The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), recently ordered the Social Security System (SSS) to grant death benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Law to the widow of Catalino Maico, a stevedore of North Star Port Development Corporation in Manila. The stevedore was killed in an accident at his workplace.

                On a rainy night of July 11, 2003, Maico was last seen sleeping near a steel lamp post beside a row of container vans. At around 11:30 p.m., a roving security guard found Maico squeezed between two container vans. He was rushed to the Gat Andres Bonifacio Hospital in Tondo where he succumbed to multiple injuries the following day.

                The SSS denied the claim of the stevedore’s widow because Maico’s death was found to be non work-connected. But on appeal, the ECC decided to award death benefits to the widow.

                According to the ECC, the death of Maico could be considered an employment accident even though Maico was last seen sleeping and therefore not actually performing his duty.

                The decision of the ECC was anchored on the company’s official statement that their workers are allowed a 15-minute break though no specific time could be provided to determine the stevedore’s breaktime since the workers avail of the breaktime one at a time so as not to disrupt operations. Furthermore, the stevedore had no record of drinking while on duty.

                The ECC ordered the SSS to pay death benefits to the widow of Maico under PD 626, as amended.

                ECC claims for work-related sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at the Social Security System for the private sector and Government Service Insurance System for the government sector.

Mental disorder not compensable under EC Program

                 A claim for Employees’ Compensation benefits based on schizophrenia was filed by Teresita Roberto in behalf of her husband was denied by the Social Security System (SSS) due to lack of a causal relationship between the worker’s  job and the ailment.

                The employee was in charge of delivery trucks at Goodyear Steel Pipe Corp. until his voluntary retirement in April 2005. The employee manifested unusual behavior in 2004 and was diagnosed to be schizophrenic, a mental disorder. Although he was awarded permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits under the SSS law, his EC claim was denied.

                Dissatisfied with the System’s decision, appellant requested elevation of the records of her claim to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) for its review.

                The ECC ruled that the claim had been properly evaluated and that schizophrenia which had caused the employee’s disability was not caused by the nature of his work.

                Schizophrenia is not an occupational disease and appellant is required to show proof that her husband’s mental ailment was caused by his employment.

Proper documentation of EC claims is important, says ECC

                 Jose Nilo Hacar, a security guard of the Department of Agriculture (DA), based in Puerto Princesa City, sustained cuts, abrasions and a leg fracture when he was sideswiped by a speeding ambulance. Although the injuries acquired in the accident were considered work-connected, Hacar’s claim for employees’ compensation benefits was denied by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) because the required certification issued by the Palawan Research Outreach Station on the details of the accident was issued by the administrative officer instead of the mandatory sworn statement of the agency head.

                The case was elevated to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) for review and the ECC decided the claim to favor appellant. Both the GSIS and the ECC agreed that the injuries sustained by the security guard were the result of a work-connected accident which happened during the work shift of the employee, and while he was carrying out an instruction of his supervisor to deliver the key to the guest house for the office visitor, a representative of the Commission on Audit.

                The ECC contended that the administrative officer was the one who instructed the guard to secure the key to the guest house. He had personal knowledge of the instruction as well as what happened while the order was being carried out. This is supported by the information logged in the agency’s logbook, entry no. 2003-064 dated June 4, 2003.

                The ECC accepted the administrative officer’s certification because all the evidence submitted indicated that the accident and its consequences were all work-related.

ECC declares bank examiner’s kidney ailment not compensable

                 Manuel Besitan was a bank examiner of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas who succumbed to a kidney ailment, glomerulonephritis, which destroys the internal structures of the kidney which filter blood and protein in the urine. The ailment progresses as in the case of Besitan until the organ ceases to function commonly called end stage renal disease. A kidney transplant was resorted to at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.

Besitan’s EC claim filed at at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) was denied because his kidney ailment and its complications were not work-related and his job as bank examiner did not increase his risk of developing the primary disease.

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) concurred with the GSIS’ ruling and the case was dismissed for lack of merit.

While there are cases of glomerulonephritis which result from antigenic stimulus, there are other sources such as bacterial, viral and parasitic infections such as typhoid fever, syphilis, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, varicella, mumps, measles, schistosomiasis, and hepatitis B and C infections.

