3/31/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly FIRST DIVISION [ G.R. No. 239793, January 27, 2020 ] MULTINATIONAL SHIP MANAGEMENT, INC./SINGA SHIP AGENCIES, PTE. LTD., AND ALVIN HITEROZA, PETITIONERS, LOLET B. BRIONES, RESPONDENT. DECISION PERALTA, C.J.: This Petition for Review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court seeks to annul the Decision[1] dated January 12, 2018 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 151642, which nullified, except with respect to the award of sickness allowance in respondent's favor, the Decision[2] dated March 8, 2017 and the Resolution[3] dated May 15, 2017 of the National Labor Relations Commission (2nd Division) (NLRC) that reversed and set aside the Labor Arbiter's Decision[4] dated November 23, 2016, and dismissed the respondent's complaint for total and permanent disability, unpaid sickness allowance, damages and attorney's fees. Likewise assailed in this petition is the Court of Appeals' Resolution[5] dated May 30, 2018, which denied petitioners' Motion for Reconsideration. Petitioner Multinational Ship Management Inc. (MSMI) is a corporation duly established and existing under the laws of the Philippines and duly licensed to do business as a manning agency with petitioner Alvin Hiteroza (Hiteroza) as its President/General Manager. Petitioner Singa Ship Agencies PTE. LTD. is petitioner MSMI's foreign principal for the vessel M/V Viking Mimir. On March 25, 2015, MSMI and respondent Lolet Briones (Briones) entered into an employment contract whereby the latter was hired as Cabin Stewardess in the vessel Viking Mimir for a period of eight (8) months with a basic salary of US$980.00. The employment contract incorporated the POEA's "Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino Seafarers OnBoard Ocean-Going Vessels."[6] After undergoing a series of medical tests or routine Pre-Employment Medical Examination (PEME), Briones was declared fit for duty. Thereafter, she boarded her vessel of assignment and commenced her work as Cabin Stewardess on May 15, 2015. [7] While on board the vessel and in the course of her tour of duty, Briones experienced back pains. She alleged that on July 17, 2015, she assisted in the unloading of luggage of departing passengers and in retrieving boxes of mattresses and bedsheets from the laundry section to the state rooms. She felt pain in her back while in the middle of replacing the mattresses. When the pain did not subside the following day, she went to see the ship's doctor and was given pain relievers. She was allowed to continue her https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66202 1/10