G.R. No. L-20998 August 31, 1965
Aboitiz Shipping Corporation, petitioner, vs. Demetria Oqueria and the minors Memoracion, Elicita Maximo and Marietta, all surnamed Buen, represented by their mother, the respondent Demetria Oqueria, respondents.

FACTS

Sofronio Buen, a seaman employed by petitioner Aboitiz Shipping Corporation, was lost at sea on October 14, 1961, while the M/V Carmen was navigating near Kaubian Island on a voyage from Cebu City to Surigao del Norte. A marine protest was filed after attempts to recover his body failed. The Regional Office sent forms for an “employer’s report of accident” to Aboitiz Co., Inc., which clarified that the vessel belonged to petitioner Aboitiz Shipping Corporation. Petitioner submitted the duly accomplished forms on January 30, 1962. On February 20, 1962, the Regional Labor Administrator, considering the claim uncontroverted, awarded compensation to respondents (Buen’s widow and children). Petitioner filed a motion to set aside the award on March 16, 1962, which was denied. Petitioner’s subsequent petition for review was denied by the Workmen’s Compensation Commission, which held the motion was filed out of time and the award had become final and executory.

ISSUE

The petitioner assigned several errors, but the core issues resolved by the Court were: (1) whether petitioner effectively controverted the claim for compensation; (2) whether the award made without prior notice and hearing was valid; (3) whether the death of Buen was properly presumed from his disappearance; and (4) whether the award had become final and executory due to untimely appeal.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the order and resolution of the Workmen’s Compensation Commission.
1. Petitioner failed to controvert the claim. Under Section 45 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, the employer must file an accident report within 14 days of its occurrence or 10 days after knowledge. Petitioner, aware of the disappearance since October 14, 1961, filed its report only on January 30, 1962, without offering any justification for the 198-day delay. This failure renounced its right to controvert the claim, making the award proper without need for a hearing.
2. The death of Sofronio Buen was properly deduced from the circumstances: he disappeared from the vessel while navigating on the high seas, was believed to have jumped or fallen overboard while under the influence of liquor, his body was never found despite search, and his whereabouts remained unknown for nearly four years.
3. Notice of the award was properly served upon petitioner itself on February 24, 1962, as no counsel had entered an appearance at that time. Petitioner’s motion to set aside the award, filed on March 16, 1962, was beyond the 15-day reglementary period under the Commission’s rules. Thus, the award had become final and executory.