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Philippine Shipping Updates – Manning Industry [Download]
By: Ruben Del Rosario, Managing Director, Del Rosario Pandiphil Inc., June 29, 2007
This issue contains the following:
Supreme Court reiterates “120 days” principle
Miscellaneous News Items
Supreme Court rules seafarer entitled to full disability; cites “120 days” principle
In a June 19, 2007 decision (Micronesia Resources), the Third Division of the Supreme Court cited the Remigio decision in ruling a Grade 1 disability in favor of the seafarer. The company physician had given a disability grading of Grade 7 for a coronary artery disease which resulted in a heart bypass operation. The Court said that the seafarer was “rendered unfit to discharge his duties for more than 120 days and that he continues to suffer chest pains and fatigability on long distance ambulation”. Thus, the Court reiterated that a seafarer who is unable to work for more than 120 days is deemed totally and permanently disabled. (Micronesia Resources, Dynacom Shield Shipping Ltd., and Singa Ship Management, A.S. vs. Fabiolo Cantomayor; G.R. No. 156573; June 19, 2007; Third Division; Associate Justice Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Ponente)
This is the fourth decision decided by the Supreme Court using the labor law principle that a seafarer who is ill or disabled for more than 120 days is deemed totally and permanently disabled. The four decisions are: Crystal Shipping (October 20, 2005); Remigio (April 12, 2006), United Philippine Lines (April 12, 2006) and Micronesia (June 19, 2007).
The current state of the issue is as follows:
1. There are four Supreme Court decisions which upheld the 120 days principle that a seafarer who is ill/disabled for more than 120 days is deemed totally and permanently disabled.
2. In the Crystal Shipping case, the Motion for Clarification resulted in a Resolution dated 12 February 2007 which ruled that “admittedly, POEA Memorandum Circular No. 55, Series of 1996 does not measure disability in terms of number of days but by gradings only.” Thus, the Court in effect said that one should not use the number of days as a measure of disability but one should use the grading given by the doctor. This can be used to argue against the 120 days principle. (Please refer to Philippine Shipping Update, 02.26.07)
3. In the Remigio case, the intervention of the manning agencies was given due course. The Office of the Solicitor General sided with the manning agencies and was in favor of the reversal of the 120 days rule. The First Division has not yet ruled on the Motion for Intervention. The ruling in this case may decide the issue with finality.
In the meantime, we reiterate our advice in our Philippine Shipping Update of October 26, 2006:
1. Reports of illness or injury must be done immediately to ensure prompt monitoring of seafarers’ condition. The 120 day period begins to run the moment the seafarer becomes ill or injured.
2. Company designated physicians must closely monitor the treatment of the seafarer. A report must be made immediately after the initial consultation and on the 30th, 60th and 90th day of treatment in order to determine a plan of action before the 120th day.
3. Requests for approval of any medical procedure must be acted upon immediately. Those involved in the approval of such procedures must realize the consequences of any delay.
Miscellaneous news items
• Mark your calendars for the Philippine Manning Convention 2007 to be held in Manila, November 12 and 13 right before the Lloyds Manning Conference. All sectors of the manning industry will meet on the conference theme: “Joining Hands to Meet the Global Demand for Filipino Seafarers: Towards A Committed Partnership”. Preparations are well underway for what promises to be the largest conference ever for the Philippine manning industry.
• Congratulations to Secretary Generoso “Bang” Mamaril, newly-appointed Presidential Assistant on Maritime Affairs. Sec. Mamaril has committed to pushing for New National Maritime Code to consolidate the maritime laws of the Philippines which are spread out over several legislations. Sec. Mamaril is an accredited maritime voluntary arbitratorThere are reports that some plaintiffs’ lawyers are recruiting client seafarers in the Social Security System offices.
• The Department of Labor and Employment will create a Maritime Office which will be manned by a full time maritime officer. To be appointed is LCDR Eustacio Nimrod Enriquez who is currently serving as Deputy Executive Director of the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) in Tacloban, Leyte. He will be the assistant of Labor Secretary Arturo Brion on maritime affairs.
• The process of amending the POEA Standard Employment Contract is still on-going. Comments and recommendations are still being solicited. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your comments.
• The NLRC is again testing the computerization of the raffling of cases to the Labor Arbiters. This was done two years ago but was stopped. Hope it works this time.
This publication aims to provide commentary on issues affecting the manning industry, analysis of recent cases and updates on legislation. It is meant to be brief and is not intended to be legal advice. For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
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Contact Details
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mail@delrosario-pandiphil.com
Telephone: +63 2 5317 7888, +63 2 8810 1791 Fax: 63 2 5317 7890 24/7
Mobile: 63 917 830 8384