Spinal conditions as compensable work-related illnesses

A seafarer’s spinal illness  is considered  compensable  due   to  strenuous  activities on board the vessel that could have led to or at least aggravated his work-related  medical conditions.

The Supreme Court used this rationale in  granting  total permanent disability in the case of Resty Caampued  vs. Next Wave Maritime Mgt.., Inc. (G.R. No. 253756 May 12, 2021)

 The seafarer was tasked to assist in the repair of the ship’s generator. He was directed to pull the lining of the generator's piston. In a squatting position, he forcefully pulled the piston lining upward. Shortly thereafter, he suffered persistent mild pain on his lower back that later led to his   medical repatriation.

 

Upon his arrival in the country, he was diagnosed  to have suffered from at least three (3) spinal conditions, i.e., degenerative disc, spondylolisthesis, and spinal tuberculosis.

 

Degenerative  disc disease is a spinal condition caused by the breakdown of the intervertebral discs which results in the loss of flexibility  and  ability  to  cushion  the spine. When discs degenerate, the vertebral bodies become closer together and this increased bone on bone friction causes the wearing a way of protective cartilage and results in  the  condition  known  as  osteoarthritis. The degenerating discs place excessive  stress  on  the joints  of the  spine and the  supporting  ligaments,  which,  overtime,  can  lead to the  formation of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a stage of degenerative disc disease.

Spondylosis, on the other hand, is a term used to describe osteoarthritis of the spine.

The company denied the claims for disability benefits on the ground of non-work relatedness of spinal tuberculosis.

 

The Supreme Court ruled otherwise noting that the other illness, spinal disc degeneration/desiccation or osteoarthritis,  is a compensable disease.

Prior to assuming his duties as Engine Fitter aboard the principal’s vessel, the seafarer  was declared fit to work after  the Pre-Employment Examination (PEME) with the company-designated physician.  

The seafarer showed no signs of any spinal injury before he boarded the vessel. 

His back  pain  and limited lumbar movement started only after he forcefully pulled the piston lining of the ship's generator. And these symptoms persisted way beyond the time he got medically repatriated.

It is reasonable to claim a causal relationship between seafarer's illness and  his  work  as Engine  Fitter  of  his employer’s   vessel.

Under Section 32-A (21) of the 2010 POEA-SEC, osteoarthritis is expressly considered as an occupational disease when contracted in any occupation involving any of the following: (a) joint strain from carrying heavy loads, or unduly heavy physical labor; (b) minor or major injuries to the joint; (c) excessive use or constant strenuous usage of a particular joint, (c) extreme temperature  changes  (humidity,  heat and cold  exposures);  and (d) faulty work posture or use of vibratory tools.

 

 As Engine Fitter, the seafarer  was constantly exposed to strenuous work.

His responsibilities included several strenuous physical activities such as: (a) fabrication and shaping of steel, aluminum and other materials; (b) lifting of metals  and materials for fabrication; (c) setting up and operating manually controlled machines in skilled precision; (d) carrying and lifting heavy-duty tools and equipment during maintenance and repair; and (e) other all around strenuous duties as instructed  by  supervisor.

To carry out these duties, he had to stand for most of the day and constantly moved around.

Such strenuous activities could have led to or at least aggravated his condition, thus making it a compensable work-related illness.   

Moreover, despite the findings that the seafarer  has degenerative disc and spondylolisthesis,  the company only treated and based their findings of non-compensability on  the seafarer's spinal tuberculosis.

The company  simply ignored the seafarer’s  pleas to  get him treated and medically assessed for his degenerative disc and spondylolisthesis, thus  remained untreated and unresolved.  Consequently,  no medical assessment and certificate were issued to him for these conditions.

 

Without a valid final and definitive assessment from the company-designated doctors within the mandatory  120/240-day period, the law already steps in to consider a seafarer's disability as total and permanent.

(Atty,  Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786).

Lean Alejandro and UP student activism

“The struggle for freedom is the next best thing to actually being free, " said  the late UP student leader Leandro  Alejandro.

 

Popularly known as Lean, he was a  student leader and  later  key figure in the national anti-dictatorship movement.

