4/9/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly 1. WHETHER OR NOT THE STANDARD EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT OF THE PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION (“POEA”) IS THE LAW BETWEEN THE SEAMAN AND THE MANNING AGENT. 2. WHETHER OR NOT A COMPANY-DESIGNATED PHYSICIAN POSSESSES THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO DECLARE A SEAMAN FIT OR DISABLED UNDER THE LAW. 3. WHETHER OR NOT A SEAMAN CAN CLAIM DISABILITY BENEFITS AFTER HE FAILED TO REPORT HIS ALLEGED INJURY WITHIN THE THREE-DAY REGLEMENTARY PERIOD AS REQUIRED AND IMPOSED BY LAW.[31] The petitioner insists that under the POEA Standard Employment Contract (POEA SEC), which governed the relationship between the seafarer and his manning agent, it was the company-designated physician who would assess and establish the fitness or disability of the repatriated seaman; that Tanawan’s claim for any disability benefit had no basis because the company-designated physician already pronounced him fit to work; that Tanawan should have reported the eye injury to the company-designated physician within three working days upon his arrival in the country pursuant to Sec. 20(B)(3) of the POEA SEC; that his non-reporting now barred Tanawan from recovering disability benefit for the eye injury; that to ignore the application of the 3-day reglementary period would lead to the indiscriminate filing of baseless claims against the manning agencies and their foreign principals; and that more probative weight should be accorded to the certification of Dr. Lim about the foot injury and the opinion of Dr. Angbue-Te on the alleged eye injury. On the other hand, Tanawan submits that the determination of the fitness or disability of a seafarer was not the exclusive prerogative of the company-designated physician; and that his failure to undergo a post- employment medical examination for the eye injury within three days from his repatriation did not bar his claim for disability benefits.[32] Ruling The petition is partly meritorious. The employment of seafarers, and its incidents, including claims for death benefits, are governed by the contracts they sign every time they are hired or rehired. Such contracts have the force of law between the parties as long as their stipulations are not contrary to law, morals, public order or public policy. While the seafarers and their employers are governed by their mutual agreements, the POEA rules and regulations require that the POEA SEC, which contains the standard terms and conditions of the seafarers’ employment in foreign ocean-going vessels, be integrated in every seafarer’s contract.[33] The pertinent provision of the 1996 POEA SEC, which was in effect at the time of elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/55096 5/11