MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11059 giving officials and personnel of the Office of the Ombudsman the same retirement benefits as their counterparts in the Court of Appeals and trial courts.

The law, dubbed Retirement Law of the Office of the Ombudsman, was signed by Duterte on August 17.

The bill covers the Ombudsman, deputies, special prosecutors, and all officials and employees from salary grades 26 to 29 who are “performing legal, prosecution, investigation, and corruption prevention functions” and whose position requires membership in the Philippine Bar or a master’s degree in a relevant field.

The law is seen to address the lack of a retirement package which has made it difficult for the office, mandated to go after corrupt government officials, to attract lawyers.

Retirement and other benefits will be as follows:

• Ombudsman, same as those of the Court of Appeals presiding justice (as long as Ombudsman served full 7-year term)
• Deputies and special prosecutors, same as those of associate justices from the Court of Appeals (as long as they served full 7-year terms)
• All other officials and employees covered by the law will get the same retirement and other benefits as judges in regional, metropolitan, municipal, and municipal circuit trial courts with the same salary grades

Officials and employees who have served the Office of the Ombudsman or another branch of government for 15 years and then retired at the age of 65 or resigned due to incapacity are to receive a retirement pension based on the highest monthly salary, plus the highest monthly aggregate of transportation, living, and representation allowances which they received at the time of their retirement or resignation.

Upon retirement, an official or employee will automatically receive a lump sum of 5 years’ gratuity computed on the basis of the highest monthly salary plus the highest monthly aggregate of transportation, living, and representation allowances.

The sections on retirement benefits, death benefits, and survivorship benefits are retroactive up to one year from the effectivity of the law.

More details on the various retirement benefit computations can be found in the law itself. 

 

– Rappler.com