The principles

§ Rules on seafarer's entitlement to disability benefits for work-related illness or injury under
the Labor Code, its implementing rules and regulations, the POEA-SEC, and prevailing
jurisprudence
§ Rules with respect to the period within which the company-designated physician must issue
a final and definitive disability assessment
§ The duty of the company-designated physician to issue a final and definitive assessment of
the seafarer's disability within the prescribed periods is imperative

FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 227419, June 10, 2020
HENRY ESPIRITU PASTRANA,
v. BAHIA SHIPPING SERVICES
CAGUIOA, J.:
Petitioner Henry Espiritu Pastrana entered into a Contract of Employment dated September 6,
2012 with respondent Bahia Shipping Services as an Environmental Team Leader on board the
vessel Carnival Fascination. Prior to his engagement, he declared fit to work.
While on board the vessel Pastrana experienced lower back pain which radiated to his right
buttock. Later, he was repatriated due to his worsening condition.
Pastrana reported to the company-designated physician, Dr. Lim, and underwent magnetic
resonance imaging scan of his lumbo sacral spine. After a series of physical therapy sessions,
Pastrana was declared fit to work. However, the Medical Director of respondent Carnival Cruise
Lines declared him unfit to return to his usual work on board the vessel after observing that he still
has stiff trunk and painful gait.
The company-designated physician issued a final assessment which states that If patient is
entitled to a disability, his suggested disability grading is Grade 11 — 1/3 loss of lifting power.
In view of the foregoing medical assessment, respondents offered to pay Pastrana $7,000.00
as disability benefit corresponding to a Grade 11 disability rating. Pastrana refused the offer and
instead sought the opinion of his personal doctor, Dr. Magtira, who declared him "permanently
unfit in any capacity to resume his duties as a Seaman."
Pastrana demanded total and permanent disability benefits from respondents, but his demand
went unheeded. Thus, Pastrana filed a Complaint dated for payment of total and permanent
disability benefits, among others.
The Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of Pastrana. The National Labor Relations Commission
affirmed the Labor Arbiter’s decision.
The Court of Appeals granted the petition filed by respondents. The CA found that Pastrana
failed to observe the procedure outlined in Section 20 (A) (3) of the POEA-SEC, which requires
the referral to and appointment of a third doctor whose medical assessment shall be binding on
both parties. Thus, the complaint is dismissible for being premature, and the opinion of the
company-designated physician becomes controlling.
Hence, this petition.
§ Rules on seafarer's entitlement to disability benefits for work-related illness or injury under
the Labor Code, its implementing rules and regulations, the POEA-SEC, and prevailing
jurisprudence
Q. State the rules on seafarer's entitlement to disability benefits for work-related
illness or injury.
In Vergara v. Hammonia Maritime Services, Inc. and Atlantic Marine Ltd., the Court explained
how the pertinent provisions in the Labor Code, its IRR, and the POEA-SEC operate, viz.:
In this respect and in the context of the present case, Article 192 (c)(1) of the Labor Code
provides that:
x x x The following disabilities shall be deemed total and permanent:
(1) Temporary total disability lasting continuously formore than one hundred twenty days,
except as otherwise provided in the Rules;
[xxx xxx xxx]
The rule referred to — Rule X, Section 2 of the Rules and Regulations implementing Book IV
of the Labor Code — states:
Period of entitlement. — (a) The income benefit shall be paid beginning on the first day of
such disability. If caused by an injury or sickness it shall not be paid longer than 120 consecutive
days except where such injury or sickness still requires medical attendance beyond 120 days but
not to exceed 240 days from onset of disability in which case benefit for temporary total disability
shall be paid. However, the System may declare the total and permanent status at anytime after 120
days of continuous temporary total disability as may be warranted by the degree of actual loss or
impairment of physical or mental functions as determined by the System.
These provisions are to be read hand in hand with the POEA Standard Employment Contract
whose Section 20 (3) states:
Upon sign-off from the vessel for medical treatment, the seafarer is entitled to sickness
allowance equivalent to his basic wage until he is declared fit to work or the degree of permanent
disability has been assessed by the company-designated physician but in no case shall this period
exceed one hundred twenty (120) days.
