The Supreme Court on Wednesday disclosed that it has given the heirs of injured or deceased workers a choice of remedy to file compensation claim under the Labor Code or proceed to file for damages under the Civil Code.
In an en banc decision penned by Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, Article 1711 of the Civil Code impliedly repealed by Title II, Book IV of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
“While Title II, Book IV of the Labor Code on EmployeesCompensation and State Insurance Fund has already superseded Article 1711 of the Civil Code, heirs of injured or deceased workers still have a choice of remedy between filing a compensation claim under the Labor Code or proceeding against the employer in an action for damages under the Civil Code,” said the High Court.
The ruling was in relation to the Court in abandoning its 2007 ruling in Candano Shipping Lines Inc. v. Sugata-on which had allowed the awarding of indemnity for loss of future income based on Article 1711 of the Civil Code.
The abandonment of the Candano ruling, however, shall be applied prospectively in which the court set the guidelines on the application of Candano and the transition to its abandonment.
For actions filed prior to 6 August 2007, which is the finality of Candano, Article 1711 of the Civil Code shall be considered to have been impliedly repealed by Title II, Book IV of the Labor Code.
Thus, Article 1711 of the Civil Code cannot sustain any action for, or award of, indemnity. Candano was not yet a binding precedent at the time these actions were filed.
The court said that in Candano’s absence, there is no legal basis to give effect to a repealed provision of the Civil Code.
For actions filed during the applicability of Candano, i.e., from its finality on 6 August 2007 until the finality of the said decision, Article 1711 of the Civil Code shall be given effect based on the Candano ruling.
For actions filed after the finality of this Decision, Article 1711 of the Civil Code shall not be given any effect since Article 1711 has been repealed by the Labor Code and it can no longer be used against employers to claim indemnity for work-related injury or death.
The case stemmed from the 2012 complaint filed by respondent Jenny Rose G. Nedic who sought from petitioner Oceanmarine Resources Corporation claims representing the “Lost Future Income” of Romeo Ellao Nedic’s common-law partner and father of her minor son.
On 2 November 2011, Ellao, who was working as a company driver for Oceanmarine, was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants after he withdrew money from Oceanmarine’s banks. The assailants immediately took the bag of money in the vehicle and escaped.
Nedic’s counsel immediately wrote a letter to Oceanmarine demanding damages by way of loss future income. Oceanmarine denied the claim.
This prompted Nedic to file before the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court the present claim under Article 1711 of the Civil Code, which expressly holds owners of enterprises and other employers liable to pay compensation for the death of their employees if the death arose out of and in the course of employment even if it was accidental or entirely due to a fortuitous cause.