4/29/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly accorded greater weight to the assessments of the company-designated physician and the consulting medical specialist which resulted from an extensive examination, monitoring and treatment of the seafarer’s condition, in contrast with the recommendation of the private physician which was “based only on a single medical report x x x [outlining] the alleged findings and medical history x x x obtained after x x x [one examination].”[50] Thus, in the absence of adequate diagnostic tests and procedures and reasonable findings to support the assessments of the four private physicians, their certifications on Armando’s alleged disability simply cannot be taken at face value, particularly in light of the overwhelming evidence supporting the findings of Dr. Alegre. The rule is still that whoever claims entitlement to disability benefits must prove such entitlement by substantial evidence.[51] The burden of proof rested on Armando to establish, by substantial evidence, the causal link between his work as a 2nd mate and his alleged disability to serve as basis for the grant of relief.[52] Unfortunately, he failed to discharge this burden. Consequently, the CA erroneously imputed grave abuse of discretion on the part of the NLRC in giving greater evidentiary weight to the medical certificate issued by Dr. Alegre over those issued by Armando’s physicians. In this light, we find it unnecessary to discuss whether Armando’s alleged CAD, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity and alcoholism were work-related and arose during the term of his contract so as to entitle him to disability benefits. Even if we were to address the matter, our consideration of the records will lead us to the same conclusion that Armando is not entitled to disability benefits. Primarily, other than his bare assertions, Armando did not specifically describe in detail the nature of his work, the working conditions, the risks attendant to the nature of his work with which he was allegedly exposed to, as well as how and to what degree the nature of his work caused or contributed to his alleged medical conditions. To recall, all of the diagnostic tests and procedures administered on Armando yielded “normal” results for which the companydesignated physician declared him fit to work. We arrive at this conclusion based on the following reasons: first, while CAD, which is subsumed under cardio-vascular disease,[53] and hypertension are listed as occupational diseases under Section 32-A, paragraphs 11 and 20 of the POEA-SEC, certain specified conditions[54] must first be satisfied for these diseases and the resulting disability to be considered compensable. Contrary to the CA’s conclusion, we find that Armando failed to show, by satisfactory evidence, that these specified conditions have been met. Moreover, both the findings at the Fujairah Port Clinic while Armando was confined following the incident at the vessel, and at the St. Luke’s Medical Center while he was undergoing treatment, did not reveal that he ever suffered from CAD. Second, although Dr. Ranjan of the Fujairah Port Clinic diagnosed Armando with hypertension, Armando did not reveal in his PEME that he had been suffering from this condition and had been taking anti-hypertensive medications for five years. As the petitioners correctly argued, Armando’s concealment of this vital information in his PEME disqualifies him from claiming disability benefits pursuant to Section 20-E of the POEA-SEC. It reads: elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/56107 10/17