As these provisions operate, the seafarer, upon sign-off from his vessel, must report to the
company-designated physician within three (3) days from arrival for diagnosis and treatment. For
the duration of the treatment but in no case to exceed 120 days, the seaman is on temporary total
disability as he is totally unable to work. He receives his basic wage during this period until he is
declared fit to work or his temporary disability is acknowledged by the company to be permanent,
either partially or totally, as his condition is defined under the POEA Standard Employment Contract
and by applicable Philippine laws. If the 120 days initial period is exceeded and no such declaration
is made because the seafarer requires further medical attention, then the temporary total disability
period may be extended up to a maximum of 240 days, subject to the right of the employer to
declare within this period that a permanent partial or total disability already exists. The seaman may
of course also be declared fit to work at any time such declaration is justified by his medical
condition.
§ Rules with respect to the period within which the company-designated physician must
issue a final and definitive disability assessment
Q. State the rules with respect to the period within which the company-designated
physician must issue a final and definitive disability assessment.
 In Elburg Shipmanagement, Inc. v. Quiogue, Jr., the Court supplanted Vergara and outlined
the rules with respect to the period within which the company-designated physician must issue a
final and definitive disability assessment, viz.:
In summary, if there is a claim for total and permanent disability benefits by a seafarer, the
following rules shall govern:
1. The company-designated physician must issue a final medical assessment on the
seafarer's disability grading within a period of 120 days from the time the seafarer reported to him;
2. If the company-designated physician fails to give his assessment within the period of 120
days, without any justifiable reason, then the seafarer's disability becomes permanent and total;
3. If the company-designated physician fails to give his assessment within the period of 120
days with a sufficient justification (e.g., seafarer required further medical treatment or seafarer was
uncooperative), then the period of diagnosis and treatment shall be extended to 240 days. The
employer has the burden to prove that the company-designated physician has sufficient justification
to extend the period; and
4. If the company-designated physician still fails to give his assessment within the extended
period of 240 days, then the seafarer's disability becomes permanent and total, regardless of any
justification.
While Elburg states that the 120 or 240-day periods shall be reckoned "from the time the
seafarer reported to [the company-designated physician]," subsequent cases consistently counted
said periods from the date of the seafarer's repatriation for medical treatment. This is true even in
cases where the date of repatriation of the seafarer does not coincide with the date of his first
consultation with the company-designated physician. This will be observed, for instance, in Jebsens
Maritime, Inc. v. Pasamba and Teekay Shipping Philippines, Inc. v. Ramoga, Jr. This is consistent
with Section 20 (A) (3) which provides for the repatriation of the seafarer in case of work-related
illness or injury, and the obligation of the employer to give the seafarer sickness allowance from the
time he signed off until he is declared fit to work or the degree of his or her disability has been
assessed, but not exceeding 120 days, viz.:
SECTION 20. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS. —
A. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS FOR INJURY OR ILLNESS
The liabilities of the employer when the seafarer suffers work-related injury or illness during
the term of his contract are as follows:
xxx xxx xxx
2. If the injury or illness requires medical and/or dental treatment in a foreign port, the
employer shall be liable for the full cost of such medical, serious dental, surgical and hospital
treatment as well as board and lodging until the seafarer is declared fit to work or to be repatriated.
However, if after repatriation, the seafarer still requires medical attention arising from said injury or
illness, he shall be so provided at cost to the employer until such time he is declared fit or the
degree of his disability has been established by the company-designated physician.
3. In addition to the above obligation of the employer to provide medical attention, the seafarer
shall also receive sickness allowance from his employer in an amount equivalent to his basic wage
computed from the time he signed off until he is declared fit to work or the degree of disability has
been assessed by the company-designated physician. The period within which the seafarer shall be
entitled to his sickness allowance shall not exceed 120 days. Payment of the sickness allowance
shall be made on a regular basis, but not less than once a month.
