Court rules on seafarer PEME status

The pre-employment medical examination does not determine the seafarer’s true state of health, the Philippine Supreme Court has ruled. This decision means a seafarer cannot rely on his PEME, which some P&I clubs are making mandatory for crew on member companies’ fleets, to prove that he acquired his illness during employment. In the case in question, NYK-Fil Shipmanagement faced a claim of $60,000 for permanent total disability after a company doctor found a boatswain to have septic arthritis and a vascular necrosis of the left hip. The seafarer complied with a requirement to undergo a pre-employment medical examination, and was advised by a government doctor not to engage in manual work that would entail prolonged standing, running and carrying heavy objects. The labour arbiter awarded disability benefits of $6,530 or equivalent grade of half of grade 9 disability. But the labour court NLRC awarded a total of $60,000 due to negligence and incapacity to pursue his career. The Court of Appeals affirmed the NLRC ruling, but NYK-Fil took the case to the Supreme Court and argued that the appellate court failed to consider that the seafarer suffered from the condition before commencing his employment. It said that the condition limited, if not negated the company’s liability. The Supreme Court ruled that “disability arising from a pre-existing illness is not compensable.”