United Philippine Lines v. Alkuino
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Respondent Juanito P. Alkuino, Jr. was hired as Assistant Stage Manager on board a vessel under a four-month contract. Prior to employment, he was declared fit for sea duties. While on board, he experienced back pains after moving boxes, which later developed into lower back pains with right leg numbness. He was repatriated for medical reasons and underwent treatment, including physical therapy, for "disc degeneration, L4-L5." The company-designated physician advised surgery, but respondent refused. After completing physical therapy sessions, the company-designated physician declared respondent "deemed maximally medically improved" and assessed him with a Grade 8 impediment (partial and permanent disability), citing his refusal to undergo surgery. Respondent consulted his own doctor, who assessed him as permanently and totally disabled. Respondent requested referral to a third doctor, which UPLI ignored. Respondent then filed a complaint for total and permanent disability benefits. Procedural History: The National Conciliation Mediation Board-Panel of Voluntary Arbitrators (NCMB-PVA) found respondent entitled to permanent total disability benefits and held UPLI, Holland, and Consunji jointly and severally liable. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the entitlement to permanent and total disability benefits, reasoning that the disability was deemed total and permanent due to the company-designated physician's failure to issue a definite assessment within 240 days. However, the CA absolved Consunji from liability. The parties filed motions for reconsideration, which were denied. The Petition: Petitioners United Philippine Lines, Inc. (UPLI) and Jose Geronimo Consunji assailed the CA Decision and Resolution, arguing that the disability was partial and permanent, not total and permanent, and that Consunji should be absolved from liability.
Issue(s)
Whether the disability of respondent is permanent and total or merely partial and permanent. Whether Consunji, the owner and President of UPLI, is solidarily liable with UPLI.
Ruling
The petition is GRANTED. The Decision dated August 10, 2018 and the Resolution dated March 7, 2019 of the Court of Appeals are MODIFIED. Petitioners United Philippine Lines, Inc. and Jose Geronimo Consunji are ordered to jointly and severally pay respondent Juanito P. Alkuino, Jr. the amount of US$20,154.00, or its equivalent in Philippine currency, representing partial and permanent disability benefits. Attorney's fees were deleted.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of whether the disability is permanent and total or partial and permanent: The Court ruled that the disability of respondent is partial and permanent. The company-designated physician issued a final medical assessment of Grade 8 permanent and partial disability within 111 days from respondent's repatriation, which is within the 120-day reglementary period. This assessment was made after months of medical attendance and diagnosis, considering respondent's refusal to undergo surgery. The Court emphasized that a total disability only becomes permanent upon the expiration of the 120 or 240-day period without a declaration of fitness to work or permanent disability. Since a definitive assessment of permanent partial disability was made within the period, the disability cannot be deemed to have automatically become permanent and total. Furthermore, the Court clarified that permanent partial disability means the seafarer's ability to earn wages in the same or similar kind of work is not entirely lost, unlike total disability where the employee is unable to earn wages. The respondent's duties as Assistant Stage Manager did not primarily involve strenuous manual labor, and his Grade 8 impediment, which involved moderate rigidity or 2/3 loss of motion or lifting power of the trunk, would not preclude him from performing his main tasks. The assessment of the company-designated physician was deemed more credible than that of the respondent's doctor of choice, who only examined him once. On the issue of whether Consunji is solidarily liable with UPLI: The Court found Consunji, as owner and President of UPLI, solidarily liable with the company. Section 10 of Republic Act No. 8042, as amended by RA 10022, expressly provides for the joint and several liability of corporate officers with the recruitment/placement agency for money claims or damages awarded to Overseas Filipino Workers. While corporate officers are generally not personally liable for corporate debts, specific provisions of law, such as Section 10 of RA 8042, create such liability. Therefore, Consunji, in his capacity as owner and President, is solidarily liable with UPLI for the disability benefits awarded to the respondent.
Main Doctrine
The assessment of the company-designated physician, if made within the 120-day or 240-day period and is final and definitive, prevails over the assessment of the seafarer's doctor of choice. A seafarer is entitled to permanent partial disability benefits based on the company-designated physician's assessment if it is within the prescribed period and reflects the true extent of the seafarer's condition and capacity to work.