 Thus, Elburg should be read as requiring the company-designated physician to issue a final
and definitive disability assessment within 120 or 240 days from the date of the seafarer's
repatriation. As held by the Court in Vergara and Elburg , the initial 120 days within which the
company-designated physician must issue a final and definitive disability assessment may be
extended for another 120 days. The extended period, however, may only be availed of by the
company-designated physician under justifiable circumstances.
In Marlow Navigation Philippines, Inc. v. Osias, the Court held that the seafarer's
uncooperativeness with his medical treatment justified the extension of the period of the medical
treatment and assessment to 240 days.
In Magsaysay Mitsui Osk Marine, Inc. v. Buenaventura, the Court found that the extension of
the initial 120-day period was justified by the seafarer's need for further treatment, as in fact, the
seafarer underwent therapy and rehabilitation beyond the 120-day period. The need for further
medical treatment also justified the application of the 240-day period in Rickmers Marine Agency
Phils., Inc. v. San Jose and Magsaysay Maritime Corp. v. Simbajon.
The Court stressed, however, that to avail of the extended 240-day period, the company-
designated physician must perform some complete and definite medical assessment to show that
the illness still requires medical attendance beyond 120 days, but not to exceed 240 days. The
employer bears the burden of proving that the company-designated physician had a reasonable
justification to invoke the 240-day period. Thus, in Hanseatic Shipping Philippines, Inc. v. Ballon, the
Court did not give credence to the employer's belated and unsubstantiated invocation of the 240-
day period.
§ The duty of the company-designated physician to issue a final and definitive assessment of
the seafarer's disability within the prescribed periods is imperative
Q. Is the duty of the company-designated physician to issue a final and definitive
assessment of the seafarer's disability within the prescribed periods imperative?
The duty of the company-designated physician to issue a final and definitive assessment of
the seafarer's disability within the prescribed periods is imperative. His failure to do so will render his
findings nugatory and transform the disability suffered by the seafarer to one that is permanent and
total. As explained by the Court in Pelagio v. Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc.:
Otherwise stated, the company-designated physician is required to issue a final and definite
assessment of the seafarer's disability rating within the aforesaid 120/240-day period; otherwise, the
opinions of the company-designated and the independent physicians are rendered irrelevant
because the seafarer is already conclusively presumed to be suffering from a permanent and total
disability, and thus, is entitled to the benefits corresponding thereto.
Similarly, in Olidana v. Jebsens Maritime, Inc., the Court declared as follows:
x x x The Court in Kestrel Shipping Co., Inc. v. Munar, held that the declaration by the
company-designated physician is an obligation, the abdication of which transforms the temporary
total disability to permanent total disability, regardless of the disability grade, viz.:
Indeed, under Section 32 of the POEA-SEC, only those injuries or disabilities that are
classified as Grade 1 may be considered as total and permanent. However, if those injuries or
disabilities with a disability grading from 2 to 14, hence, partial and permanent, would incapacitate a
seafarer from performing his usual sea duties for a period of more than 120 or 240 days, depending
on the need for further medical treatment, then he is, under legal contemplation, totally and
permanently disabled. In other words, an impediment should be characterized as partial and
permanent not only under the Schedule of Disabilities found in Section 32 of the POEA-SEC but
should be so under the relevant provisions of the Labor Code and the Amended Rules on Employee
Compensation (AREC) implementing Title II, Book IV of the Labor Code. That while the seafarer is
partially injured or disabled, he is not precluded from earning doing the same work he had before his
injury or disability or that he is accustomed or trained to do. Otherwise, if his illness or injury
prevents him from engaging in gainful employment for more than 120 or 240 days, as the case may
be, he shall be deemed totally and permanently disabled.
Moreover, the company-designated physician is expected to arrive at a definite assessment of
the seafarer's fitness to work or permanent disability within the period of 120 or 240 days. That
should he fail to do so and the seafarer's medical condition remains unresolved, the seafarer shall
be deemed totally and permanently disabled.