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CLEMENTEvGOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM

G.R. No. L-47521 July 31, 1!7

GUTIERRE", JR., J.:

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This is a petition to review the decision of the Employees' Compensation Commission which

affirmed the decision of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and denied the claim for death

benefits filed by Carolina Clemente, widow of the late edro Clemente!

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etitioner's husband, the late edro Clemente, was for ten ("#) years a $anitor in the %epartment of

&ealth assined at the Ilocos orte Sin Clinic! &e was hospitali*ed due to his ailment of +nephritis,+ and

also found to be sufferin from such ailments as portal cirrhosis and leprosy, otherwise nown as &ansen's

%isease!edro Clemente died of uremia due to nephritis! Thereafter, petitioner filed with the GSIS a claim

for employees' compensation under the abor Code, as amended!

The GSIS denied the claim of the petitioner because the ailments of her husband are not

occupational diseases! The petitioner re-uested for reconsideration of the GSIS' denial of her claim, statin

that the ailments of her husband were contracted in the course of employment and were aravated by the

nature of his wor!

GSIS toether with ECC ruled the deceased's ailments are not listed as occupational diseases,

appellant herein must prove that such ailments were caused by deceased's employment and that the ris of

contractin the same was increased by his worin conditions in order to be compensable! &ence, this

petition assailin the decision of GSIS!

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.hether or not the petitioner is entitled to claim for compensation of her deceased spouse!

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/es, the petitioner is entitled to the claims because what the law re-uires is a reasonable wor

connection and not a direct causal relation!

The foreoin discussions support rather than neate the theory of increased ris! The ma$or

ailments of the deceased, i!e! nephritis, leprosy, etc!, could be traced from bacterial and viral infections! In

the case of leprosy, it is nown that the source of infection is the dischare from lesions of persons withactive cases! It is believed that the bacillus enters the body throuh the sin or throuh the mucous

membrane of the nose and throat! The husband of the petitioner wored in a sin clinic! 0s $anitor of the

Ilocos orte Sin Clinic, 1r! Clemente was e2posed to different carriers of viral and bacterial diseases! &e

had to clean the clinic itself where patients with different illnesses come and o! &e had to put in order the

hospital e-uipments that had been used! &e had to dispose of arbae and wastes that accumulated in the

course of each worin day! &e was the employee most e2posed to the danerous concentration of infected

materials, and not bein a medical practitioner, least liely to now how to avoid infection! It is, therefore,

not unreasonable to conclude that 1r! Clemente's worin conditions definitely increased the ris of his

contractin the aforementioned ailments! This Court has held in appropriate cases that the conservative

posture of the respondents is not consistent with the liberal interpretation of the abor Code and the social

$ustice uarantee embodied in the Constitution in favor of the worers! The SC ordered respondent to pay

the petitioner death benefit and attorney's fees!