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SC to DBM: Release gratuity pay, allowances of retired CA justices

Rappler.com

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SC to DBM: Release gratuity pay, allowances of retired CA justices
The Supreme Court says the Department of Budget and Management's refusal to release the funds is 'tantamount to grave abuse of discretion'

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Department of Budget and Management to release the additional retirement gratuities of 28 retired Court of Appeals (CA) justices, amounting to P23 million.

The SC sided with the Association of Retired Court of Appeals Justices, which filed a petition in 2011 against then-Budget Secretary Florencio Abad for not releasing their adjusted retirement gratuities and allowances despite the salary standardization law.

In a 17-page decision penned by former SC associate justice Presbitero Velasco before his retirement, the High Court said the 1987 Constitution mandates that a member of the SC or CA must not receive any amount less than what a sitting judge receives as salary and as representation and transportation allowance (RATA).

The SC also said that the DBM’s refusal to release the funds is “tantamount to grave abuse of discretion.”

The DBM earlier rejected the former CA justices’ request for the recomputation of their retirement gratuities and allowances amid the series of salary increases from 2007 to 2011.

The DBM had said that the group’s claims must be sourced from the Special Allowance for the Judiciary (SAJ) and not from the government’s Pension and Gratuity Fund.

But the SC said the SAJ allowances were already fully converted into the basic monthly salary of the CA justices as of June 1, 2011. This means any pay increase after that must be made part of the judges’ basic salary, and in turn be reflected in their retirement benefits.

“Even assuming that there is a portion in the retirement gratuity that had not been fully converted to [basic monthly salary], such component can still not be sourced from the SAJ Fund, owing to the nature of the SAJ Fund as a special fund,” the SC noted.

“Moreover, this Court had already ruled that the SAJ component of the retirement gratuity and other terminal leave benefits should not be sourced from the SAJ Fund, but from the Pension Gratuity Fund.” – Rappler.com

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