Source: http://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82599:gr-178564-2014&catid=1579&Itemid=566
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 02:18:59+00:00

Document:
G.R. No. 178564, January 15, 2014 - INC. SHIPMANAGEMENT, INC., CAPTAIN SIGFREDO E. MONTERROYO AND/OR INTERORIENT NAVIGATION LIMITED, Petitioners, v. ALEXANDER L. MORADAS, Respondent.
INC. SHIPMANAGEMENT, INC., CAPTAIN SIGFREDO E. MONTERROYO AND/OR INTERORIENT NAVIGATION LIMITED, Petitioners, v. ALEXANDER L. MORADAS, Respondent.
Assailed in this petition for review on Certiorari1 are the Decision2 dated October 31, 2006 and Resolution3 dated June 25, 2007 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 84769 which granted respondent Alexander L. Moradas's (respondent) claim to permanent total disability benefits in the amount of US 60,000.00, or its peso equivalent, and attorney's fees.
Claiming that the burns rendered him permanently incapable of working again as a seaman, respondent demanded10 for the payment of his full disability benefits under Section 20 (B) in relation to Sections 30 and 30-A of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) Standard Employment Contract (POEA-SEC), in the amount of US$60,000.00, which petitioners refused to heed.11 Thus, respondent filed a complaint against petitioners for the same, seeking as well moral and exemplary damages, including attorney’s fees.
Respondent filed a motion for reconsideration but the same was denied in a Resolution36 dated March 31, 2004. Dissatisfied, he filed a petition for certiorari before the CA.
On October 31, 2006, the CA rendered the assailed Decision,37 holding that grave abuse of discretion tainted the NLRC ruling.
Aggrieved, petitioners moved for reconsideration which was, however, denied in a Resolution44 dated June 25, 2007. Hence, this petition.
The essential issue in this case is whether or not the CA erred in finding that the NLRC gravely abused its discretion when it denied respondent’s claim for disability benefits.
At the outset, the Court deems it proper to elucidate on the framework in which the review of this case had been conducted, in conjunction with the applicable governing rules to analyze its substantive merits.
In the foregoing light, the Court observes that respondent executed his contract of employment on July 17, 2000,47 incorporating therein the terms and conditions of the 2000 POEA-SEC which took effect on June 25, 2000. However, since the implementation of the provisions of the foregoing 2000 POEA-SEC was temporarily suspended48 by the Court on September 11, 2000, particularly Section 20, paragraphs (A), (B), and (D) thereof, and was lifted only on June 5, 2002, through POEA Memorandum Circular No. 2, series of 2002,49 the determination of respondent’s entitlement to the disability benefits should be resolved under the provisions of the 1996 POEA-SEC as it was, effectively, the governing circular at the time respondent’s employment contract was executed.
D. No compensation shall be payable in respect of any injury, incapacity, disability or death of the seafarer resulting from his willful or criminal act, provided however, that the employer can prove that such injury, incapacity, disability or death is directly attributable to seafarer.
Accordingly, we do not re-examine conflicting evidence, re-evaluate the credibility of witnesses, or substitute the findings of fact of the NLRC, an administrative body that has expertise in its specialized field. Nor do we substitute our "own judgment for that of the tribunal in determining where the weight of evidence lies or what evidence is credible." The factual findings of the NLRC, when affirmed by the CA, are generally conclusive on this Court.
In view of which POEA Memorandum Circular No. 11, series of 2000, issued on 12 September 2000 enforcing the Temporary restraining Order issued by the Supreme Court in a Resolution dated 11 September 2000, on the implementation of the abovementioned provision is hereby Rescinded.
The evident conflict between the NLRC’s and CA’s factual findings as shown in the records of this case prompts the Court to sift through their respective factual determinations if only to determine if the NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion in reaching its disposition, keeping in mind that the latter’s assessment should only meet the threshold of substantial evidence.
First, records bear out circumstances which all lead to the reasonable conclusion that respondent was responsible for the flooding and burning incidents.
