JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II is urging the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to comply with the order of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City for the release of the P139-million retirement benefits of 40 public lawyers.
In his letter to Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, Aguirre said the DOJ agrees with the ruling of the lower court “that a judicial declaration on the presence of ambiguity, which necessitates an interpretation, should have been sought by way of an action for declaratory relief.”
“In the absence of the same, DBM-Government Service Insurance System Circular 2013-1 and Budget Circular 2013-1, which recognize the rights of PAO [Public Attorneys Office] retirees to gratuities as the same as those of their NPS [National Prosecution Service] counterparts, stand,” Aguirre said.
Out of the 40 lawyers that would benefit for the ruling, five have already passed away.
It can be recalled that in its ruling on February 14, the trial court nullified the DBM’s Legal Services Opinion 14 issued on November 2015.
The said opinion stated that lawyers from the PAO are not entitled to the same retirement package as that of the prosecutors and judges.
This prompted PAO to seek redress from the court, insisting that under Section 5 of the PAO law, a public lawyer shall have the same qualifications for appointment, rank, salaries, allowances and retirement privileges as those of a public prosecutor.
The court upheld the PAO’s position, saying they are entitled to the same retirement privileges as those of their counterparts in the NPS under the PAO law (Republic Act [RA] 9406) and that reference shall be made on the retirement benefits of the prosecutors in the NPS presently governed by the Napross law (RA 11071).
The court said the PAO retirees “should comfortably enjoy their retirement in the relative security of a regular monthly pension and should not be denied benefit and left without means of sustenance.”
The court added that it is only fitting that a public servant who served for a great number of years be rewarded.