WHEREFORE, premises considered, the present petition is hereby GIVEN DUE
COURSE, and the writ prayed for, accordingly GRANTED. The assailed
Decision dated November 29, 2001 and Resolution dated January 31, 2002 of the
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in NLRC NCR CA 027007-01
[OFW (M) 99-10-1799-00] are hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE and a new
one entered declaring petitioner to be suffering from a permanent and total
disability justifying the grant in his favor of full benefits in accordance with
law. In addition, attorneys fees equivalent to ten percent (10%) of the total
monetary award herein is likewise granted to petitioner.
No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.[9]
Micronesia, et al. filed a Motion for Reconsideration but to no avail.
Hence, the present Petition with the following issues:
First, the Petition for Certiorari filed by private respondent is way out of time and
should no longer have been acted upon, and because of this, the Decision of the
NLRC below became final and executory and may no longer be disturbed;
Second, the finding of the Court of Appeals that private respondent suffers total
and permanent disability is baseless;
Third, the private respondent is entitled to no more than what the NLRC awarded
him below, because: the mere fact that private respondent can no longer work as a
seaman is not in itself sufficient justification to award him total disability
compensation; b) entitlement to disability compensation under the Standard
Terms of the POEA Contract is schedular in nature, and does not support the total
disability compensation award granted to the private respondent; and c) private
respondent is entitled only to the disability compensation justified by his
condition, which is as assessed by the company's designated physicians.[10]
In
their
Memorandum,
petitioners Micronesia,
et
al.
insist
that
respondent Cantomayor is not entitled to any compensation because his illness is
not compensable and, even if it were, the same was a pre-existing condition which
he concealed from his employers. They also argue that, if Cantomayor is held
entitled to compensation, then his award should be that corresponding to a Grade 7
disability for this was the assessment given by their company physician.