SC: Corporate execs liable with manning agency over seafarer's disability benefits

Corporate directors, officers, and manning agencies can be held liable in relation to the payment of disability benefits to seafarers, the Supreme Court (SC) reiterated Tuesday.

In a 10-page resolution, the SC Special First Division granted a motion for partial reconsideration of its earlier ruling, which held that only the manning agency and its foreign principal were liable for the seafarer's disability benefits.

Citing the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995, as amended by Republic Act 10022, the SC ruled that the manning agency's fleet director is also solidarily liable, which means he can be made to pay the full amount due.

"Clearly, the law expressly provides the joint and solidary liability of corporate directors and officers with the recruitment/ placement agency for all money claims or damages that may be awarded to overseas Filipino workers," it said.

The High Court said that while corporate officers generally cannot personally be held liable for contracts entered into by the corporation, personal liability may validly attach since he is made personally liable for his corporate action by a specific provision of law.

According to the SC, the manning agency hired the seafarer as an electrical fitter for its foreign principal. When the seafarer was injured while working, he was sent back to Manila, where company-designated doctors diagnosed him with rotator tendinitis.

After undergoing physical therapy and being told that he reached his maximum medical treatment, he was found fit for work.

However, the seafarer continued to feel pain and sought a second medical opinion, where the doctor found him unfit for sea duty.

Due to this, the seafarer requested the manning agency for a third doctor's opinion, but the manning agency refused and asked for a copy of the second doctor's report.

Following this, the seafarer filed a complaint before the Labor Arbiter (LA) for disability benefits and the reimbursement of his medical expenses.

The LA ruled in his favor, but the Court of Appeals reversed the ruling.

In its resolution, the SC affirmed the LA's ruling. The SC said the manning agency and the foreign principal are liable because the doctor's report was incomplete. 

The resolution, penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, was promulgated in October 2025 and made public in March 2026. — VDV, GMA Integrated News