4/9/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Tanawan’s employment, was Section 20(B), which reads: SECTION 20. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS xxx B. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS FOR INJURY OR ILLNESS: The liabilities of the employer when the seafarer suffers injury or illness during the term of his contract are as follows: 1. The employer shall continue to pay the seafarer his wages during the time he is on board the vessel; 2. If the injury or illness requires medical and/or dental treatment in a foreign port, the employer shall be liable for the full cost of such medical, serious dental, surgical and hospital treatment as well as board and lodging until the seafarer is declared fit to work or to be repatriated. However, if after repatriation, the seafarer still requires medical attention arising from said injury or illness, he shall be so provided at cost to the employer until such time he is declared fit or the degree of his disability has been established by the company-designated physician. 3. Upon sign-off from the vessel for medical treatment, the seafarer is entitled to sickness allowance equivalent to his basic wage until he is declared fit to work or the degree of permanent disability has been assessed by the company-designated physician, but in no case shall this period exceed one hundred twenty (120) days. For this purpose, the seafarer shall submit himself to a post- employment medical examination by a company-designated physician within three working days upon his return except when he is physically incapacitated to do so, in which case, a written notice to the agency within the same period is deemed as compliance. Failure of the seafarer to comply with the mandatory reporting requirement shall result in his forfeiture of the right to claim the above benefits. It is clear from the provision that the one tasked to determine whether the seafarer suffers from any disability or is fit to work is the company designated physician. As such, the seafarer must submit himself to the company-designated physician for a post employment medical examination within three days from his repatriation. But the assessment of the company- designated physician is not final, binding or conclusive on the seafarer, the labor tribunals, or the courts. The seafarer may request a second opinion and consult a physician of his choice regarding his ailment or injury, and the medical report issued by the physician of his choice shall also be evaluated on its inherent merit by the labor tribunal and the court.[34] elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/55096 6/11