BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental—About P4,135,167 million could have saved Marcelo B. del Pilar’s life if it had come early enough—as he and his wife had been pleading—to pay for a much- needed heart-bypass operation. Nearly two months after the retired government prosecutor in Negros Occidental died, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday his heirs may now claim his retirement pay.
Del Pilar, 66, who retired as officer-in-charge at the Office of the Prosecutor in Cadiz City on July 15, 2011, succumbed to a heart attack on April 4 without getting what was due him and what he needed to save his life, his wife Teresa said.
The DOJ announced on its website on Tuesday that Del Pilar and 84 other prosecutors who retired between 2010 and 2012 could now claim their retirement gratuity differential.
Del Pilar’s family is now entitled to receive P4,135,167.68 covering his unpaid retirement benefits, according to the DOJ announcement.
But Mrs. del Pilar said she was sad that the money due her husband that could have saved his life was just now being released.
Nonetheless she thanked President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, who sent her a letter before her husband died, for following up the release of her husband’s retirement benefits after he was informed by the Inquirer about his plight in March.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also sent a letter dated April 8 to Mrs. del Pilar after her husband had died, which she received in the last week of April. In her letter, De Lima explained the delay in the release of his benefits, she said.
Mrs. Del Pilar said she wept because De Lima had written only when it was too late. Mrs. del Pilar said her husband had written to the secretary in October 2012 seeking her help but never got an answer.
Del Pilar suffered heart attacks in 2007 and 2010, and his cardiologist, Dr. Jose Joel Yap, had recommended a heart bypass operation to prolong his life.
Del Pilar, who had to live on money borrowed from his children after he retired, had hoped he could afford the operation with his lump sum benefit. The law bars a prosecutor from engaging in private practice for a year after retirement.
Last year, Del Pilar was able to earn again from his private practice as a lawyer, but on March 16 this year, he suffered another heart attack and was hospitalized in Bacolod City.
In a memorandum dated May 17, 2013, assistant secretary for finance Zabedin Azis and Prosecutor General Claro Arellano informed De Lima of the release by the Department of Budget and Management of P246,795,219.00 to cover the retirement gratuity differential (5-year lump sum) of the 85 retired prosecutors, out of the Pension and Gratuity Fund for the year 2013 General Appropriations Act, the DOJ said on its website Tuesday.
“This is a welcome development for the department, specifically the National Prosecution Service and especially for the prosecutors who had worked so hard and had relentlessly dedicated the best time of their lives to uphold the rule of law,” De Lima said.