5/28/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly until he is declared fit to work or his temporary disability is acknowledged by the company to be permanent, either partially or totally, as his condition is defined under the POEA Standard Employment Contract and by applicable Philippine laws. If the 120 days initial period is exceeded and no such declaration is made because the seafarer requires further medical attention, then the temporary total disability period may be extended up to a maximum of 240 days, subject to the right of the employer to declare within this period that a permanent partial or total disability already exists. The seaman may of course also be declared fit to work at any time if such declaration is justified by his medical condition. [Emphasis supplied] The law and this pronouncement make it clear that INC is obligated to pay for the treatment of Rosales, plus his basic wage, during the 120-day period from repatriation while he is undergoing treatment; he could not work during this period and hence was on temporary total disability. Permanent disability transpires when the inability to work continues beyond one hundred twenty (120) days, regardless of whether or not he loses the use of any part of his body. In comparison with the concept of permanent disability, total disability means the incapacity of an employee to earn wages in the same or similar kind of work that he was trained for, or is accustomed to perform, or in any kind of work that a person of his mentality and attainments can do. It does not mean absolute helplessness. In disability compensation, it is not the injury that is compensated; it is the incapacity to work resulting in the impairment of one’s earning capacity.[18] Thus, while Rosales was entitled to temporary total disability benefits during his treatment period (because he could not totally work during this whole period), it does not follow that he should likewise be entitled to permanent total disability benefits when his disability was assessed by the company-designated physician after his treatment. He may be recognized to be have permanent disability because of the period he was out of work and could not work [in this case, more than one hundred twenty (120) days], but the extent of his disability (whether total or partial) is determined, not by the number of days that he could not work, but by the disability grading the doctor recognizes based on his resulting incapacity to work and earn his wages. It is the doctor’s findings that should prevail as he/she is equipped with the proper discernment, knowledge, experience and expertise on what constitutes total or partial disability. His declaration serves as the basis for the degree of disability that can range anywhere from Grade 1 to Grade 14.[19] Notably, this is a serious consideration that cannot be determined by simply counting the number of treatment lapsed days. In light of these distinctions, to confuse the concepts of permanent and total disability is to trigger a situation where disability would be determined by simply counting the duration of the seafarer’s illness. This system would inevitably induce the unscrupulous elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/57993 5/10