Besitan alleged that tremendous work stress, long hours of field work, foregoing urination and meal disruptions were the causes of his kidney ailment. These were noted by the ECC as assertions and bare allegations of the claimant and do not automatically makes the ailment compensable under the law. According to the ECC, awards for compensation under the EC program do not rest on speculations or presumptions. The claimant must present evidence. The habit of the employee of delaying his urination should not be attributed to work but to personal neglect of his health.

ECC grants death benefits to widow of security guard

                 The widow of Narciso Andres, a former security guard of the University of Southern Mindanao who was killed by unidentified men in his house within the university compound, was granted death benefits under the employees’ compensation program.

                An appeal to review the previous denial decision by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) was raised by the widow to the Employees’ Compensation Commission. According to the GSIS, the shooting incident could not be considered work-connected because the guard was not at the workplace, he was not performing his official duties and the incident happened beyond working hours.

                Upon review, the ECC noted that prior to the shooting incident, the security guard had been receiving death threats believed to be from former members of the university security force, as recorded in the police blotter prior to the shooting incident. Allegedly, the death threats resulted from termination of services of some security personnel. As head of the security force, it is possible that the ill will of the terminal guards would be directed against Narciso Andres.

                In the absence of evidence that the assault was instigated by personal grudge or any other reason unrelated to employment, the ECC favored the appellant and ordered the GSIS to pay EC death benefits to the widow.

Settlement of EC claims based on a work-connected ailment precludes other existing and subsequent ailments

            Evelyn Buenvenida, a former payroll clerk of Paragon Printing Corporation passed away at the age of sixty-two due to end-stage renal disease in February 2006.

                Years before, she suffered a stroke, which was a basis for award of EC temporary total disability benefits from the Employees’ Compensation Commission paid through the Social Security System.

                Thereafter, she was diagnosed for chronic renal failure as a complication of diabetic neuropathy which eventually caused her death.

                The widower, Carlito Buenvenida, believed that his wife died from a work-connected kidney ailment and he filed his EC death claim at the SSS.

                The SSS denied the EC claim for compensation for disability arising from end stage renal disease requests for reimbursement for hemodialysis treatment because the settled benefit payment 12 years before was based on work-connected cerebro-vascular disease and the end stage renal disease upon which the death claim is based developed due to diabetes, a non-compensable ailment under the EC program.

                The case records were elevated to the ECC, on appeal, for its review. According to the ECC, the causes of end-stage renal disease are: recurrent kidney infection, hereditary diseases, hormonal problems and kidney stones. In the case of Buenvenida, her diabetes predisposed her to complications such as diabetic neuropathy and end-stage renal disease. Diabetes mellitus is usually caused by genetic problems, environmental factors and life-style choices and therefore, non-work connected.

Teacher shot inside classroom should be compensated, says ECC

Carolina Montero, a teacher of San Francisco Elementary School in San Pablo, Santo Tomas, Batangas sustained injuries when an unidentified man shot her inside the classroom.

The shooting incident occurred in June, 2005 and one of Montero’s students, Dindo Vanguardia, was also hit by a stray bullet. Both were rushed to the Daniel Mercado Hospital in Tanauan, Batangas. Due to the gravity of her injuries, Montero was on sick leave for six months.

The teacher’s EC claim was denied by the GSIS because the injuries sustained were caused by a third party. The GSIS reasoned out that the incident could not be considered a work-connected accident.

The claim was elevated to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) for review. The case records revealed that a complaint had been filed against Ramil Cabrera with two counts of frustrated murder.

Rule III, Section 1 (a) of the amended rules on Employees’ Compensation provides, thus, “For the injury and the resulting disability or death to be compensable, the injury must be the result of an accident arising out of and in the course of the employment.”

The issue for resolution in this case is if the employee is assaulted or killed, could this be considered an “accident” within the contemplation of the Employees’ Compensation Law? The ECC ruled in favor of appellant citing a Supreme Court decision which held that “an assault, although resulting from a deliberate act of the slayer, is considered an accident within the meaning of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, since the word accident is intended to indicate that the act causing the injury shall be casual or unforeseen, an act for which the injured party is not legally responsible.”

After establishing that an assault can be considered an accident within the meaning of the Employees’ Compensation Law, the ECC resolved that injuries sustained by an employee, regardless of motive of the assailant, is compensable if the assault occurred in the following situations: the employee was at his assigned workplace, and the employee was performing his official duty; if the attack occurred outside of the workplace, the employee was executing an order of his superior; and finally, the employee was going to or coming from his workplace.

