G.R. No. L-42508. June 29, 1979
MARIA D. OBOR, IN HER OWN BEHALF, AND IN REPRESENTATION OF HER MINOR CHILDREN, PRIMITIVA OBOR AND JOSEFINA OBOR, PETITIONERS, VS. THE WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION, AND RE…
FERNANDEZ, J.:
This is a petition to review the order of the Workmen’s
Compensation Commission in Case No. RO9-WCC-14816 entitled “Maria D. Obor,
et al., Claimants, versus, Republic of the Philippines (Highway Engineering
District, Auditor’s Office), Respondent” affirming the order of dismissal
of the Acting Referee of the Workmen’s Compensation Unit, Regional Office No.
8, Tacloban City, dismissing the claim of the petitioners on the ground that
the said claim had been filed after the deadline fixed in Section 3 of
Presidential Decree No. 662, which amended the Labor Code.[1]
The record shows that Maria D. Obor is the widow and Primitiva
Obor and Josefina Obor are the children of Jesus Q. Obor; that Jesus Q. Obor
was a supplies-checker of the Office of the Highway Auditor, Bureau of Public
Highways at Catbalogan, Samar; that on December 6, 1974, said Jesus Q. Obor was
ordered by his immediate superior in the office to check the road right-of-way
claims for damages along Kilometer 19, Catbalogan North Road; that while in the
performance of his official duties on said date, he was attacked by an
assailant from behind with an iron bar resulting in the instantaneous death of
Jesus Q. Obor; that allegedly on the advise of the Auditor of the Bureau of
Public Highways of Samar, the Notice and Claim for Compensation and supporting
papers were filed on January 22, 1975 with the Office of the Engineer’s Auditor
of Samar; that the claim and supporting papers were forwarded to the
Commission on Audit; that on April 22, 1975, the Acting Chairman of the
Commission on Audit returned the claim and supporting papers to the Auditor of
the Bureau of Public Highways of Samar with advise that the claimants be informed
to file their claim in accordance with the amended Labor Code; that the Highway
Auditor transmitted the claim and supporting papers to the petitioner Maria D.
Obor; that on June 2, 1975, the petitioner, Maria D. Obor, sent the claim and
supporting papers to the Workmen’s Compensation Unit at Tacloban City by registered
mail; and that on October 1, 1975, the Acting Referee and Chief, Workmen’s
Compensation Unit at Tacloban City, issued an order dismissing the claim for
having been filed after the deadline set on March 31, 1975 by Presidential
Decree No. 662 and declared that the claim is forever barred.[2]
The claimants, petitioners herein, filed a motion for
reconsideration which was denied for lack of merit. However, the Acting Referee elevated the
entire records of the claim to the Workmen’s Compensation Commission for
review.[3]
The Workmen’s Compensation Commission affirmed the order of
dismissal on the ground that the claim was filed after March 31, 1975.
It is undisputed that the present petitioners, widow and minor
children, respectively, of Jesus Q. Obor, filed a claim for benefits with the
Highway District Engineering Auditor at Catbalogan, Samar, on January 22,
1975. The Auditor of said Engineering
District submitted the claim to the Acting Chairman of the Commission on Audit
at Quezon City. On April 22, 1975, the
Commission on Audit returned the claim to the Highway Engineering Auditor,
Catbalogan, Samar, advising that office to inform claimant, Maria D. Obor, to
file her claim in accordance with the amended Labor Code. Acting on such advice, Maria D. Obor
forwarded the claim on June 2, 1975 to the Chief, Workmen’s Compensation Unit,
Regional Office No. 8, Tacloban City.[4]
The only issue is whether or not the filing of the claim with the
Commission on Audit was a substantial compliance with the requirement that
claims for compensation should be filed not later than March 31, 1975.
The issue has been resolved by the Supreme Court in he
affirmative. Thus, in Victoriano F.
Corales, Petitioner, versus, Employees Compensation Commission and Government
Service Insurance System, Respondents,[5]
this Court said:
“The fact that the claim was filed with the GSIS instead of
with the appropriate regional office of the Department of Labor, does not
militate against the claim. For the
filing of a claim in an office that has no authority to act on it can be
treated as having been filed with the appropriate agency as long as it is filed
within the period allowed by law (Pobre vs. WCC, 77 SCRA 315-320, May 31,
1977)”
The claim of the petitioners was filed with the High-way
Engineering Auditor on January 22, 1975.
The Acting Referee and the Workmen’s Compensation Commission both erred
in dismissing the claim for having been filed out of time.
WHEREFORE, the decision sought to be reviewed is hereby
set aside and the claim for death benefits of the petitioners is hereby
referred to the proper office of the Ministry of Labor for hearing on the
merits.
SO ORDERED.
Teehankee, (Chairman), Makasiar, Guerrero, De Castro, and Melencio-Herrera, JJ., concur.
[1]
Annex “H”, Rollo, p. 16.
[2]
Memorandum for Respondents, pp. 1-2.
[3]
Annex “J”, Rollo, pp. 22-23.
[4]
Memorandum for Respondents, pp. 1-2.
[5]
G. R. No. L-44063, promulgated on February 27, 1979.