SC REITERATES THE MANDATORY CHARACTER OF THREE-DAY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR SEAFARERS.
A seafarer who reports to the agency after three weeks following his repatriation for another employment opportunity is deemed to have forfeited his right to disability compensation because of his failure to comply with the three-day mandatory reportorial requirement.
Notwithstanding his chronic kidney disease which was diagnosed during the pre-employment medical examination (PEME), the seafarer-claimant was still found fit for duty and allowed to board his assigned vessel. He was able to finish this employment contract without any issue. Almost three weeks after his repatriation, he lined up for another employment. During the course of the required PEME, it was discovered that he had a high level of creatinine, thus he was no longer redeployed. He sued the local manning agency and its foreign principal for permanent and total disability benefits. Finding that his failure to comply with the three-day mandatory reportorial requirement under the POEA Standard Employment Contract had effectively foreclosed his right to any disability compensation, the Labor Arbiter (LA) dismissed his suit. On appeal, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) while affirming the decision of the LA. On further appeal, the Court of Appeals (CA) held that the NLRC did not gravely abuse its discretion in rendering its decision.
Arguing that his failure to comply with the three-day mandatory reportorial requirement is not fatal to his claim for disability benefits, the seafarer-claimant brought his case to the Supreme Court (SC). In sustaining the decision of the CA, the SC held that:
“[W]hile the requirement to report within three working days from repatriation appears to be indispensable in character, there are some established exceptions to this rule: one, when the seafarer is incapacitated to report to the employer upon his or her repatriation; and two, when the employer inadvertently or deliberately refused to submit the seafarer to a post-employment medical examination by a company-designated physician.
“Regrettably, none of the foregoing exceptions obtain in this case. As petitioner himself narrated, it was only after three weeks from his repatriation that he underwent medical examination in view of another employment opportunity with respondents[.] Concomitant thereto, he discovered his high level of creatinine. Needless to state, petitioner’s failure to comply with the mandatory reportorial requirement is fatal to his cause.
“On that point, the CA properly held that the petitioner failed to present any evidence whatsoever that he reported immediately to the employer within three days upon his return to the Philippines, viz.:
“If indeed [petitioner] had complied with the required three (3) day reportorial requirement, he would have immediately had himself checked by his physician after a finding made by the company designated physician. While the rule vests in the employer the burden to prove that the seafarer was referred to the company-designated physician for a post-employment examination, the same presupposes that the seafarer had first reported to the employer’s office.
“In addition, it must be emphasized that the petitioner was not medically repatriated. Instead, he returned to the Philippines because his employment contract has expired, and not because of any medical condition during the period of his employment. In [one case], the Court had occasion to rule that “the fact that the seafarer was repatriated for finished contract and not for medical reasons weakened, if not belied, his (or her) claim of illness on board the vessel.
“From the foregoing, the petitioner indisputably failed to establish compliance with the first requirement of compensability.”
(Nardo Dela Cruz Aviles Vs. RCCL Crew Management Inc., Royal Carribean Cruises, Ltd., and/or Gerardo Antonio Borromeo, G.R. No. 261686. September 19, 2022, Third Division; Attys. Hansel J.M.L. Tillmann, Edlize Rea D. Grape, and Christian Ryan Corbe for TM Law Offices represented vessel’s interest.)