By HERBERT VEGO
IF this corner has been taking the cudgels for Filipino seamen who have already been deprived of a “future” due to accident, illness or death, it’s basically to keep their still active peers and relatives well-informed of the basic rights and privileges they are entitled to under maritime laws. After all, the risky work at sea could be as quick as “here today, gone tomorrow.”
A case in point is that of an seaman named Alonzo Garcia, who signed a contract with Evic Human Resources for overseas deployment as able seaman. In seaman’s lingo, an able seaman is a ship worker who is not yet an officer.
Alonzo’s problem began while he was cleaning the bridge of the vessel “M/V George”, when he accidentally spilled water on the floor.
This irked the German ship captain, who grabbed the water hose from Alonzo and turned it on against the latter’s feet. The water pressure was so strong that he slipped and fell on the floor. As if this were not enough, the captain scolded him.
The incident made the seafarer so afraid and nervous that he could hardly sleep at night, exhausting him physically and mentally.
The debility no doubt deprived him of the capacity to work well, as shown by a second accident a few days later. While securing the lock of a hatch cover, an iron bar slipped, hitting his forehead hard and causing a big swelling.
Since then, his condition worsened into frequent memory losses and numbness of his limbs or sometimes of his entire body.
While their ship was anchored at Hamburg, Germany, Alonzo visited a doctor, who diagnosed him to be suffering from “psychosomatic disorder in stress situation” and “moderate sore throat.”
Back at sea, he could no longer be relied upon to perform his job as helmsman. His episodes of forgetfulness, blank stares, vision failure, unconsciousness and drooling occurred more frequently.
The ship officials recommended for repatriation.
Back in the Philippines, Alonzo Garcia underwent further treatment under the company doctor. But the latter eventually gave up.
To his dismay, the company would not pay him the “permanent and total disability compensation” he had asked for.
With the assistance of the Free Legal Assistance for Seafarers (FLAS) program, he filed a case against the manning agency Evic Human Resources at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Manila.
He lost the lost the labor case, but only temporarily.
On appeal at the Court of Appeals (CA), FLAS lawyer Pete Linsangan insisted that the historical backgrounder of Garcia’s ailment was sufficient to prove that he had acquired it in two on-the-job accidents. Had the ship captain not sprayed pressured water on him, he could not have slipped and fell on the floor. The loss of mental and physical alertness from that accident had contributed to the second accident involving an iron bar hitting his right forehead.
The CA agreed and held that although seizure disorder is not in the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s (POEA) list of occupational diseases, it should be considered “work-related” by virtue of a provision in the POEA stating that any illness not listed as occupational hazard shall still be presumed work-related. Since Garcia had never recovered from that work-related accident, he was in no position to earn a living once again.
The CA ruled in Garcia’s favor and ordered respondent to pay him total disability compensation of $60,000 plus 10 percent in attorney’s fees.
Seamen similarly situated as Garcia may also seek FLAS assistance through paralegals Neri Camiña, Nelly Nobleza and this writer. We host the radio program Tribuna sang Banwa every Sunday on Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo (720-khz), 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. We may be contacted through cellular phone number 0917-3288742./PN