The ECC believes that the assailant’s criminal intent should not be regarded as a supervening cause having the effect of nullifying the circumstances of appellant being at the workplace and performing her official functions.

Non-traumatic spinal cord injury is not compensable, says ECC

                 Senior Police Inspector Wilfredo Topenio of the Philippine National Police developed quadriplegia or paralysis of all limbs due to spinal cord ischemia.

                Although the policeman had no recorded traumatic injuries, he compulsorily retired on January 30, 2004 due to total permanent physical disability ((PPD)).

                An EC claim filed by Topenio’s wife at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) was denied because the ailment is not an occupational disease and no proof was established to show that the policeman’s nature of work increased his risk of developing spinal cord ischemia.

                The EC claim was elevated to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) for a review of the GSIS decision.

                According to the ECC, a spinal cord injury may be either traumatic or non-traumatic. A traumatic spinal cord injury may stem from a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures, dislocates, crushes or compresses one or more of the vertebrae. It may also result from a gunshot or knife wound that penetrates and cuts the spinal cord. Additional damage usually occurs over days or weeks because of bleeding, swelling, inflammation and fluid accumulation in and around the spinal cord. Non-traumatic spinal cord injury may be caused by arthritis, cancer, blood vessel problems or bleeding, inflammations or infections, or disk degeneration of the spine.

                Topenio’s disability has been found not compensable under the Employees’ Compensation Program for lack of work-relatedness of his ailment. The case records failed to substantiate any trauma given his work environment. Hence, applicability of non-traumatic risk factors is noted which, unfortunately, have no causal relationship with appellant working conditions.

                The ECC concurred with the GSIS and the claim was dismissed for lack of merit.

ECC says nephrolithiasis is not work-connected

             Martin Tingsuy, a driver of the city government of Batangas, was diagnosed for chronic pyelonephritis, a kidney ailment. His claim for compensation benefits under P.D. 626, as amended, filed at the Government Service Insurance System was denied because he failed to show that his work increased his risk of contracting the disease.

                On appeal, the Employees’ Compensation Commission concurred with the GSIS ruling.

                According to the ECC, nephrolithiasis is not an occupational disease. It is a genetic predisposition to kidney stone formation. Any increased concentration of stone components, changes in urinary acidity or alkalinity and decreased amount of urine or a presence of bacterial infection could lead to stone formation.

                The ECC further said that Tingsuy’s work as a driver could not in any manner cause or contribute to the development of nephrolithiasis.

Typhoid is not work-connected, says ECC

(June 5, 2007)

                 Gilbert Tripoli was a messenger of Jonz Creative Graphics when he succumbed to typhoid and the widow’s claim for death benefits under the employees’ compensation program was denied by the Social Security System because the cause of death is not an occupational disease.

The claim was elevated to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), on appeal, for a review of the SSS denial decision.

The ECC stressed that typhoid fever is not an occupational disease and the appellant has to prove by substantial evidence that the fatal ailment was caused by the messenger’s nature of work. Typhoid fever is caused by a bacteria, salmonella typhi, and usually ingested through contaminated food and drink. Once inside the body, the bacteria may infect the person’s intestines and the blood causing damage such as in the case of Tripoli. The inflammation of his intestinal mucosa caused gastro-intestinal bleeding which caused his death.

Appellant alleged that her husband’s workplace was located at the harbor and he unavoidably took his meals at the North and South harbor area. She believed that her husband must have contracted his typhoid fever in the harbor eateries.

Deafness traced to employment should be compensated, says ECC

(June 5, 2007)

42-Ton girder being hoisted hits NAIA Skyway worker;  compensable, says ECC

            The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently decided an appeal from the widow of Romeo Bartolata, an instrument man of EEI Corporation, who succumbed to serious body injury in an accident at the project site.

            Bartolata was working overtime at the NAIA Skyway project site on March 27, 2006 as part of the crew conducting the erection of 42-ton steel box girders on the permanent and temporary columns of the elevated NAIA Skyway. Bartolata was in-charge of ensuring the levelness of the steel box girders from the columns. The erection of the box girders started at 10 p.m. but there was a delay because the area had to be cleared and vehicular traffic approaching the construction area had to be diverted. It was already 4 a.m. when the first box girder was lifted. The crane operator was signaled to hoist the first steel box girder when the 42-ton steel girder accidentally hit the body of Bartolata. He was rushed to the Makati Medical Center where he was declared dead on arrival due to traumatic body injury.

