G.R. No. 160315 - LOURDES D. RIVERA, VS. WALLEM MARITIME SERVICES, INC., AND WALLEM SHIPMANAGEMENT, LTD..D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, Rodolfo's benefits amounting to US$371.80 were released. [10] In January 1998, Lourdes filed a grievance complaint against Wallem Shipping for non-payment of disability benefits before the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen's Union of the Philippines-PTGWO-ITF. The parties did not reach a settlement, and the complaint was declared a deadlock on January 28, 1998. [11] Rodolfo eventually succumbed to congestive heart failure secondary to chronic renal disease and died on April 28, 1999. [12] On July 26, 1999, Lourdes filed a claim for death benefits, burial assistance, moral and exemplary damages, as well as attorney's fees before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). The case was docketed as NLRC-NCR Case No. OFW (M)99-07-1152. [13] Lourdes alleged that her husband had served the respondents in separate and successive contracts for more than eight years. He was, likewise, a messman for many years, and often helped in cooking different styles of food. The complainant surmised that the spicy ingredients and other food garnishes to which her husband as a Filipino was unaccustomed to, along with his continuous exposure to heat, humidity, smoke, fumes and physical exhaustion contributed to the illness that caused his death. She pointed out that her husband's illness was acknowledged by the respondents as shown in the Master's Report. [14] She insisted that the respondents did not bother to extend medical and financial assistance to her husband, because of which the latter failed to comply with the physician's advice to undergo several laboratory tests. The family's finances were completely depleted and she could no longer borrow money to defray the mounting medical hospitalization expenses, so she was forced to bring her husband home. According to Lourdes, despite her repeated pleas for the release of her husband's compensation, the respondents refused to give any form of financial aid. She prayed that judgment be rendered in her favor awarding death compensation benefits of US$50,000.00 and US$7,000.00 for her minor child, Ryan Louie; US$1,000.00 as burial assistance; P500,000.00 as moral damages; P250,000.00 as exemplary damages; and attorney's fees equivalent to 10% of the judgment award. [15] For their part, the respondents alleged that the complaint stated no cause of action. They pointed out that in response to the complainant's pro-forma Complaint dated July 19, 1999, they filed a Motion for Bill of Particulars, to which the complainant failed to respond, much less appear at the scheduled hearings of the case. When she appeared on October 13, 1999, she manifested that the parties be required to simultaneously file their respective position papers. On December 11, 2000, the Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint for "lack of merit and want of basis." The Labor Arbiter ruled that the complainant was not entitled to death benefits or burial expenses, considering that her husband died more than one year after he arrived in t