G.R. No.
L-6359
Facts: Republic Act No. 772
effective June 20, 1952 conferred upon the Workmen's Compensation Commissioner
"exclusive jurisdiction" to hear and decide claims for compensation
under the Workmen's Compensation Act, subject to appeal to this Supreme Court.
Before the passage of said Act demands for compensation had to be submitted to
the regular courts. The fatal accident
which befell Dioscoro Cruz, husband of plaintiff Carmen Cruz, having occurred
in January 1952 and action having been commenced in the Court of First Instance
of Bulacan in August, 1952 .1 For the appellants, it
is contended that the date
of the accident, and not the
date of filing the complaint, should be considered because the right to
compensation of the laborer or employees or his dependents, like the obligation
of the employer to pay the same, begins from the very moment of the accident.
Issue: the resultant issue is the proper forum: either the courts or the Workmen's Compensation Commission
Held: It is true that the right arises from the moment
of the accident, but such right must be declared or confirmed by the government
agency empowered by law to make the declaration. Republic Act No. 772 is very clear that on and
after June 20, 1952 all claims for compensation shall be decided exclusively by
the Workmen's Compensation Commissioner, subject to appeal to the Supreme
Court. This claim having been formulated for the first time in August,1952 in
the Court of First Instance of Bulacan, the latter had no jurisdiction, at that
time, to act upon it. No constitutional objection may be interposed to the
application of the law conferring jurisdiction upon the Commission, because the
statute does not thereby operate retroactively; it is made to operate upon
claims formulated after the law's approval.
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