or a fit-to-work declaration. The CA gave no credit to the petitioners’ submission that Capoy is not entitled to disability benefits because he willfully and deliberately discontinued his medical treatment under the supervision of the company-designated physician. In any event, it emphasized that Capoy remained under Dr. Salvador’s care until March 17, 2007 or for more than 120 days, as above mentioned. In this light, it concluded that there is merit in Capoy’s claim for permanent total disability benefits. The petitioners moved for elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/55931 3/12