Duterte signs law on retirement benefit system for Ombudsman employees

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure establishing a retirement benefit system at the Office of the Ombudsman and augmenting its employee benefits.

Duterte signed Republic Act 11059 on August 17, nearly three months after the Senate and House of Representatives passed a harmonized version of the measure on May 30.

The law applies to the Ombudsman, his or her deputies, the special prosecutor, and all officials and employees from salary grade 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.

It states that the Ombudsman shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as those of the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals. Deputies and special prosecutors shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as those of an Associate Justice of the CA, provided that they have served in such capacity for a full term of seven years, regardless of age or number of years in government.

All other officials and employees shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as those of the judges in the lower courts with the same salary grades.

Set to benefit from the law as well are those who retired, resigned, or died a year before the effectivity of the law.

The law would take effect after 15 days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation.

"All pension benefits of retired officials or employees of the Office of the Ombudsman shall be automatically increased whenever there is an increase in the salary and allowance in the same position from which they retired," the law read.

According to the law, no Ombudsman official or employee shall appear as counsel before any judicial or quasi-judicial agency in any civil case wherein the government or any agency is an adverse party, or in any criminal case wherein any officer or employee of government is accused of an offense related to their office in order for them to be entitled to the benefits.

It further states that when an Ombudsman official or employee assume an elective post in government, he or she shall not, upon assumption of office and during tenure, receive the monthly pension or any of the allowances due him or her.

Senator Richard Gordon, the measure's principal sponsor, earlier said the retirement benefits of officials and employees of the Office of the Ombudsman were not upgraded and overlooked.

He added the low retirement benefits had resulted in an exodus of investigators and prosecutors over the last 10 years.

Gordon said the anti-graft body hired 180 officers in the past 10 years while 178 left the same period for other offices. — BM, GMA News