            The widow, Cecilia B. Bartolata, filed a claim for EC death benefits at the Social Security System (SSS) and an ocular inspection team from the SSS at the worksite submitted its finding that there was negligence on the part of Bartolata. People in the area were advised to stay away and the crane operator was signaled to move the girder when Bartolata suddenly appeared on the scene and was bumped by the 42-ton steel box girder.

            The widow requested elevation of the case records to the Employees’ Compensation Commission for its review.

            There was no evidence that Bartolata disregarded his safety. He was at the site performing overtime work. People at the site were advised to clear the area and it could not be established if the worker heard the warnings. According to ECC, negligence could not be attributed to Bartolata.

            The ECC also cited other cases of work accidents, decided by the Supreme Court, wherein failure to avoid a known danger by a worker engrossed in his work can not be considered negligence. Disobedience does not in itself constitute notorious negligence if no intention can be attributed to the injured or deceased of an intention to end his life, according to the ECC.

The ECC ordered the SSS to pay the widow of Bartolata EC death and funeral benefits in accordance with the law.

Decrease in functional capacity of body parts arising from a work-connected injury should be compensated, says ECC

            Romerico Perlado, Jr., a mechanic of Philex Mining Corporation sustained injuries from a work-connected accident. While overhauling a truck, the jack used to raise the vehicle slipped and  pinned the mechanic’s two fingers.

The Social Security System (SSS) granted Perlado temporary total disability (TTD) benefits for a period of 122 days as compensation for his work-connected injury. When Perlado filed his claim for EC permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits, the claim was denied because he had returned to work and therefore incurred no further loss of income.

Perlado appealed to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), to review the claim.

According to the ECC, an injury or sickness resulting in permanent partial disability should be compensated equivalent to the percentage of the permanent loss of capacity to work. The Commission stressed that the mechanic’s work-connected injury resulted in a decrease in the functional capacity of his right hand.

The ECC ordered the SSS to pay Perlado EC permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits for a period of six months.

Disc herniation caused by trauma is compensable, says ECC

                  Magdalena de Gana del Rosario, product inspector of Philippine Belt Manufacturing Corporation had a minor accident at work in 2003 which was the root of her serious health problem which culminated in 2005.

                The accident happened in the morning of June 6, 2003 while del Rosario was carrying her work stool from another work area; she failed to see that the end of a steel plate covering a canal was raised which tripped her and she fell flat on the stool. She consulted a doctor a week later when her low back pains persisted. It was only then that her lumber strain was diagnosed and she was prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs.

                After two years, she was subjected to laminectomy and disectomy at the Far Eastern University – Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation for disc herniation.

                Del Rosario was granted SSS sickness benefit for 120 days and SSS permanent partial disability (PPD) benefit for a period of 8 months. However, her EC benefits application was denied by the Social Security System because there was no proof that her disc herniation was caused by her employment and there was no proof that her disc herniation could be attributed to her accident in 2003.

                The case was elevated to the ECC, on appeal. The ECC said that disc herniation is a tear in the annulus fibrosus which allows herniation or displacement of the soft, gelatinous interior nucleus polposus posteriorly into the spinal canal. This strikes the nerve roots and causes back and radicular pain and sometimes neurologic pain. This may be caused by trauma and mechanical causes.

                The ECC said that appellant’s disc herniation may be a complication of her accidental fall in 2003. In other words, the work-related accident in 2003 may be considered the trauma that caused her subsequent disc herniation.

                The Supreme Court has ruled (Belanio vs. ECC, GR No. 90204 dated May 11, 1990) that the right to compensation extends to disability due to disease supervening upon and approximately, and naturally resulting from a compensable injury.

                Thus, where the primary injury is shown to have arisen in the course of employment, every natural consequence that flows from the injury likewise arises out of the employment, unless it is the result of an independent intervening cause attributable to claimant’s own negligence or misconduct.

