SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 210328, January 30, 2017
GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM (GSIS), Petitioner, v. APOLINARIO C. PAUIG, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
PERALTA, J.:
This is a Petition for Review which petitioner Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) filed assailing the Decision1 dated July 15, 2013 and Order2 dated December 4, 2013 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Cabagan, Isabela, Branch 22, in Civil Case No. 22-1035.
The factual and procedural antecedents of the case are as follows:
Respondent Apolinario C. Pauig (Pauig) was the Municipal Agriculturist of the Municipality of San Pablo, Isabela. He started in the government service on February 12, 1964 as Emergency Laborer on casual status. Later, he became a temporary employee from July 5, 1972 to July 18, 1977. On July 19, 1977, he became a permanent employee, and on August 1, 1977, he became a GSIS member, as indicated in his Information for Membership.
Thereafter, on November 3, 2004, he retired from the service upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of sixty-five (65) years old. But when he filed his retirement papers with the GSIS-Cauayan, the latter processed his claim based on a Record of Creditable Service (RCS) and a Total Length of Service of only twenty-seven (27) years. Disagreeing with the computation, Pauig wrote a letter-complaint to the GSIS, arguing that his first fourteen (14) years in the government service had been. erroneously omitted.
The GSIS ratiocinated that Pauig's first fourteen (14) years in the government were excluded in the computation of his retirement benefits because during those years, no premium payments were remitted to it. Under the Premium-Based Policy of the GSIS which took effect on August 1, 2003, only periods of service where premium payments were made and duly remitted to the System shall be included in the computation of retirement benefits. Aggrieved, Pauig filed a case before the RTC of Cabagan, Isabela.
On July 15, 2013, the RTC rendered a Decision, the decretal portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the court hereby renders judgment as follows:
- Declaring the Premium-Based Policy under Resolution No. 90 and Policy and Procedural Guidelines No. 171-03, both dated April 2, 2013, of the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) as in accordance with law and thus lawful, valid, binding and effective.
- Directing the GSIS to credit under Policy and Procedural Guidelines No. 171-03 the casual/temporary service from February 10, 1964 to July 18, 1977 in government of the plaintiff Apolinario C. Pauig as creditable service for retirement purposes upon payment of the premium contributions and interest thereon in accordance with the provisions thereof.
No pronouncement as to Damages and Cost.
SO DECIDED, this 15th day of July 2013 at the Judge's Chamber, Cabagan, Isabela.3
2. Services, for purposes of computing all the benefits that a member may secure from GSIS shall mean only such services rendered by a member in any government agency, whether national, local or government-owned or controlled corporation under the following conditions:
The member was receiving a fixed basic monthly compensation for such services.
The corresponding monthly premium contributions were timely and currently remitted or paid to the GSIS.
SEC. 4. Scope of Application of System.—Regular membership in the system shall be compulsory upon —
(a) All regularly and permanently appointed employees of the Government of the Commonwealth;
(b) All regular and permanent employees of the National Assembly;
(c) All members of the judiciary;
(d) All officers and enlisted men of the Regular Force, Philippine Army;
(e) All regular and permanent employees of the Metropolitan Water District;
(f) Regular and permanent employees of other Government boards or agencies, except the University of the Philippines and the Government-owned or controlled business corporations; and
(g) Those subject to the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty hundred and fifty, as amended, excluding the persons employed to take the place of teachers on maternity or sick leave, or otherwise employed temporarily: Provided, That any provincial, city or municipal government, or the University of the Philippines or any other corporation owned or controlled by the Government, shall have the option of joining the System, and if it so joins, the membership shall be compulsory upon all its permanent and regular employees, and it shall pay its share of the contribution of three per centum per annum of its employees' basic annual salaries or compensation, plus the extra premiums, if any, due to extra hazards of the member's occupation: Provided, further, That it shall be compulsory for the municipal, city and provincial governments to pay the required government contributions corresponding to the employees now subject to the provisions of Act Numbered Three thousand and fifty, as amended: And provided, finally, That membership shall not include (a) officers or personnel detailed from the Army, the Navy, or the Civil Service of the United States, and (b) employees who are not citizens of the United States or of the Philippines.7
SEC. 4. Scope of application of System.—
(a) Membership in the System shall be compulsory upon all regularly and permanently appointed employees, including those whose tenure of office is fixed or limited by law; upon all teachers except only those who are substitutes; and upon all regular officers and enlisted men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines: Provided, That it shall be compulsory upon regularly and permanently appointed employees of a municipal government below first class only if and when said government has joined the System under such terms and conditions as the latter may prescribe.