Lean was assassinated on September 19, 1987 after announcing a planned nationwide strike against continued military involvement in government even after Martial Law was lifted and a new administration in power.

Lean  was instrumental in setting up the UP Sandigan para sa Mag-aaral at Sambayanan (SAMASA) student political party which was  a key  force in UP  campus politics in the  1980s  and 1990s.

 

SAMASA began as a University-wide alliance of student organizations campaigning for the return of student institutions such as the student councils.

 When the University Student Council (USC) was re-established in 1981, SAMASA won landslide victories in that election and in several elections after. Lean became USC chairman  in 1983.

SAMASA  was established when students' movement was at its peak to defend their democratic rights to organize inside and even outside campus grounds.

Though I was in my first semester as a BS Economics  freshman in 1987, I had vague memory of Lean at the time of his death.   

I was not aware of his popularity perhaps due to my personal struggle  or preoccupation to adjust myself with the UP culture.

 Apolitical  was the right word as I was the typical  nerd for my first two years spending most of my time in the library, classrooms and dormitory.

I was warned several times not to participate in rallies and be associated with the activist groups.

Years later, if asked "Bakit ka ba naging aktibista", I usually answer back by saying that   UP is the perfect place to grow in all aspects, whether it be intellectually, politically, socially in different  or opposing  spectrum.  

Students have always been a potent force in social organization and social change in Philippine society.

The UP student politics has taught us the vision of service to the people.

The campus molded us to fight for the causes we believe in; trained us for the skills we need to communicate ideas and rally others to effect changes in society.

 

In 1979 Lean  joined the staff of the Philippine Collegian   as features writer while I became part of Kule from 1989  to 1991  as its photographer and later chief photographer.  I also became a member of SAMASA.

 

My mother knew that I would sooner or later be part of the student movement which in a way became my justification for using the iconic "sandals" or tsinelas during my UP days. 

 

Of all the rallies I covered, the  dispersal of the May 14,1990 anti-US-Bases rally at the Central Bank was the most memorable.

 

I suffered a head injury when  a teargas cannister hit my head causing lacerations that needed seven stitches. While at the hospital, I called my mother and greeted her “Ma, Happy Birthday. Please pick me up here at PGH. ”

 

One of the SAMASA election campaign  poster  in the early 1990s featured my photo with the phrase “May panahong magduda't magtanong, ngayo'y panahon ng pagharap at pagsulong” lifted from one of the progressive songs.

More than his extraordinary height, Lean stood out as an activist because he possessed insight, a unifying approach, speaking and writing skills, and courage and boldness.

 

Almost three decades after Lean’s death, the Great Lean Run  was organized in 2015  by SAMASA using an innovative and  historical approach to teach the new generation lessons on martial law

The 3.7-kilometer run at the UP Diliman Sunken Garden and Academic Oval is a special distance experiential run that includes an  obstacle course, race, and chase production.

Participants crawled through mud under barbed wire, got bombarded by water cannons, and ran away from truncheon-wielding military men or  “Metrocom police” and “paramilitary groups” under  threats of arrest or torture.

UP SAMASA  aimed  to “re-introduce” Lean,  his ideals, and his works to the current generation of student activists through the fun run.

“I am sure you will agree with me,” Lean said in a  letter, “when I say that the greatest adventure on earth today is our struggle for freedom. The pain and the sacrifice are staggering. The battles are historical. And the victory shall be truly glorious indeed.”

 

The documentary film “Lean – In the Line of Fire is the Place of Honor” premiered live on YouTube on August 30, 2021, while a  forum was hosted by Lean’s  fellow UP student activist and renowned journalist, Malou Mangahas.

 The documentary that took 4 years to finish memorializes Lean so that not only can those who knew him, remember him but more importantly that future generations would come to know him and learn from his life, struggles and contributions.

Let us continue  to live by the ideals that bound us together.

Let us celebrate activism.

( Peyups  is the monicker of University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786).