                Likewise ECC Board Resolution No. 93-08-0068 on progression (deterioration) of illness or injury states that “where the primary illness or injury is shown to have arisen in the course of employment, every natural consequence that flows from the illness or injury shall be deemed employment-related.”

                The ECC reversed the appealed decision and ordered the SSS to grant del Rosario temporary total disability benefits based on sick leave filed and medical expenses incurred for treatment.

ECC denies miner’s appeal for further disability benefits for slipped disc but grants compensation for work-connected hearing loss

                 The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently acted on the appeal of Rosenio Tandingan, a miner of Philex Mining in Benguet, denying additional EC disability benefits because he had already been awarded the maximum allowable compensation for his disability arising from a work-connected injury which resulted in his slipped disc. However, the ECC decided to award Tandingan disability benefits for a period of 50 months as compensation for his work-connected hearing loss.

                 A review of the case revealed that the miner figured in an accident in 1992 at the mine site and he was given permanent partial disability benefits for a period of 30 months.

                In 2003, Tandingan requested the SSS to extend the period of his entitlement to disability benefits which was stopped in 1999 on the basis of his injury sustained in 1992 and other ailments including hearing impairment, osteoarthritis, and hypertension.

                The SSS denied the miner’s plea for extension of disability benefits entitlement because there was no progression of the old injury.

                On appeal, the ECC agreed with the SSS decision because the period of entitlement to the benefit was in accordance with the prescribed standards in the EC Non-Scheduled Disability benefits.

                However, a review of the worker’s medical records revealed sensorineural hearing impairment which may be considered work-connected. The ECC stressed that Tandingan’s prolonged exposure to blasting explosions at the mines may have contributed to his hearing impairment.

                The ECC ordered that Tandingan be accorded EC PPD benefits for 50 months.

                Jimmy B. Lara, a manager of JS Cruz Construction and Development Corporation claimed employees’ compensation benefits based on his end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to nephropathy. The claim was denied by the Social Security System (SSS) and subsequently affirmed by the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), on appeal.

                Lara has been suffering from diabetes mellitus for some four years when a laboratory test showed that his creatinine level was elevated, an indication of reduced ability to make and excrete urine and that the waste products of the body’s metabolic processes cannot be excreted properly. The ailment progressed until the kidney ceased to function which is a manifestation of end stage renal disease.

                The Social Security System (SSS) denied Lara’s EC claim saying his diabetic condition caused his ESRD. Diabetes mellitus is a genetically inherited disorder. The disease may be acquired but the ailment and its complications are not work-connected.

                The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) concurred with the SSS ruling and the case was dismissed for lack of merit.

                Themistocles Montalban Jr., a senior police officer of the Philippine National Police succumbed to heart attack and chronic liver disease.   Months earlier, Montalban was diagnosed to have hypertension and ischemic heart disease, and advised to consult a cardiologist. On November 7, 2003, he was rushed to Fairview General Hospital in Quezon City where he succumbed to myocardial infarction and chronic liver disease.

                The GSIS denied the EC death claim of Montalban’s widow because of failure to submit medical records such as chest x-ray, consultation records and ECG tracings to substantiate her claim that her husband’s hypertension may have been caused by his employment. The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) concurred with the GSIS ruling and the case was dismissed for lack of merit. The implementing rules of the law provides that the claim has to be substantiated by medical tests and consultation records.

                The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently ordered the Social Security System (SSS) to pay compensation benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Law to Renato Balagbagan, Sr., a multi-rig operator of Isabela Washington Lumber Hardware and Electrical Supply, who lost his vision in one eye due to glaucoma.

                Balagbagan was a table band saw operator in 1994 when his left eye was struck by lumber being unloaded from a delivery truck.

                He experienced blurring of vision a year later and eventually lost his vision in one eye in 2006. Cause of blindness was diagnosed as glaucoma.

                Balagbagan’s EC claim was denied because the claim was beyond the 10-year prescriptive period allowed in Article 1144 of the Civil Code.

                The case was elevated to the ECC on appeal. What have to be determined are: firstly, whether the EC claim has prescribed and, secondly, compensability of Balagbagan’s blindness due to glaucoma. Medical research findings showed that ocular trauma may lead to glaucoma. The onset of post-traumatic glaucoma may vary; it may develop immediately after trauma or it may come months or years later. In the case of Balagbagan, glaucoma developed 12 years after the accident or trauma.