Records show that the LA and NLRC gave credence to the corroborating testimonies of the crewmen pointing to respondent as the person who deliberately caused the flooding incident. In particular, respondent was seen alone in the vicinity of the portside seachest which cover was found to have been intentionally removed and thereby caused the flooding. He was also seen disappearing up to the boiler deck just when the bilge level alarm sounded with patches of water left on the floor plates and on the stairways. Respondent neither denied nor proffered any explanation on the foregoing claims especially when all of his fellow engine room staff, except him, responded to the alarm and helped pump out the water in the engine room.53 As to the burning, respondent failed to successfully controvert Gile’s claim that he saw the former go to the paint room, soak his hands in a can full of thinner and proceed to the incinerator door where he was set ablaze. In fact, respondent’s burnt overalls conform to the aforesaid claim as it had green paint on the arms and body and smelled strongly of thinner, while the open paint tin can that was found in the vicinity contained solvent which had the same green color found on the overalls.
Second, respondent’s version that the burning was caused by an accident is hardly supported by the evidence on record.
Respondent debunked Gile’s claim by merely asserting in his Answer and Rejoinder before the POEA that the latter could not have been in the room at the time he got burned as he was not the first person to rescue him and concluded that he could not have soaked his hands in a can full of thinner considering the extent of damage caused to his hands.55 This argument is riddled with serious flaws: Gile could have been the second man in, and still personally know the matters he has alleged. Also, that respondent soaked his hands in thinner is not denied by the fact that the greatest damage was not caused to it since the fire could have started at some part of his body considering that his overalls also had flammable chemicals. Reason also dictates that he could have extinguished the fire on his hands sooner than the other parts of his body. In any event, the medical records of respondent, particularly the report56 issued by the Prince of Wales Hospital Burns Surgery, show that he suffered from "deep burn area" that was distributed over his left upper limb, right hand, left flank and both thighs.57 To assert that respondent’s hands should have suffered the greatest damage is plainly argumentative and records are bereft of showing as to the exact degree of burn suffered for each part.
To add, Bejada’s statement that respondent’s burnt overalls had patches of green paint on the arms and body and strongly smelled of thinner conforms with Gile’s claim that he soaked his hands in a can of thinner before approaching the incinerator (thinner may be found in a paint room). Such fact further fortifies petitioners’ assertion that his injury was self-inflicted as a prudent man would not dispose of garbage in the incinerator under such condition.
And if only to placate other doubts, the CA’s finding that "some chemicals splashed [on respondent’s] body"58 should not automatically mean that the "splashing" was caused by pure accident. It is equally reasonable to conclude that the "splashing"–as may be inferred from both the LA’s and NLRC"s findings–was a by-product of respondent’s botched sabotage attempt.
Third, petitioners’ theory that respondent’s burns were self-inflicted gains credence through the existence of motive.
At this juncture, the Court finds it important to examine the existence of motive in this case since no one actually saw what transpired in the incinerator room. To this end, the confluence of the circumstances antecedent to the burning should be examined in conjunction with the existing accounts of the crew members. That said, both the LA and the NLRC made a factual finding that prior to the burning incident, respondent was caught pilfering the vessel’s supplies for which he was told that he was to be relieved from his duties. This adequately supports the reasonable conclusion that respondent may have harbored a grudge against the captain and the chief steward who denied giving him the questioned items. At the very least, it was natural for him to brood over feelings of resentment considering his impending dismissal. These incidents shore up the theory that he was motivated to commit an act of sabotage which, however, backfired into his own burning.
In this relation, the Court observes that a definitive pronouncement on respondent’s mental unfitness need not be reached since the totality of the above-stated circumstances already figures into the rational inference that respondent’s burning was not a product of an impaired mental disposition but rather an incident which sprung from his own volition. Mental impairment connotes the lack of control over one’s action. If the actor is conscious of what he is doing, as respondent was in this case by sabotaging the ship, then a finding of mental unfitness is not needed. Differing from the CA s take on the matter, it is not contrary to human experience or logic for a spurned man to resort to tactics of desperation, however ludicrous or extreme those tactics may be, or however untoward or unfortunate its consequences may turn out, as in this case.