Remembering veteran journalist Melo Acuna and the comfort women

The recent death of veteran journalist  Melo Acuna coincided with the anniversary of the disappearance of  the  “Lola”  comfort woman statue two years ago, an issue close to his heart,

 

“It’s sad wife and I got to be part of 12,067 new cases” the message posted by Melo Acuna on his wall August 24, 2021.

 

A day later, he asked prayers that his oxygen level increase to 99 otherwise he will be brought to the ICU.

 

Sadly,  Melo passed away three days later, August 27, 2021,  at 2:30 am. at the age of 64.

 

Some friends  captured Melo’s character  in their postings  of love and respect to an iconic figure recognized  for  his long and distinguished media career.

 

Melo touched so many lives with his  generous heart, sparking so many great conversations with his  soothing voice and endearing humility, and being an inimitable pillar of civil, passionate and enlightening dialogues in the country.

 

Born in Alabat, Quezon on Feb. 8, 1957, Melo is known as a big man with a booming swabe voice that was always radio ready. And he was always prepared to help colleagues, from connecting sources to sharing his playlists of golden memories on radio.

His passing “left a void in the press field” as he was a “great loss to the Fourth Estate.”

Melo was one of the instrumental persons behind  Flowers-for-Lolas, an alliance supporting the campaign on the  issue of comfort women and other  victims of sexual violence and slavery   during the World War II.

 

He organized several media events for  the  2-meter-high “Lola” statue installed along Roxas Boulevard,  an unnamed woman wearing a traditional Filipino dress, blindfolded, with hands clutched to her chest.

The LOLA statue represents Filipino women’s dignity and stands as “a reminder that wars of aggression must always be opposed, and that sexual slavery and violence should never happen again to any woman, anywhere at any time.”

 

Even if it is a reminder of a painful past, the  “Lola” statue honors the memory, courage and resilience of these Filipino women .

Four months after its installation on December 2017, Melo monitored through his facebook   the events that led to dismantling of  the statue  under cover of darkness on April 27, 2018 by the DPWH,  allegedly for a drainage improvement project, but seen as  submission to protests from Japan.

 

Issues of historical revisionism and the government’s submission to Japanese policy were raised by concerned groups led by the Flowers-for-Lolas as they condemned the removal of the statue. President Duterte earlier remarked the state would not want to “antagonize” other countries.

 

Tulay Foundation again commissioned Roces  to make the necessary repair, thus “Lola ” was placed under his  custody for safekeeping  until the Flowers-for-Lolas finds her “home.”

 

 And her new home should have been the  Redemptorist Church in  Baclaran.

 

However, despite several follow-ups on the formal turn-over of the LOLA  statue back to Tulay for its reinstallation initially on August 18 then August 25, 2019, Roces failed to do so.

 

Until Roces  told Tulay that the Lola statue was taken by unidentified men from his art studio in Cainta, Rizal.

 

That day was one of my last face to face encounters with Melo.

 

Despite the lockdown, Melo continued hosting the "Tapatan sa Aristocrat" and the "Wednesday Roundtable at Lido" media forums through online platforms.

I told him that I was his “dakilang kaladkarin”  as the impromptu resource person  on several issues like seafarers, comfort women, activism, politics,  Visiting  Forces Agreement  (VFA), environment, among others.

 

He would usually call me the night before his event  inviting me to be present although my name was already included in his poster.

 

Melo also often asked my help when he needs to form a panel for maritime issues especially those affecting the seafarers and during the annual National Seafarers Day.

One of his  recent online  media forum on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States touched upon the bases agreement.

I gave a historical perspective on the VFA by narrating my experience with the campaign during the 1990s against the renewal of the US military bases treaty.

As the photographer of the Philippine Collegian, I covered several mass actions involving UP students, including the historic Lakbayan on March 1991, a three-day 96-kilometer march from the UP Diliman campus to the Clark Airbase in Pampanga.

I was even one of his guest last August 16, 2021 in Tapatan sa Aristocrat  on the proposed  Department  of Overseas Filipinos, as I described myself in our chat  as “manggugulo  lang.” A week later, he was gone.

Social media is buzzing continuously and is chocking with COVID stories.

 

 It is more saddening if the  COVID  death statistics includes a close friend like Melo Acuna. 

Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786).