SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 43475. December 20, 1935. ]
GREGORIO C. YARCIA, plaintiff and appellee, v. PHILIPPINE EDUCATION CO., INC., and EDWIN E. ELSER, Defendants-Appellants.
Camus & Delgado for Appellants.
Bernabe Butalid for Appellee.
SYLLABUS
1. MASTER AND SERVANT; WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT. — An employee who, in the pursuance of his employment, loses a part of the first phalanx of the index finger of his left hand and is totally disabled for work for a certain period — for which disability he is entitled to the compensation provided for in section 14 of Act No. 3428 — is entitled only to the additional compensation provided for in section 17 of said Act if, as a result of said loss, he is partially and permanently disabled, but not to the indemnity provided for in section 16 of the aforesaid Act, for temporary partial disability.
2. ID.; ID. — The master or employer has no right to deduct the number of weeks prescribed in section 14 from the number of weeks prescribed in section 17 above cited, in determining the total amount of compensation to which the injured employee or laborer is entitled.
2. ID.; ID. — The master or employer has no right to deduct the number of weeks prescribed in section 14 from the number of weeks prescribed in section 17 above cited, in determining the total amount of compensation to which the injured employee or laborer is entitled.
D E C I S I O N
VILLA-REAL, J.:
This is an appeal taken by the defendants Philippine Education Co., Inc., and Edwin E. Elser from the decision of the Court of First Instance of Manila, the dispositive part of which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Wherefore, judgment is hereby rendered ordering the said defendants to pay to the plaintiff the amount of P273.87, with legal interest thereon from the filing of the complaint, and to pay the costs. It is so ordered."cralaw virtua1aw library
In support of their appeal, the appellants assign six alleged errors as committed by the court a quo in its said judgment, which will be discussed in the course of this decision.
When the case was called for hearing, the parties submitted to the court the following stipulation of facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Come now the plaintiff and defendants by their respective attorneys and to this Honorable Court respectfully submit the following stipulation of facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"That they admit the allegations contained in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of plaintiff’s complaint.
"That from July to September, 1933, the total wages earned by plaintiff and paid by defendant Philippine Education Co., Inc., to him, amounted to the sum of P113.75 which fact was known only by defendant E. E. Elser after payments were made as stated in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this stipulation.
"That on October 26, 1933, at about 9.30 a. m., plaintiff, while engaged in his usual work of stamping badges or aluminum checks for McCullough Printing Co., owned and operated by defendant Philippine Education Company, Inc., had his left finger below the nail (first joint below the nail of the left index finger) cut accidentally owing to the sudden fall of the stamping machine, in consequence of which injury he was sent by the said company to Saint Joseph’s Hospital for treatment and then to Dr. Waterous at the expense of defendant E. E. Elser amounting to the sum of P70.
"That from October 26, 1933, to January 17, 1934, after deducting the first seven days, defendant Philippine Education Co., Inc., paid plaintiff full wages amounting to the sum of P165.94 and thereafter, up to March 1, 1934, defendant E. E. Elser paid plaintiff the sum of P54 based on 60 per cent of a weekly average wage of P15, as compensation for the temporary total disability of said plaintiff.
"That after plaintiff’s temporary total disability, he was paid a compensation in the sum of P56.25, computed on the basis of 50 per cent loss to the index finger at the rate of P3.75 for 15 weeks, caused by the loss of the first joint below the nail of the left index finger of said plaintiff resulting in the permanent partial disability suffered by him."cralaw virtua1aw library
In addition to the above quoted stipulation of facts, the plaintiff Gregorio C. Yarcia, testifying for himself, attempted to prove that his duty before the accident in question was to engrave and cut metals as well as to insert plates in the machine; that his severed left index finger was the one that guided him in making letters and designs and was the only finger that could keep the lines straight and prevent them from deviating from their course; that he has not reported for duty since the accident but that he tried the work in his house and found that his efficiency before the accident has decreased by 1/8 or
"Wherefore, judgment is hereby rendered ordering the said defendants to pay to the plaintiff the amount of P273.87, with legal interest thereon from the filing of the complaint, and to pay the costs. It is so ordered."cralaw virtua1aw library
In support of their appeal, the appellants assign six alleged errors as committed by the court a quo in its said judgment, which will be discussed in the course of this decision.
When the case was called for hearing, the parties submitted to the court the following stipulation of facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Come now the plaintiff and defendants by their respective attorneys and to this Honorable Court respectfully submit the following stipulation of facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"That they admit the allegations contained in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of plaintiff’s complaint.
"That from July to September, 1933, the total wages earned by plaintiff and paid by defendant Philippine Education Co., Inc., to him, amounted to the sum of P113.75 which fact was known only by defendant E. E. Elser after payments were made as stated in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this stipulation.
"That on October 26, 1933, at about 9.30 a. m., plaintiff, while engaged in his usual work of stamping badges or aluminum checks for McCullough Printing Co., owned and operated by defendant Philippine Education Company, Inc., had his left finger below the nail (first joint below the nail of the left index finger) cut accidentally owing to the sudden fall of the stamping machine, in consequence of which injury he was sent by the said company to Saint Joseph’s Hospital for treatment and then to Dr. Waterous at the expense of defendant E. E. Elser amounting to the sum of P70.
"That from October 26, 1933, to January 17, 1934, after deducting the first seven days, defendant Philippine Education Co., Inc., paid plaintiff full wages amounting to the sum of P165.94 and thereafter, up to March 1, 1934, defendant E. E. Elser paid plaintiff the sum of P54 based on 60 per cent of a weekly average wage of P15, as compensation for the temporary total disability of said plaintiff.
"That after plaintiff’s temporary total disability, he was paid a compensation in the sum of P56.25, computed on the basis of 50 per cent loss to the index finger at the rate of P3.75 for 15 weeks, caused by the loss of the first joint below the nail of the left index finger of said plaintiff resulting in the permanent partial disability suffered by him."cralaw virtua1aw library
In addition to the above quoted stipulation of facts, the plaintiff Gregorio C. Yarcia, testifying for himself, attempted to prove that his duty before the accident in question was to engrave and cut metals as well as to insert plates in the machine; that his severed left index finger was the one that guided him in making letters and designs and was the only finger that could keep the lines straight and prevent them from deviating from their course; that he has not reported for duty since the accident but that he tried the work in his house and found that his efficiency before the accident has decreased by 1/8 or
