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C.F. SHARP CREW MANAGEMENT v. JOEL D. TAOK

This case has been cited 16 times or more.

	GR No. 188638 2015-12-09	PHILIPPINE TRANSMARINE CARRIERS v. JOSELITO A. CRISTINO PEREZ, J.
In C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[89] the Court categorically stated that the seafarer may institute an action for total and permanent disability benefits in any of the following circumstances:(a) The company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days;
	GR No. 215313 2015-10-21	OLIMPIO O. OLIDANA v. JEBSENS MARITIME MENDOZA, J.
Even assuming that Jebsens properly raised the extended 240-day period due to prolonged physical therapy sessions, Olidana still has a valid claim against his employer. In C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[26] the Court held:xxx Thus, a seafarer may pursue an action for total and permanent disability benefits if: (a) the company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification being issued by the company-designated physician; (c) the company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 2O-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) the company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors who he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) the company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) the company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 2O-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) the company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) the company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of the said periods.[27]
	GR No. 211638 2015-10-07	MARK ANTHONY SASO v. 88 ACES MARITIME SERVICE DEL CASTILLO, J.
Pursuant to the above pronouncement, the Court declared in C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok[40] that the 120-day or 240-day period and the obligation of the law imposed on the employer are determinative of when a seafarer's cause of action for total and permanent disability may be considered to have arisen. The instances when a seafarer may pursue an action for total and permanent disability benefits were then enumerated therein as follows: "(a) when the company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability x x x after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability [even if the period is extended] to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification being issued by the company-designated physician; (c) the company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) the company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors x x x he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) the company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) the company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) the company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) the company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of the said periods."[41]
	GR No. 211882 2015-07-29	ELBURG SHIPMANAGEMENT PHILS. v. ERNESTO S. QUIOGUE MENDOZA, J.
The above-stated analysis indubitably gives life to the provisions of the law as enunciated by Vergara. Under this interpretation, both the 120-day period under Article 192 (2) of the Labor Code and the extended 240-day period under Rule X, Section 2 of its IRR are given full force and effect. This interpretation is also supported by the case of C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[37] where the Court enumerated a seafarer's cause of action for total and permanent disability, to wit: (a) The company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification being issued by the company-designated physician; xxxx Certainly, the company-designated physician must perform some significant act before he can invoke the exceptional 240-day period under the IRR. It is only fitting that the company-designated physician must provide a sufficient justification to extend the original 120-day period. Otherwise, under the law, the seafarer must be granted the relief of permanent and total disability benefits due to such non-compliance.
	GR No. 212049 2015-07-15	MAGSAYSAY MARITIME CORPORATION v. ROMEO V. PANOGALINOG PERLAS-BERNABE, J.
In this relation, the Court, in the recent case of C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[41] laid down the instances when a seafarer may be allowed to pursue an action for total and permanent disability benefits, to wit: (a) the company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification being issued by the company-designated physician; (c) the company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) the company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors who he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) the company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) the company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) the company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) the company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of the said periods.[42]
	GR No. 211872 2015-06-22	ROMIL T. OLAYBAL v. OSG SHIPMANAGEMENT MANILA MENDOZA, J.
Likewise in the subsequent case of C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[26] the Court specified the instances when a seafarer may be allowed to initiate an action for total and permanent disability benefits, to wit: (a) The company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification issued by the company designated physician; (c) The company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) The company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors whom he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) The company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) The company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) The company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) The company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of said periods.
	GR No. 203804 2015-04-15	DARIO A. CARCEDO v. MAINE MARINE PHILIPPINES CARPIO, J.
Even assuming that Dr. Cruz's 24 March 2009 disability rating were definitive, Carcedo would still have a cause of action for total and permanent disability compensation. Dr. Cruz's declaration of 8% impediment rating was made 63 days from repatriation, within the 120-day period. However, beyond this period, Carcedo was still incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties as he was still undergoing medical treatments and was confined in the hospital. In C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[44] the Court held: Based on this Court's pronouncements in Vergara, it is easily discernible that the 120-day or 240-day period and the obligations the law imposed on the employer are determinative of when a seafarer's cause of action for total and permanent disability may be considered to have arisen. Thus, a seafarer may pursue an action for total and permanent disability benefits if: (a) the company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification being issued by the company-designated physician; (c) the company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) the company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors who he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) the company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) the company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) the company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) the company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of the said periods.[45] (Emphasis supplied)
	GR No. 211211 2015-01-14	ROMMEL B. DARAUG v. KGJS FLEET MANAGEMENT MANILA MENDOZA, J.
(h) The company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of said periods.[34]
	GR No. 209201 2014-11-19	NEW FILIPINO MARITIME AGENCIES INC. v. MICHAEL D. DESPABELADERAS MENDOZA, J.
The CA even cited one of the instances enumerated in the case of C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok (C.F. Sharp Crew Management)[27] when a seafarer may be allowed to pursue an action for permanent disability benefits. In the said case, the failure of the company-designated physician to issue a declaration as to a seafarer's fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period with no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability justified an extension of the period to 240 days. The citation, however, finds no application in this case, where the company-designated physician cannot be faulted for not issuing disability assessment or fit-to-work declaration. At that time, which was within the 240-day period, Michael was still undergoing treatment by the company doctors. The orthopedic surgeon noted that Michael's fracture was healing and there was greater probability of a fit for work declaration. After the lapse of 120 days, the treatment period was considered extended as Michael was advised to continue medical therapy to improve his condition to which he agreed. There was, thus, an indication that further therapy sessions would address his temporary disability. He was expected to return for his therapy session, but he failed to do so. Clearly, under the circumstances, the 240-day extension period was justified.
