MARIA E. MANAHAN, PETITIONER, VS. EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION AND GSIS (LAS PIÑAS MUNICIPAL HIGH SCHOOL), RESPONDENTS.

This is a petition to review the decision of the Employees’
Compensation Commission in ECC Case No. 0070 (Nazario
Manahan, Jr., deceased), entitled “Maria Manahan, Appellant, versus
Government Service Insurance System, (Las Piñas
Municipal High School), Respondent” affirming the decision of the
Government Service Insurance System which denied the claim for death benefit.^[1]

The claimant, petitioner herein, Maria E. Manahan, is the widow
of Nazario Manahan, Jr., who died of “Enteric
Fever” while employed as classroom teacher in Las Piñas
Municipal High School, Las Piñas, Rizal,
on May 8, 1975.

The petitioner filed a claim with the Government Service
Insurance System for death benefit under Presidential Decree 626.  In a letter dated June 19, 1975, the Government Service Insurance
denied the claim on a finding that the ailment of Nazario
Manahan, Jr., typhoid fever, is not an occupational disease.

The petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration on the ground
that the deceased, Nazario Manahan, Jr., was in perfect
health when admitted to the service and that the ailment of said deceased was
attributable to his employment.

The Government Service Insurance System affirmed the denial of
the claim on the ground that enteric fever or paratyphoid is similar in effect
to typhoid fever, in the sense that both are produced by Salmonella organisms.

The petitioner appealed to the Employees’ Compensation Commission
which affirmed the decision of the Government Service Insurance System on a
finding that the ailment of the deceased, enteric fever, was not induced by or
aggravated by the nature of the duties of Nazario
Manahan, Jr. as a teacher.^[2]

To support her theory that the disease of Nazario
Manahan, Jr., enteric fever, resulted from his employment as classroom teacher
of the Las Piñas Municipal High School, the
petitioner cites the following authority:

“EPIDEMOLOGY
AND PATHOLOGY OF ENTERIC FEVER

“THE SOURCE OF INFECTION is feces or urine from patients and
carriers.  Family contacts may be
transient carriers and 2 to 5% of patients become chronic carriers.  In poorly sanitized communities, water is the
most frequent vehicle of transmission; food, especially milk, is the next most
important.  In modern urban areas, food,
contaminated by healthy carriers who are food handlers, is the principal
vehicle.  Flies may spread the organism
from feces to food.  Direct contact
infection is infrequent.

“The organism enters the body through the gastrointestinal
tract, invading the blood stream by way of the lymphatic channels.  There is hyperplasia and often ulceration of Pyeris patches, especially in the ileum and cecum.  When the
ulcers heals, no scar results.  The
kidneys and liver usually show cloudly swelling and
the latter may reveal a patchy necrosis. 
The spleen is enlarged and soft.  Rarely, the lungs show pneumonic changes.  (Merck Manual, 10th Edit., P. 842)”^[3]

The factual findings of the respondent Commission indicate that
the deceased was in perfect health when he entered government service on July 20, 1969, and that in the course
of his employment in 1974, he was treated for epigastric
pain.  He succumbed to enteric fever on May 8, 1975.

Enteric fever is referred to in medical books as typhoid fever (Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 24th
Ed., p. 548) or paratyphoid fever (Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine,
6th Ed., p. 817).  Its symptoms include
abdominal pain (id., p. 810).  In discussing the clinical
manifestations of the disease, Mr. Harrison states that recovery (from enteric
or paratyphoid fever) may be followed by continued excretion of the causative
organism in the stools for several months (id., p. 817).  This lingering nature of the species
producing enteric fever points out the possibility that the illness which afflicted
the deceased in 1974 was the same as, or at least, related to, his 1975
illness.

The medical record of the deceased shows that he had a history of
ulcer-like symptoms (p. 3, ECC rec.). 
This buttresses the claimant’s claim that her husband had been suffering
from ulcer several months before his
death on May 8, 1975.  This is likewise sustained by the medical
certificate (p. 12, ECC rec.) issued by Dr. Aquilles Bernabe to the effect that “Nazario
Manahan was treated for epigastric pain probably due
to hyperacidity on December 10, 1974.” Epigastric
pain is a symptom of ulcer, and ulcer is a common complication of typhoid
fever.  There is even such a thing as
“typhoidal ulcer” (p. 812, supra).

Because of these
circumstances, the illness that claimed the life of the deceased could have had
its onset months before December 10,
1974.  Such being the case,
his cause of action accrued before December
10, 1974.

In the case of Corales vs. ECC
(L-44063, Feb. 27, 1979), We ruled that:

“x x Article 294, Title III
(Transitory and Final Provisions) of the New Labor Code provides that all
actions and claims accruing prior to the effectivity
of this Code shall be determined in accordance with the laws in force at the time of their accrual and under
the third paragraph of Article 292,
Title II (Prescription of Offenses and Claims), workmen’s compensation claims
accruing prior to the effectivity of this Code and
during the period from November 1, 1974 up to December 31, 1974 shall be
processed and adjudicated in accordance with the laws and rules at the time
their causes of action accrued.  Hence,
this Court applied the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, as amended, on passing upon petitioner’s claim.”

Pursuant to such doctrine and applying now the provisions of the
Workmen’s Compensation Act in
this case, the presumption of compensability subsists in favor of the claimant.

In any case, We have always maintained that in case of doubt, the
same should be resolved in favor of the worker, and that social legislations —
like the Workmen’s Compensation Act and the Labor Code — should be liberally
construed to attain their laudable objective, i.e., to give relief to the
workman and/or his dependents in the event that the former should die or
sustain an injury.

Moreover, the
constitutional guarantee of social justice and protection to labor make Us take
a second look at the evidence presented by the claimant.

As a teacher of the Las Piñas Municipal
High School at Las Piñas, Rizal,
the deceased used to eat his meals at the school canteen.  He also used the toilet and other facilities
of the school.  Said the respondent
Commission, “x x
x it is not improbable that the deceased might
have contracted the illness during those rare moments that he was away from his
family, since it is medically accepted that enteric fever is caused by
‘salmonella’ organisms which are acquired by ingestion of contaminated food or
drinks.  Contamination of food or water
may come from the excretion of animals such as rodents, flies, or human beings who
are sick or who are carriers, or
infection in meat of animals as
food.  Meat, milk and eggs are the foods
most frequently involved in the transmission of this type of species, since the
organism may multiply even before ingestion x x x.” These findings of the respondent Commission lead
to the conclusion that the risk of contracting the fatal illness was increased
by the decedent’s working condition.

In view of the foregoing, the petition for review is meritorious.

WHEREFORE, the decision of the Employees’ Compensation
Commission sought to be reviewed is hereby set aside the Government Service
Insurance System is ordered:

1.   To pay the petitioner the amount of SIX
THOUSAND PESOS (P6,000.00) as death compensation benefit;

2.   To pay the petitioner the amount of SIX HUNDRED PESOS (P600.00) as attorney’s
fees;

3.   To reimburse the petitioner expenses incurred
for medical services, hospitalization and medicines of the deceased Nazario Manahan, Jr., duly supported by proper receipts;
and

4.   To pay administrative fees.

SO ORDERED.

Teehankee, (Chairman), Makasiar, Guerrero, and
De Castro JJ., concur.

Melencio-Herrera, J., concurs. 
Although enteric fever is not occupational disease, considering the
cause of said illness, the risk of contracting it could have been increased by
the working conditions of the deceased, a teacher, who used to eat his meals at
the school canteen and used the comfort room and other facilities of the
school.

^[1] Rollo, pp. 25-27.

^[2] Idem.

^[3] Rollo, p. 20.