5/19/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly also report regularly to the company-designated physician specifically on the dates as prescribed by the company-designated physician and agreed to by the seafarer. Failure of the seafarer to comply with the mandatory reporting requirement shall result in his forfeiture of the right to claim the above benefits. If a doctor appointed by the seafarer disagrees with the assessment, a third doctor may be agreed jointly between the Employer and the seafarer. The third doctor's decision shall be final and binding on both parties. (Emphases supplied) Based on the afore-cited provision, the employer is liable for disability benefits only when the seafarer suffers from a work-related injury or illness during the term of his contract. In this regard, "work-related illness" is defined as "any sickness as a result of an occupational disease listed under Section 32-A of [the 2010 POEA-SEC] with the conditions set therein satisfied." Corollarily, Section 20 (A) (4) thereof further provides that "[t]hose illnesses not listed in Section 32 of [the 2010 POEA-SEC] are disputably presumed as work-related." Given the legal presumption in favor of the seafarer, he may rely on and invoke such legal presumption to establish a fact in issue. Thus, the burden is on the employer, not the employee, to prove that the illness is not workrelated.[33] In the case at bar, respondents averred that Salas is not entitled to the benefits provided under the 2010 POEA-SEC since his illnesses were declared by the companydesignated physician to be not work-related. However, other than the companydesignated physician's explanation that diabetes mellitus "is usually familial/hereditary," and that gouty arthritis "is a metabolic disorder secondary to defect in purine metabolism and/or high purine diet," no further assessment or evaluation was given in relation to Salas' illness that would dispute the legal presumption. In fact, as noted by NLRC Commissioner Vivar-De Castro in her dissent, the company-designated physician's findings were merely descriptive of the general nature of Salas' illnesses: With [regard to Salas'] Diabetes Mellitus, [the Labor Arbiter observed] that "no qualification was made as to [Salas'] medical history of diabetes, i.e., whether familial/hereditary or acquired because of his lifestyle". Moreover, the company-designated physician's statement was a mere characterization of the illness itself, and not the actual illness acquired by [Salas]. Otherwise stated, it merely informed the Respondents what Diabetes Mellitus is, i.e., "usually familial/hereditary". Said doctor made no categorical declaration that [Salas'] case fell within that category. As such, there is a strong possibility that [his] Diabetes Mellitus could have been an acquired illness. Considering that said illness manifested while [he] was on board the vessel; and that there is no previous diagnosis of the same, it can be safely inferred that said illness was acquired by [Salas] while on board the vessel x x x. With [regard to Salas'] Gouty Arthritis, the company-designated physician's March 23, 2015 "opinion" merely described such illness https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66379 5/10