Case Digest: Dabatian v. GSIS, GR No. 47294, April 9, 1987

   Labor Law | Policy and Definitions

• Sigfredo A. Dabatian, a Garbage Truck Driver in Cagayan de Oro City, died due to peptic ulcer. He was a heavy coffee drinker and worked night shifts.
• His widow, Hilaria Dabatian, filed for income benefits under the Employee's Compensation Program
• GSIS: Denied the compensability of the claim, stating that peptic ulcer was not listed as an occupational disease, and there was no proof it was caused by employment or that the risk of contracting it increased due to working conditions.
• ECC: Ruled that peptic ulcer was not work-related based on medical evaluations, and there was no evidence to establish the connection between the disease and employment.

Issues:

I. WoN the presumption of compensability and the principle of aggravation, applicable under the old compensation law, should be considered. NO

The records show that petitioner died on July 3, 1976 when the old compensation law had already been abrogated. No competent evidence whatsoever was submitted to prove that Dabatian's ailment was contracted prior to January 1, 1975 in order to bring it under the protective mantle of the old compensation law. There are no medical findings, affidavits, reports or any other evidence that deceased suffered from pain or any discomfort prior to the effectivity of the New Labor Code. No allegation was even made to this effect. True it is, that strict rules on evidence do not apply in cases such as this and that all doubts should be resolved in favor of labor. However, We cannot over-extend the limits of such rules. Justice and fair play dictate otherwise. The new law on compensation should be applied to this case.

The present Labor Code, P.D. 442 as amended, abolished the presumption of compensability and the rule on aggravation of illness caused by the nature of employment, the reason being — "to restore a sensible equilibrium between the employer's obligation to pay workmen's compensation and the employee's right to receive reparation for work- connected death or disability ... "  It was found, and rightly so, that the old law, the Workmen's Compensation Act, destroyed the parity or balance between the competing interests of employer and employee with respect to workmen's compensation. The balance was tilted unduly in favor of the workmen since it was possible to stretch the work-related nature of an ailment beyond seemingly rational its. 

Thus, under the present law, in order for the employee to be entitled to sickness or death benefits, the sickness or death resulting therefrom must be, or must have resulted from either a) any illness definitely accepted as an occupational disease listed by the Commission or b) any illness caused by employment subject to proof that the risk of contracting the same is increased by working conditions.

II. WoN the death of Sigfredo A. Dabatian is compensable under the Employees' Compensation Program. NO

Since peptic ulcer is not included in the list of occupational diseases as drawn up by the Commission, then petitioner has the burden of proving that the nature of her husband's work increased the risk of contracting the disease.

Aside from the undisputed fact that the deceased is a heavy coffee drinker, which was his way of warding off sleepiness, no evidence was ever adduced by petitioner to bolster the theory that her husband's work increased the risk of contracting the ailment.

Being a heavy coffee drinker may have aggravated his peptic ulcer, but, aggravation of an illness is no longer a ground for compensation under the present law.

This Court takes notice of the fact that the conditions in this case are not peculiar to the work mentioned herein. Many, if not most, employees are equally exposed to similar conditions but have not been victims of peptic ulcer.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is denied for lack of merit. No costs.