	GR No. 209302 2014-07-09	ALONE AMAR P. TAGLE v. ANGLO-EASTERN CREW MANAGEMENT MENDOZA, J.
The rule is that a seafarer's right to disability benefits is a matter governed by law, contract and medical findings. The relevant legal provisions are Articles 191 to 193 of the Labor Code and Section 2, Rule X of the Amended Rules on Employee Compensation (AREC). The relevant contracts are the POEA-SEC, the collective bargaining agreement, if any, and the employment agreement between the seafarer and his employer.[35] Summarizing the interplay of these provisions as they relate to the establishment of a seafarer's claim to disability benefits, the Court, in Vergara v. Hammonia,[36] wrote: 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.
	GR No. 203472 2014-07-09	MAGSAYSAY MARITIME CORPORATION v. HENRY M. SIMBAJON BRION, J.
In C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok,[70] the Court enumerated the following instances when a seafarer may claim for permanent and total disability benefits: (a) the company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification being issued by the company-designated physician; (c) the company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) the company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors who he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) the company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) the company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) the company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) the company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of the said periods.
	GR No. 186509 2013-07-29	PHILMAN MARINE AGENCY v. ARMANDO S. CABANBAN BRION, J.
The entitlement of a seafarer on overseas employment to disability benefits is governed by the medical findings, by law and by the parties' contract.[44] By law, the governing provisions are Articles 191 to 193, Chapter VI (Disability Benefits) of the Labor Code, in relation to Section 2, Rule X of the Rules and Regulations Implementing Book IV of the Labor Code. By contract, the provisions of the POEA-SEC incorporating Department Order No. 4, series of 2000 of the Department of Labor and Employment (the POEA-SEC) govern.[45]
	GR No. 201251 2013-06-26	INTER-ORIENT MARITIME v. CRISTINA CANDAVA PERLAS-BERNABE, J.
Lastly, despite the declaration of fitness that would have entitled him to reinstatement to his former position,[57] Joselito was not provided work, apparently due to his worsening health. He was thus constrained to seek medical attention at his own expense and was continuously unable to work until his death. This only shows that his medical condition effectively barred his chances of being hired by other maritime employers and deployed abroad on an ocean-going vessel. In a number of cases, the Court disregarded the medical report issued by the company designated physician that the seafarer was fit to work in view of the evidence on record that the latter had in fact been unable to engage in his regular work within the allowable period,[58] as in this case.
	GR No. 191903 2013-06-19	MAGSAYSAY MARITIME CORPORATION v. NLRC BRION, J.
Dr. Sabado's declaration would not alter the fact that Capoy's claim for permanent total disability benefits was premature. Considering that Capoy was still under treatment by the company doctors even after the lapse of 120 days but within the 240-day extended period allowed by the rules, he was under temporary total disability and entitled to temporary total disability benefits under the same rules. Moreover, with respect to Capoy's failure to comply with the procedure under the POEA-SEC vis-a-vis Dr. Sabado's certification, we find the following Court pronouncement in C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok[40] most applicable, thus: Indeed, a seafarer has the right to seek the opinion of other doctors under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC but this is on the presumption that the company-designated physician had already issued a certification as to his fitness or disability and he finds this disagreeable. Under the same provision, it is the company-designated physician who is entrusted with the task of assessing a seafarer's disablity and there is a procedure to contest his findings. It is patent from the records that Taok submitted these medical certificates during the pendency of his appeal before the NLRC. More importantly, Taok prevented the company-designated physician from determining his fitness or unfitness for sea duty when he did not return on October 18, 2006 for re-evaluation. Thus, Taok's attempt to convince this Court to put weight on the findings of his doctors-of-choice will not prosper given his failure to comply with the procedure prescribed by the POEA-SEC.[41] (emphasis ours)
	GR No. 195168 2012-11-12	BENJAMIN C. MILLAN v. WALLEM MARITIME SERVICES PERLAS-BERNABE, J.
Applying Vergara, the Court in the recent case of C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Taok[26] enumerated the following instances when a seafarer may be allowed to pursue an action for total and permanent disability benefits, to wit: (a) The company-designated physician failed to issue a declaration as to his fitness to engage in sea duty or disability even after the lapse of the 120-day period and there is no indication that further medical treatment would address his temporary total disability, hence, justify an extension of the period to 240 days; (b) 240 days had lapsed without any certification issued by the company-designated physician; (c) The company-designated physician declared that he is fit for sea duty within the 120-day or 240-day period, as the case may be, but his physician of choice and the doctor chosen under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC are of a contrary opinion; (d) The company-designated physician acknowledged that he is partially permanently disabled but other doctors who he consulted, on his own and jointly with his employer, believed that his disability is not only permanent but total as well; (e) The company-designated physician recognized that he is totally and permanently disabled but there is a dispute on the disability grading; (f) The company-designated physician determined that his medical condition is not compensable or work-related under the POEA-SEC but his doctor-of-choice and the third doctor selected under Section 20-B(3) of the POEA-SEC found otherwise and declared him unfit to work; (g) The company-designated physician declared him totally and permanently disabled but the employer refuses to pay him the corresponding benefits; and (h) The company-designated physician declared him partially and permanently disabled within the 120-day or 240-day period but he remains incapacitated to perform his usual sea duties after the lapse of said periods.