Philippine Army Retirement System Act

Retirement eligibility under the Act applies to an officer or enlisted man of the Philippine Army.
In computing length of service for this Act, service rendered in the Philippine Constabulary as either a commissioned officer or enlisted man is given full credit.
The Act includes eligibility computations based on continuous satisfactory service and required ages and service periods.

Officers and enlisted men must meet the Act’s fixed age and service eligibility rules to retire.
Eligibility for retirement includes a rule requiring minimum continuous satisfactory service and an age threshold.
Eligibility also includes a rule requiring either a maximum continuous satisfactory service period or an age threshold with a minimum continuous service requirement.
For service credit computation purposes, Philippine Constabulary service is fully counted when computing length of service.

Under the Act’s minimum eligibility, retirement requires thirty years of continuous satisfactory service and fifty-five years of age.
After attaining minimum eligibility, an officer or enlisted man has the option to retire from active service, but that retirement requires approval of the President.
Under the Act’s maximum eligibility, retirement applies after forty years of continuous satisfactory service, or upon attaining sixty-four years of age with a minimum of fifteen years continuous service.
Upon reaching maximum eligibility, retirement is compulsory, unless the President determines that continued service is required for the good of the service.
After completing twenty years of satisfactory continuous service, an officer or enlisted man may, at his own request, be retired from active service.

Retirement after twenty years of satisfactory continuous service results in a gratuity payable in one lump sum.
The gratuity equals two per centum (2%) of the average annual salary for each year of satisfactory continuous service.
Average annual salary is defined as the average annual base pay received during the last three years of service.

When retired under the Act under the conditions referenced in Section 3(a) and (b), an officer or enlisted man receives annual retirement pay until death.
Annual retirement pay equals two per centum (2%) of the basic pay received on the date of retirement for each year of active service.
The computed annual retirement pay is capped at not exceeding fifty per centum (50%) for commissioned officers and sixty per centum (60%) for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, of the officer’s or enlisted man’s total base pay on the retirement date.
The Act excludes applying the retirement-pay rate to officers or enlisted men separated through Classification Boards, Courts Martial, or due to their own misconduct or resignation.

Regular Force Philippine Army personnel in service may elect to waive full benefits of the Act.
The waiver option allows the person to receive a refund of contributions and a reduced retirement pay on the same rate provided in Section 4.
The waiver is limited to the number of years of active service after December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and thirty-six.
The waiver option provides a choice: the officer or enlisted man may instead obtain full benefits of the Act.
If obtaining full benefits, the person is entitled to a refund of contributions, computed by eligibility timing:
- Those eligible for retirement within twenty years or more from January first, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven receive a refund of one hundred per centum (100%) of the contributions.
- Those eligible within fifteen years receive a refund of eighty per centum (80%).
- Those eligible within ten years receive a refund of sixty per centum (60%).
- Those eligible within five years receive a refund of forty per centum (40%).
The Act bases refund entitlements on the contributions referenced in Section 2 of the Act providing for liquidation of the Philippine Constabulary Pension and Retirement Fund.

Officers and enlisted men of the Regular Force, Philippine Army, now drawing retirement pay and residing in the Philippines may be called by the President for active service.
During such active service, the called officer or enlisted man is entitled to receive the full pay of his rank or grade.
Refusal by an officer or enlisted man to perform the ordered active service terminates the person’s right to further participation in the retirement fund, provided the person is physically fit for service.
Physical fitness for purposes of the refusal consequence is determined by the Chief of Staff with the approval of the President.
Retirement pay ceases upon return to active service, failure to return when ordered by competent authority, or employment by the National, provincial, city, or municipal governments with compensation equal to or more than the amount of retirement pay.
If government employment compensation is less than retirement pay, the retirement pay is adjusted so the officer or enlisted man receives the difference from the Retirement Fund.

The Act directs that sufficient amounts be annually included under “Purpose and Personnel” of the annual appropriation of the Philippine Army to cover payment under Section 3.
The Act makes available, for carrying out retirement-benefit payments under the Act, the sum appropriated as aid to the Philippine Army Pension Funds in the nineteen hundred and thirty-seven appropriations for the Philippine Army.
The funding rules focus on ensuring the annual appropriations cover the retirement benefits under the Act.

The Act takes effect upon approval on November 14, 1936.
No separability, sunset, or repealing clause appears in the operative provisions provided by the Act.