FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 237248. April 23, 2018.]
UNITED PHILIPPINE LINES, INC., CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES AND JOSE GERONIMO G. CONSUNJI, petitioners,vs. ALAN SILO TOBONGBANUA, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution datedApril 23, 2018which reads as follows: cDHAES
"G.R. No. 237248 (United Philippine Lines, Inc., Carnival Cruise Lines and Jose Geronimo G. Consunji v. Alan Silo Tobongbanua). — There being no reversible error in the Decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) dated September 22, 2017 in CA-G.R. SP No. 148153, the Court resolves to DENY the petition and AFFIRM the CA's ruling.
As the NLRC had done, the CA correctly ruled that the company physician failed to give a definite assessment of Allan Silo Tobongbanua's (Tobongbanua) fitness to work or his permanent disability. The records reveal that the company designated physician merely gave a suggested disability of Grade 11 — loss of lifting power without stating Tobongbanua's fitness to return to his accustomed work as Team Head Waiter. As in Belchem Philippines, Inc. v. Zafra, Jr.1 which likewise involved United Philippine Lines, Inc. (UPL), the company doctor, Dr. William Chuasuan, Jr. and a similar diagnosis of partial orthopedic disability, albeit with a different seafarer, UPL again failed to provide Tobongbanua with an assessment, definitive in character, whether he was fit or unfit to resume duties as Team Head Waiter within the 120-240-day period.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The Decision of the Court of Appeals dated September 22, 2017 in CA-G.R. SP No. 148153 is AFFIRMED. No costs.
SO ORDERED."Sereno, C.J., on leave; De Castro, J., designated as Acting Chairperson of the First Division per Special Order No. 2540 dated February 28, 2018. ASEcHI
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. G.R. No. 204845, June 15, 2015, 757 SCRA 560.