Chapter VIII : PROVISIONS COMMON TO INCOME BENEFITS

ART. 195. Relationship and dependency. - All questions of relationship and dependency shall be determined as of the time of death.

ART. 196. Delinquent contributions. - (a) An employer who is delinquent in his contributions shall be liable to the System for the benefits which may have been paid by the System to his employees or their dependents, and any benefit and expenses to which such employer is liable shall constitute a lien on all his property, real or personal, which is hereby declared to be preferred to any credit, except taxes. The payment by the employer of the lump sum equivalent of such liability shall absolve him from the payment of the delinquent contribution and penalty thereon with respect to the employee concerned.

(b) Failure or refusal of the employer to pay or remit the contribution herein prescribed shall not prejudice the right of the employee or his dependents to the benefits under this Title. If the sickness, injury, disability or death occurs before the System receives any report of the name of his employee, the employer shall be liable to the System for the lump sum equivalent to the benefits to which such employee or his dependents may be entitled.

ART. 197. Second injuries. - If any employee under permanent partial disability suffers another injury which results in a compensable disability greater than the previous injury, the State Insurance Fund shall be liable for the income benefit of the new disability: Provided, That if the new disability is related to the previous disability, the System shall be liable only for the difference in income benefits.

ART. 198. Assignment of benefits. - No claim for compensation under this Title is transferable or liable to tax, attachment, garnishment, levy or seizure by or under any legal process whatsoever, either before or after receipt by the person or persons entitled thereto, except to pay any debt of the employee to the System.

ART. 199. Earned benefits. - Income benefits shall, with respect to any period of disability, be payable in accordance with this Title to an employee who is entitled to receive wages, salaries or allowances for holidays, vacation or sick leaves and any other award of benefit under a collective bargaining or other agreement.

ART. 200. Safety devices. - In case the employee’s injury or death was due to the failure of the employer to comply with any law or to install and maintain safety devices or to take other precautions for the prevention of injury, said employer shall pay the State Insurance Fund a penalty of twenty-five percent (25%) of the lump sum equivalent of the income benefit payable by the System to the employee. All employers, specially those who should have been paying a rate of contribution higher than required of them under this Title, are enjoined to undertake and strengthen measures for the occupational health and safety of their employees.

ART. 201. Prescriptive period. - No claim for compensation shall be given due course unless said claim is filed with the System within three (3) years from the time the cause of action accrued. (As amended by Section 5, Presidential Decree No. 1921).

ART. 202. Erroneous payment. - (a) If the System in good faith pays income benefit to a dependent who is inferior in right to another dependent or with whom another dependent is entitled to share, such payments shall discharge the System from liability, unless and until such other dependent notifies the System of his claim prior to the payments.

(b) In case of doubt as to the respective rights of rival claimants, the System is hereby empowered to determine as to whom payments should be made in accordance with such regulations as the Commission may approve. If the money is payable to a minor or incompetent, payment shall be made by the System to such person or persons as it may consider to be best qualified to take care and dispose of the minor’s or incompetent’s property for his benefit.

ART. 203. Prohibition. - No agent, attorney or other person pursuing or in charge of the preparation or filing of any claim for benefit under this Title shall demand or charge for his services any fee, and any stipulation to the contrary shall be null and void. The retention or deduction of any amount from any benefit granted under this Title for the payment of fees for such services is prohibited. Violation of any provision of this Article shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than five thousand pesos, or imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.

ART. 204. Exemption from levy, tax, etc. - All laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the State Insurance Fund and all its assets shall be exempt from any tax, fee, charge, levy, or customs or import duty and no law hereafter enacted shall apply to the State Insurance Fund unless it is provided therein that the same is applicable by expressly stating its name.