Case Digest: Solidum v. GSIS, ECC Case No. 4061, November 23, 1988

   Labor Law | Policy and Definitions
  • Solidum was an enlisted man of the Philippine Marines, assigned to the 10th Marine Battalion, stationed at Zamboanga City. 
  • One morning in March 1987, Solidum, who was then resting after a patrol mission, jokingly challenged his comrades to a duel, but they all ignored him. 
  • Pointing the muzzle of his loaded rifle at his temple and, saying “Bahala na,” Solidum squeezed the trigger. He died instantly. 
  • His father filed a claim for death benefits under P.D. No. 626. 
  • GSIS: Denied the claim because the contingency did not arise out of and in the course of employment. The System pointed out that the deceased was not performing his duties as a soldier when the accident occurred. Moreover, it said, the deceased’s death was caused by his notorious negligence and not by an accident or by “an act of God.”

WoN the death of Solidum is compensable under P.D. No. 626. NO

The ECC sustained the System’s decision. The ECC noted that the deceased pointed the muzzle of his rifle to himself and squeezed its trigger causing his death. “Such an act, we believe, constitutes notorious negligence. The employees’ compensation program under which the appellant seeks relief is designed to compensate only the working men who are victims of work-connected injuries and other contingencies. In the case before us, the contingency did not arise out of and in the course of employment, and therefore is not compensable.”

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