Marcos signs law on adjusted benefits of DFA retirees
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed a law adjusting the monthly benefits of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) retirees.
Republic Act No. 12181, or the “Adjusted DFA Retirement Benefits Act,” was signed by Marcos on May 2 and uploaded to the Official Gazette on Monday.
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The law covers retired DFA officers and employees who are receiving monthly pensions from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and those who opted to retire under RA 1616, provided they are Filipino citizens, have reached 65 years of age, and served the DFA for at least 15 years at the time of retirement.
Under the law, retirees receiving monthly pensions shall receive a Monthly Pension Differential (MPD).
“The MPD shall be the difference between the adjusted monthly pension computed by the DFA and the actual monthly pension provided by the GSIS to the DFA retiree, to be multiplied by the adjustment factor: Provided, That, upon the effectivity of this Act, the adjustment factor shall be equivalent to fifty percent (50%) which may be subject to review after five (5) years of implementation,” it read.
The MPD shall be computed as follows:
[Adjusted Monthly Pension – Actual GSIS Monthly Pension] x Adjustment Factor]
“The adjusted monthly pension is equal to the product of the monthly salary of the active DFA personnel holding the same rank last held by the retiree, based on the updated salary schedule, multiplied by two and one-half percent (2.5%) and the retiree’s recorded creditable service in the DFA: Provided, That for the first five (5) years of the implementation of this Act, the monthly salary corresponding to Salary Grade Step 1 of the fourth tranche of Republic Act No. 11466, also known as the ‘Salary Standardization Law of 2019’, shall serve as the basis for computing the adjusted monthly pension,” it also read.
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Meanwhile, DFA retirees who opted to retire under RA 1616 shall receive a monthly gratuity benefit equivalent to no more than fifty percent of the MPD received by other DFA retirees who retired in the same year and held the same rank.
The law also stated that five years after the effectivity of this Act, and every five years thereafter, the MPD may be adjusted as long as the funds collected by the DFA under Executive Order No. 906, series of 2010, are sufficient to finance the said adjustment.
“Any benefit granted under this Act shall not, in whole or in part, be subject to income tax, attachment, execution, forfeiture, or retention under any legal or equitable proceeding, nor shall any lien of any kind or under any consideration be imposed thereon,” it also said.
In the event that the DFA retiree dies, the surviving legal spouse (unless he or she remarries) and qualified dependent children—especially those 18 or older with a mental or physical disability that makes them fully dependent—will receive survivorship benefits.
These benefits will be up to 50 percent of the MPD the retiree was receiving or entitled to, following the rules under Republic Act No. 8291 and other relevant laws and regulations.
