Grant of uniform benefits to judiciary officials sought
A Mindanaoan solon is urging colleagues to swiftly pass a measure that aims to ensure that retirement benefits are uniformly granted to officials in the judiciary.
Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte said that the judiciary officials conferred with the same judicial rank as those of justices and judges have been unfairly treated when it comes to the grant of survivorship pensions and other benefits due them because of the absence of a law that expressly provides them these privileges.
The House of Representatives recently approved on third and final reading the measure that would provide the uniform application of the retirement and other benefits to judges, justices and judiciary officials.
Duterte was among the principal authors of this consolidated measure—House Bill 8392—which was approved by the House last Aug. 3.
The Senate’s counterpart measure has remained pending at the committee level.
“Fairness and the equal application of the law are among the tenets that the judiciary is mandated to uphold and protect. Ironically, through no fault of their own, these tenets are not followed by the judiciary when it comes to providing retirement benefits to certain officials simply because of the lack of a law that standardizes the grant of such benefits,” Duterte said.
