5/19/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly suffering from Diabetes Mellitus Type II and cardiovascular disease.[24] This was also supported by the medical assessment of Salenga's own doctors.[25] The CA likewise found the award of attorney's fees proper because the withholding of wages need not be attended by bad faith or malice to warrant the grant of attorney's fees.[26] Petitioners moved for reconsideration but this was denied. Hence, this Petition. Issue Whether the CA is correct in affirming the NLRC ruling that Salenga is entitled to total and permanent disability benefits. The Court's Ruling The Petition is granted. Although a Rule 45 petition is limited to questions of law, the Court may resolve questions of facts if the appealed decision is based on a misapprehension of facts.[27] Although as a rule, the factual findings of the CA, especially if it affirms the factual findings of the labor tribunals, are binding on this Court, this rule does not find application when these are based on speculations, conjectures and surmises.[28] Here, the LA, NLRC, and CA erred in finding that Salenga's illnesses were work-related. Section 20(A) of the 2010 Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC) is irrelevant if the seafarer did not suffer from an illness or injury during the term of his contract. The seafarer's complaints for disability benefits arise from (1) injury or illness that manifests or is discovered during the term of the seafarer's contract, which is usually while the seafarer is on board the vessel or (2) illness that manifests or is discovered after the contract, which is usually after the seafarer has disembarked from the vessel. As further explained below, it is only in the first scenario that Section 20(A) of the POEA-SEC applies. In ruling that Salenga is entitled to disability benefits, the CA ruled that he was able to show that his illnesses existed during the term of his contract, as follows: The terms and conditions for claiming disability benefits by a seafarer against his employer are contained in the Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino Seafarers On-Board Ocean-Going Vessels (POEA-SEC). Specifically, Section 20[(A)[29] provides that the employer is liable for disability benefits when the seafarer suffers from a work-related injury or illness during the term of his contract. To be https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66256 4/17