6/7/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly CBA involved does not have a permanent unfitness clause; that the 240-day rule does not apply to the case since the company doctor timely assessed petitioner; and that no third doctor was appointed so the opinion of the company doctor prevails. The Court's Ruling The Court resolves to grant the petition. The 120/240-day rule still subsists under the 2010 POEA-SEC Respondents argue that the "120/240-day rule" is a thing of the past and is rendered obsolete by the 2010 version of the POEA-SEC. According to respondents, the provisions under the POEA-SEC providing that disability is not determined on the basis of duration of inability to work but on disability gradings alone should be recognized. [24] Their contention is inaccurate. Indeed, amendments were placed in the POEA-SEC, which is the primary contract that regulates a seafarer's employment. Section 20 (A) (6) of the 2010 POEA-SEC now provides that "[t]he disability shall be based solely on the disability gradings provided under Section 32 of this Contract, and shall not be measured or determined by the number of days a seafarer is under treatment or the number of days in which sickness allowance is paid."[25] Nevertheless, before the disability gradings under Section 32 should be considered, these disability ratings must be properly established and inscribed in a valid and timely medical report of a company-designated physician. Thus, the foremost consideration should be to determine whether the medical assessment or report of the company-designated physician was complete and appropriately issued; otherwise, the medical report shall be set aside and the disability grading contained therein shall be disregarded.[26] The POEA-SEC was enacted to provide the minimum acceptable terms in a seafarer's employment contract. However, in assessing whether a seafarer's injury is total and permanent, due consideration is accorded not only to the disability gradings found in Section 32 of the POEA-SEC, but also to the relevant provisions on disability of the Labor Code,[27] and the Amended Rules on Employees' Compensation (AREC) implementing Title II, Book IV of the Labor Code. The law that defines permanent and total disability of laborers is Article 192 (c) (1) of the Labor Code,[28] which provides: ART. 192. Permanent Total Disability, x x x (c) The following disabilities shall be deemed total and permanent: (1) Temporary total disability lasting continuously for more than one hundred twenty days, except as otherwise provided in the Rules Accordingly, the rule referred to, Rule X, Section 2 of the AREC, which implemented Book IV of the Labor Code (IRR), states: elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/62342 6/17