House expands benefits for ‘dependents’ of deceased court retirees

Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles (Photo from his Facebook account)

A bill aiming to give monthly survivorship benefits to the dependent children of a deceased retired member of the judiciary who happened to be a solo parent is now one step closer to becoming a law.

This after the House committee on appropriations has approved its funding provision.

Davao City 1st District Rep. Karlo Nograles, appropriations committee chair, said House Bill (HB) 5897 also identified as beneficiaries the surviving parents and/or the nominated persons of the deceased court retiree.

The bill also acknowledges that families may now consist of persons cohabiting without marriage with or without children, solo parents as defined under RA 8972 and their children, persons who may not be related by blood but are bonded by “fictive kinship” or ties of love, obligation, familiarity, and responsibility.

In effect, it “seeks to end discrimination of the law against single or unmarried retirees who are qualified to retire under the law but are excluded from extending survivorship pensions to their parents, other kin, or other persons whom they consider as family.”

“The Supreme Court often states that retirement benefits ‘serve a public purpose and a primary objective in establishing them is to induce competent persons to enter and remain in public employment and render faithful and efficient service while so employed,” Nograles said in a statement, Thursday.

“In short, any single or unmarried Court retirees and their loved ones won’t have to suffer the inherent injustice in RA No. 910,” he added.

The bill also specifically seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 910 or “An Act to Provide for the Retirement of Justices of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals,” as amended by RA No. 9946, also known as “An Act Granting Additional Retirement, Survivorship, and other benefits to members of the Judiciary.”

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas authored and filed the bill that previously hurdled both the committees on justice and government enterprises and privatization. /jpv