5/28/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Hypertension classified as primary or essential is considered compensable if it causes impairment of function of body organs like kidneys, heart, eyes and brain, resulting in permanent disability; Provided, that the following documents substantiate it: (a) chest x-ray report, (b) ECG report (c) blood chemistry report, (d) funduscopy report, and (e) C-T scan. (Emphasis supplied) Breaking down the provision, Hypertension is considered compensable when it is shown that: (a) it causes impairment of function of body organs like kidneys, heart, eyes, and brain, resulting in permanent disability; and (b) there are documents that substantiate said finding, such as chest x-ray report, ECG report, blood chemistry report, funduscopy report, and C-T scan. As records are bereft of any showing that these requirements had been complied with by Ayungo, his Hypertension should not have been considered by the NLRC as compensable. Finally, the Court deems it worthy to note that Ayungo failed to comply with the procedure laid down under Section 20(B)(3) of the 2000 POEA-SEC which provides that “[i]f a doctor appointed by the seafarer disagrees with the assessment [of the company doctor], a third doctor may be agreed jointly between the Employer and the seafarer,” and that “[t]he third doctor’s decision shall be final and binding on both parties.” In Philippine Hammonia Ship Agency, Inc. v. Dumadag[50] (Philippine Hammonia), the Court held that the seafarer’s non-compliance with the said conflict-resolution procedure results in the affirmance of the fit-to-work certification of the companydesignated physician, viz.: The filing of the complaint constituted a breach of Dumadag’s contractual obligation to have the conflicting assessments of his disability referred to a third doctor for a binding opinion. x x x Thus, the complaint should have been dismissed, for without a binding third opinion, the fit-to-work certification of the companydesignated physician stands x x x. xxxx Whatever his reasons might have been, Dumadag’s disregard of the conflictresolution procedure under the POEA-SEC and the CBA cannot and should not be tolerated and allowed to stand, lest it encourage a similar defiance. x x x The third-doctor-referral provision of the POEA-SEC, it appears to us, has been honored more in the breach than in the compliance. This is unfortunate considering that the provision is intended to settle disability claims voluntarily at the parties’ level where the claims can be resolved more speedily than if they were brought to court. Given the circumstances under which Dumadag pursued his claim, especially the fact that he caused the non-referral to a third doctor, Dr. Dacanay’s fit-to-work certification must be upheld. In Santiago v. Pacbasin Ship Management, Inc., the Court declared: “[t]here was no agreement on a third doctor who shall examine him anew and whose finding shall be final and binding. x x x [T]his Court is left without choice but to elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/56522 6/10