Case Digest (G.R. No. 217949)
Facts:
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) v. Reynaldo P. Palm iery, G.R. No. 217949, February 20, 2019, Supreme Court Third Division, Reyes, A., Jr., J., writing for the Court.Reynaldo P. Palm iery began government service on May 2, 1961 as a laborer and retired from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) on January 1, 1987 after more than 25 years, receiving gratuity and contribution refunds totaling Php 250,014.31 under R.A. No. 1616. He re-entered government service on January 2, 1987 at the Social Security System (SSS) and retired as Deputy Administrator effective June 1, 1994, taking a five-year lump-sum pension under R.A. No. 660, netting Php 224,836.73.
In July 1998 Palm iery joined the GSIS Board of Trustees and shortly thereafter became Executive Vice-President. Beginning July 11, 2001 he refunded to GSIS the retirement benefits he had previously received (total refunds amounted to Php 920,566.72) and requested suspension of his monthly pension. He retired upon compulsory age on May 28, 2005 and on May 14, 2010 applied for retirement benefits under R.A. No. 8291, seeking full credit for service from July 1, 1961 to May 28, 2005 (approx. 38 years).
The GSIS Claims Department rejected his application in a June 3, 2010 letter, crediting only service after his re-entry in 1998 and offering to return the amounts he had refunded. Palm iery exhausted internal remedies: he petitioned the GSIS Committee on Claims (denied), then the GSIS Office of the Corporate Secretary, and finally the GSIS Board of Trustees. The GSIS Board, by Decision dated February 28, 2013, dismissed his petition for lack of merit but ordered GSIS to refund the Php 920,566.72 he had returned, stating acceptance of refund would be deemed a constructive filing of the claim. The Board also relied on PPG No. 183-06 (Jan. 4, 2006), which, GSIS maintained, precludes crediting prior service for employees who re-entered after June 24, 1997 (effectivity of R.A. No. 8291).
Palm iery appealed to the Court of Appeals via Rule 43 petition. In a Decision dated January 21, 2015, the CA granted his petition, reversed and set aside the GSIS Board Decision, and directed GSIS to process retirement benefits based on his total government service. The CA held that C.A. No. 186, Sec. 12(g) (allowing full credit upon refund of previously received benefits) remained applicable as it had not been expressly repealed by later enactments and that retirement laws are social legislation to be liberally construed in favor of beneficiaries. The CA denied GSIS’s motion for reconsideration in a Resolution dated April 17, 2015.
GSIS filed a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 before the Supreme Court challenging the CA rulings, arguing that Section 10(b) of R.A. No. 8291 treats those who re-enter service after retirement as new entrants and excludes prior credited service where corresponding benefits have been awarded; GSIS also as...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Whether Reynaldo P. Palm iery is entitled to full credit of his prior years of government service in computing retirement benefits under R.A. No. 8291 after he refunded previously received retirement benefits.
- Whether the GSIS may rely on PPG No. 183-06 and its interpretation of R.A. No. 8291 to exclude Palm iery’s pre-reentry service from the computatio...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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