Lump sum benefits to kin of slain prosecutors pushed in Senate

Senator Richard Gordon on Monday said he would push for a bill that would provide death benefits to the family of slain prosecutors.

In a privilege speech, Gordon mentioned the killing of lawyer Edilberto Mendoza on New Year's eve.

Mendoza was an assistant city prosecutor assigned to the Regional Trial Court branch of Trece Martires, Cavite.

The senator, who chairs the Senate justice and human rights committee, said he intends to amend the newly approved law granting survivorship benefits to the legitimate spouse and dependent children of deceased retired members of the National Prosecution Service (NPS).

“So ang appeal ko po is (so my appeal is) to amend [Republic Act] 11643 which we just passed and was approved by the president and I congratulate the president for doing that, to grant lump sum death benefits to the families of assassinated prosecutors with the permission of our colleagues,” he said.

“Ang lalabas d’yan ay makakatanggap sila ng (What will happen is they will receive) lump sum of five years gratuity computed on the basis of the highest monthly salary plus the highest monthly aggregate of transportation representation and other allowances para naman hindi magbi-blink hindi matatakot ang mga prosecutor natin (so our prosecutors won’t be afraid while doing their job),” he added.

Gordon then hit anew the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for the delayed implementation of the Republic Act 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act, which he said the reason why riding-in-tandem crimes are still “rampant.”

“Riding-in-tandem is still rampant and this still lacks implementation of the law kaya lalabas ang report natin na pinirmahan na ng mga kasamhan natin sa Senado na talagang ang recommendation ma-file-an ang LTO commissioner at kanyang assistant, (that’s why we want to pass the report which was already signed by our colleagues in the Senate, so we can push for the recommendation of filing of charges against the LTO commissioner and his assistant),” he said.

In December, Gordon released a partial report of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation on RA 11235 implementation, which recommended the filing of multiple charges against LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante and Executive Director Romeo Vera Cruz for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In a previous interview with Galvante, he said they tried to explain to Gordon the reasons behind the delays of the implementation of RA 11235 but the lawmaker did not accept their justifications.

“We were explaining during the hearing he conducted the reason for the delay in the implementation, but he did not accept our reason. Yes, there was a delay in the implementation because of so many factors beyond our control,” Galvante had said.—LDF, GMA News