G.R. No. 178127 6 of 13 http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2009/april2009/178127.htm his own instance, the petitioners (sic) argument of involuntariness has no factual basis and is a mere afterthought. Having resigned from his position, private respondent is not entitled to his monetary claims. 3. Assuming, without admitting, that private respondent was medically repatriated as poor health was stated as the reason for his resignation only bolsters the view that private respondent knew of his history of hypertension prior to boarding the MV Golden Progress and that he concealed such material information in his pre-employment medical examination (PEME for brevity). 4. Private respondents PEME is not binding against the petitioners with respect to the determination of his true state of health and that petitioners willful and fraudulent concealment of his known pre-existing medical condition bars him from receiving disability benefits. (Underscoring supplied) As a general rule, only questions of law may be raised and resolved by the Court as regards petitions brought under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. The reason being that the Court is not a trier of facts, hence, it is not duty bound to re-examine the evidence on record. Where, as in the present case, the NLRC and the Labor Arbiter arrived at conflicting decisions and the findings of the Labor Arbiter, as partly affirmed by the appellate court, appear to be contrary to the evidence at hand, the Court finds the need to review the records to distill the facts. From a considered review, the Court finds that respondents resignation was voluntary. Resignation is defined as the voluntary act of an employee who finds himself in a situation where he believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the [10] service and he has no other choice but to disassociate himself from his employment. Respondents resignation can be gleaned from the unambiguous terms of his letter to Captain Cristino. As earlier reflected, respondent returned home upon docking in Singapore on May 13, 2000 after he was treated for the abscess in his left thumb and diagnosed with hypertension. His return home is in consonance with his request in his letter of April 26, 2000 to the crewing manager. Respondents bare claim that he was forced to execute his resignation letter deserves no 1/27/2016 2:14 PM