All told, petitioners having established through substantial evidence that respondent s injury was self-inflicted and, hence, not compensable pursuant to Section 20 (D) of the 1996 POEA-SEC, no grave abuse of discretion can be imputed against the NLRC in upholding the dismissal by the LA of his complaint for disability benefits. It is well-settled that an act of a court or tribunal can only be considered to be tainted with grave abuse of discretion when such act is done in a capricious or whimsical exercise of judgment as is equivalent to lack of jurisdiction.60 For the reasons herein detailed, the Court finds these qualities of capriciousness or whimsicality wanting in the case at bar and thus, holds that the CA erred in ruling that grave abuse of discretion exists. WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Decision dated October 31, 2006 and Resolution dated June 25, 2007 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 84769 are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Accordingly, the Decision dated January 30, 2004 of the National Labor Relation Commission dismissing respondent Alexander L. Moradas s complaint for permanent total disability benefits and other money claims is hereby REINSTATED.
2 Id. at 94-118. Penned by then Presiding Justice Ruben T. Reyes (now retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court), with Associate Justices Juan Q. Enriquez, Jr. and Vicente S. E. Veloso, concurring.
4 Id. at 95. See also Contract of Employment dated July 17, 2000; id. at 165.
13 Id. at 234. Erroneously stated as "October 10, 2001" in the records.
14 Id. at 238. See also the statement dated December 7, 2000 signed by Captain Wirth; id. at 264-269. Based on the aforesaid statement, on October 10, 2000, while the vessel was docked in Hong Kong, Captain Wirth conducted a routine security inspection when he came across a large parcel which belonged to respondent lying on the crew passageway. Upon inspection, the box contained a television set, a day bed cover, several towels and some provisions, all belonging to the vessel. When asked why he was stealing the foregoing articles, respondent claimed that they were given to him as a present by the chief steward. However, when Captain Wirth asked the latter, he denied giving respondent the same. As a result, Captain Wirth informed respondent that his actions warranted his immediate dismissal.
16 Id. at 322-323. See Affidavit of Janito Subebe dated August 24, 2001. See also id. at 234.
17 Id. at 318-319. See Affidavit of Edgardo Israel dated August 27, 2001. See also id. at 234.
19 Id. at 320-321. See Sinumpaang Salaysay of Gile dated January 22, 2001.
20 Id. at 270-272. See Statement of Chief Officer Bejada dated December 7, 2000.
21 Id. at 318-319. See Affidavit of Edgardo Israel dated August 27, 2001.
28 Id. at 160-163. See Affidavit-Complaint dated February 21, 2001.
29 Id. at 400-408. Docketed as NLRC NCR OFW Case No. (M) 01-07-1316-00. Penned by LA Fe Superiaso-Cellan.
33 Id. at 485-492. Docketed as NLRC NCR CA No. 035689-03. Penned by Presiding Commissioner Lourdes C. Javier, with Commissioners Ernesto C. Verceles and Tito F. Genilo, concurring.
42 Id. at 110-115 and 117.
45 Dimagan v. Dacworks United, Incorporated, G.R. No. 191053, November 28, 2011, 661 SCRA 438, 445-446.
46 Magsaysay Maritime Corp. v. NLRC (Second Division), G.R. No. 186180, March 22, 2010, 616 SCRA 362, 372-373.
"MARINO, Inc. v. Laguesma," enjoining certain amendments introduced by the 2000 POEA-SEC. (See POEA Memorandum Circular No. 11, series of 2000 and POEA Memorandum Circular No. 2, series of 2002. See also Coastal Safeway Marine Services, Inc. v. Delgado, G.R. No. 168210, June 17, 2008, 554 SCRA 590).
50 Cootauco v. MMS Phil. Maritime Services, Inc., G.R. No. 184722, March 15, 2010, 615 SCRA 529, 544.
51 G.R. No. 172086, December 3, 2012, 686 SCRA 676.
53 Rollo, p. 275. Statement of 2nd Engineer Alexander Pynikov dated December 7, 2000.
58 See CA Decision, rollo, p. 109.
59 See Progress Homes v. NLRC, 336 Phil. 265, 270 (1997).

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