FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 227007. January 9, 2017.]
JUANITO G. GARINO, petitioner, vs. SOUTHFIELD AGENCIES, INC./MR. ARSENIO BENJAMIN E. SANTOS AND/OR POLARIS SHIPPING CO. LTD., respondents.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution datedJanuary 9, 2017which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 227007 (Juanito G. Garino v. Southfield Agencies, Inc./Mr. Arsenio Benjamin E. Santos and/or Polaris Shipping Co. Ltd.). The petitioner's motion for an extension of thirty (30) days within which to file a petition for review on certiorari is GRANTED, counted from the expiration of the reglementary period.
After a judicious perusal of the records, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition and AFFIRM the July 1, 2016 Decision 1 and September 8, 2016 Resolution 2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 143985 for failure of petitioner Juanito G. Garino to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in upholding the dismissal of his claim for disability benefits.
As the CA correctly ruled, the fit-to-work assessment of the company-designated physician must prevail in the absence of a final determination by a third physician chosen by both parties pursuant to the conflict-resolution procedure under Section 20-A 3 of the 2010 Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC). Case law states that "while [the seafarer] has the right to seek a second and even a third opinion [on his medical condition], the final determination of whose decision must prevail must be done in accordance with [the POEA-SEC]," 4 which was not observed in this case. Without a binding third opinion, the fit-to-work certification of the company-designated physician stands pursuant to the POEA-SEC. 5
SO ORDERED." CAIHTE
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) EDGAR O. ARICHETADivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 341-351. Penned by Associate Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpio with Associate Justices Andres B. Reyes, Jr. and Romeo F. Barza concurring.
2.Id. at 380-381.
3. SEC. 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:
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 his 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.
4.Vergara v. Hammonia Maritime Services, Inc., 588 Phil. 895, 914 (2008).
5. See Philippine Hammonia Ship Agency, Inc. v. Dumadag, 712 Phil. 507, 519-520 (2013).