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House official bats for better retirement benefits for judiciary officials
House official bats for better retirement benefits for judiciary officials
Like judges and justices, other officials of the judiciary should get bigger retirement benefits that are granted by law.
Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the court administrator, his deputy, clerks of court and other officers conferred judicial rank by the Supreme Court through resolutions deserve the same retirement package enjoyed by court magistrate under Republic Act No. 910.
Rodriguez’s proposal is contained in House Bill 8547 that was referred to the House Committee on Justice chaired by Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, a retired Court of Appeals justice.
In filing the bill, Rodriguez said RA No. 910 applies only to “justices of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, or the Court of Tax Appeals, or a judge of the regional trial court, metropolitan trial court, municipal trial court, municipal circuit trial court, shari’a district court, or any other court created by law.”
However, he said every now and then, the Supreme Court, through the issuance of resolutions, grants certain judiciary officers judicial rank, salary and privileges and requests the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to have them covered by the retirement law for the judiciary.
For instance, the lawmaker said the high court had given such rank and benefits to its court administration, his deputy and its clerk of court.
The House leader noted that in 1986, then chief justice Ramon Aquino approved the retirement application of court administrator Romeo Mendoza and forwarded it to the GSIS for implementation under RA No. 910.
In 1993, then chief justice Andres Narvasa approved the application of clerk of court Daniel Martinez to retire under the same law, he said.
“However, the GSIS Act of 1997, took judiciary officials with judicial rank, salary and privileges our of its coverage, except life insurance, and refunded their personal contributions to the GSIS fund,” Rodriguez said.
He pointed out that RA No. 9946, which amended RA No. 910 and granted more benefits to members of the judiciary, limits its coverage to justices and judges only.