Case Digest (G.R. No. 161357)
Facts:
Elena P. Dycaico, G.R. No. 161357, November 30, 2005, Supreme Court En Banc, Callejo, Sr., J., writing for the Court.Bonifacio S. Dycaico became an SSS member on January 24, 1980 and in his SSS Form RS‑1 designated the petitioner, Elena P. Dycaico, and their eight children as beneficiaries; at the time of that designation the couple lived together as husband and wife without having contracted civil marriage. Bonifacio was considered retired in June 1989 and began receiving a monthly pension; he later married the petitioner on January 6, 1997 and died on June 19, 1997.
After his death the petitioner applied for a survivor’s pension from the Social Security System (SSS) and was denied on the ground that under Section 12‑B(d) of Republic Act No. 8282 the primary beneficiaries entitled to a retired member’s survivor’s pension are those who qualified "as of the date of his retirement"; because the petitioner was not legally married to Bonifacio at the time of his retirement she was not a primary beneficiary and therefore not entitled to survivorship pension. The petitioner filed a petition with the Social Security Commission (SSC) on July 9, 2001, which affirmed the denial by relying on the statutory definitions of "primary beneficiaries" and "dependents" in Section 8 of RA 8282 and treating Bonifacio’s earlier designation of the petitioner as void.
The petitioner brought the matter to the Court of Appeals, which in a Decision dated April 15, 2003 (CA‑G.R. SP No. 69632) dismissed her petition and affirmed the SSC Resolution of February 6, 2002; the CA denied her motion for reconsideration in a Resolution dated December 15, 2003. The petitioner filed a petition for review under Rule 45 in this Court seeking reversal of the CA judgment and the SSC ruling. In July 2005 the Court required supplemental comments on whet...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does the proviso "as of the date of his retirement" in Section 12‑B(d) of Republic Act No. 8282 violate the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process?
- In light of the foregoing, may petitioner Elena P. Dycaico, who married the retired member after his retirement and who was designated as beneficiary in his SSS Form RS‑1, claim surv...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)