MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the release of P23 million in retirement gratuity differentials for 28 retired justices of the Court of Appeals (CA).
In a 17-page unanimous decision, the SC granted the petition filed by a group of retired CA justices led by retired Associate Justice Teodoro Regino seeking to compel the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release their retirement benefits.
The SC ordered the DBM to immediately issue a special allotment release order (SARO) to cover for the claims of retirement amounting to P23.02 million.
The retired magistrates elevated the case before the SC after the DBM rejected their request for the recomputation of their retirement gratuities and the granting of differentials in light of the series of salary increases brought about by the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 2 and 3 between 2007 to 2011.
Petitioners specifically asked for the payment of benefits, which are anchored on the salary increases given to incumbents of similar rank during the five-
year period after their retirement.
They questioned the decision of the DBM that based their retirement gratuity on their basic salary at the time of retirement.