               The general rule on prescription of EC claims is three years from the onset of illness or injury.

               However, the ECC ruled that the Supreme Court had decided that the cause of action is the time when the employee stops working or earning.

               Since Balagbagan lost his vision and means of livelihood only in 2006, the EC claim has not prescribed at the time of filing. Also, since the worker’s glaucoma has been traced to the eye injury arising from a work-connected accident in 1994, Balagbagan’s disability may be deemed compensable under P.D. 626, as amended.

               The ECC ordered the SSS to pay EC permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits to Balagbagan for 25 months plus reimbursement of medical expenses.

                A worker who sustains a permanent disability based on a work-connected ailment is entitled to compensation benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Program even if he continues to report for work. This was the decision of the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) on the appeal raised by Quirico A. Bambico of Philex Mining Corp. in Benguet, for the ECC to review his claim for EC benefits which was denied by the SSS. Bambico’s disability was due to his osteoarthritis of the lumbar and cervical spine and hearing loss.

                In July, 2005, Bambico was hospitalized for osteoarthritis, PTB, cholecystitis, moderate hearing loss, and esophagogastroenteritis.

                The SSS denied the workers’s EC claim because Bambico was able to return to work.

                On appeal, the ECC declared that osteoarthritis may be considered compensable if the work involved joint strain from carrying heavy loads, or heavy physical labor. This was true in the case of Bambico who was employed as a tireman. The worker’s sensorineural hearing loss was also declared compensable because it was attributed to his long-term exposure to a melange of noise generated by engines and equipment in his work environment.

               The ECC awarded Bambico temporary total disability (TTD) benefit plus reimbursement of medical expenses for his osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine as well as permanent partial disability (PPD) benefit for a period of 50 months for his hearing loss.

Leonardo Apioten, an underground miner of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation in Benguet developed silicotuberculosis after working at the mines for four years. His application for Employees’ Compensation benefits was granted by the Social Security System (SSS) for a period of 23 months.

When the pension stopped, Apioten asked for an extension of his entitlement to disability benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Law which was denied by the SSS because he had been granted the maximum period commensurate to the degree of his disability.

On appeal, the ECC reviewed the case to determine if the worker is entitled to permanent total disability as pleaded by appellant. Apioten believes that his disability should be classified under permanent total disability.

The ECC ruled that silicotuberculosis, the ailment upon which appellant’s disability claim is based is subject to the EC Schedule of Compensation wherein his contracted ailment is rated and categorized under permanent partial disability (PPD). The ECC agreed with the SSS action on the claim. The appealed decision was affirmed and the EC claim was dismissed for lack of merit.heaven

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), recently ordered the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to grant death benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Law to the mother of Pfc. Jonathan D. Romero, who died due to multiple gunshot wounds.

Pfc. Romero was on his way home when an unidentified assailant shot him several times. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

A death claim was filed at the GSIS but the claim was denied because according to the GSIS, Romero’s death did not arise out of, or in the course of employment. The case was elevated to the ECC, on appeal.

Upon review of the case, ECC ruled in favor of the appellant following a Supreme Court ruling that “a soldier on active duty status is really on a 24 hours a day official duty status and is subject to military discipline and military law 24 hours a day. He is subject to call and to the orders of his superior officers at all times, seven (7) days a week, except, when on vacation leave status. Thus, a soldier should be presumed to be on official duty unless shown to have clearly and unequivocally put aside that status or condition temporarily by going on an approved vacation leave.” Pfc. Romero was neither on vacation leave nor on overnight pass when the incident occurred. Also, the Line of Duty Board of the 60^th Infantry Battalion likewise determined that the death of Pfc. Romero happened in the “line of duty.” This is reflected in the minutes of proceedings dated September 4, 1997 of the Line of Duty Board of Directors which further cited that the soldier was on a mission covered by Mission Order No. 123 of the 60th Infantry Battalion. Furthermore, the ECC declared that while the act of going home was not a specific military duty, he was nonetheless in the performance of official functions as enunciated in Hinoguin vs. ECC where it was held that the concept of “workplace” referred to cannot always be literally applied to soldiers in active duty status. This is also supported by an ECC Resolution (No. 3914) which extends the compensable coverage of off-premises injury from near the premises or workplace up to the residence of the employee.