(b) Membership in the System shall be appointed with an elective official of the National Government or of a local government that is a member of the System: Provided, That if he desires to come within the purview of this Act, he must notify the System in writing to that effect: Provided, Further, That he complies with the requirements of the System and that he is in the Government service when his insurance takes effect: And provided, finally, That after his admission into the System he shall be entitled to life insurance benefit for which he shall pay either one per centum or three per centum of his monthly salary, depending on the kind of insurance selected by him, and his employer shall likewise pay for him the same amount.8
Section 2. Subsection (a) of Section four of the same Act, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:
"(a) Membership in the System shall be compulsory upon all appointive officers and employees in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, including those whose tenure of office is fixed or limited by the Constitution or by law; upon all regular employees of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society and the Philippine National Red Cross, and other employees of the government-owned or controlled corporations; upon all regular officers and enlisted men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and upon all elective officials receiving compensation as defined in this Act: Provided, That casual, substitute, or temporary employees and substitute or temporary teachers shall be hereby covered for purposes of term insurance for two thousand seven hundred and fifty pesos if appointed for a period of not less than two months, the term insurance to be effective in the month next following the month in which the premium prescribed in Section five hereof has been paid: And provided, further, That said casual, substitute or temporary employees and substitute or temporary teachers shall not be covered by the retirement insurance plan provided for in this Act: Provided, finally, That the term 'appointive officer and employee' as used herein shall include those extended permanent appointments and provisional appointments as used in the civil service law but excluding those without any kind of civil service eligibility when so required."9
B. COVERAGE OF THE SYSTEM
Section 3. Compulsory Coverage. Membership in the System shall be compulsory for all permanent employees below 60, years of age upon appointment to permanent status: Provided, That upon approval by the President of the Philippines and subject to the availability of funds, compulsory coverage may be extended to non-permanent employees of national government agencies and local governments, either simultaneously in phases or by groups; Provided, Further, That non-permanent employees of government-owned or control corporations may be covered upon approval by the System upon request of their respective Governing Boards; Provided, Finally, that the coverage of temporary employees under R.A. No. 4968 shall remain in force.10
B. MEMBERSHIP IN THE GSIS
SEC. 3. Compulsory Membership. - Membership in the GSIS shall be compulsory for all employees receiving compensation who have not reached the compulsory retirement age, irrespective of employment status, except members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, subject to the condition that they must settle first their financial obligation with the GSIS, and contractuals who have no employer and employee relationship with the agencies they serve.
Except for the members of the judiciary and constitutional commissions who shall have life insurance only, all members of the GSIS shall have life insurance, retirement, and all other social security protections such as disability, survivorship, separation, and unemployment benefits.12
Endnotes:
* Designated Additional Member per Special Order No. 2416, dated January 4, 2017.
1 Penned by Judge Felipe Jesus Torio II; rollo, pp. 27-32.
2Id. at 44.
3Rollo, p. 32.
4Government Service Insurance System v. Civil Service Commission, 315 Phil. 159, 171 (1995).
5Santiago v. Commission on Audit, 276 Phil. 127, 136 (1991).
6Supra note 4.
7 Commonwealth Act No. 186, Entitled An Act To Create And Establish A "Government Service Insurance System," To Provide For Its Administration, And To Appropriate The Necessary Funds Therefor, November 14, 1936. (Emphasis ours)
8 Commonwealth Act No. 186, as amended by Republic Act No. 660, June 16, 1951.
9 Republic Act No. 4968, Entitled An Act Amending Further Commonwealth Act Numbered One Hundred and Eighty-Six, As Amended, June 17, 1967. (Emphasis ours)
10 Presidential Decree No. 1146, Entitled Amending, Expanding, Increasing and Integrating The Social Security and Insurance Benefits of Government Employees and Facilitating The Payment Thereof Under Commonwealth Act No. 186, As Amended, And For Other Purposes, May 31, 1977.
11Chua v. Civil Service Commission, 282 Phil. 970, 982 (1992).
12 Republic Act No. 8291, Entitled An Act Amending Presidential Decree No. 1146, As Amended, Expanding And Increasing The Coverage And Benefits Of The Government Service Insurance System, Instituting Reforms Therein And For Other Purposes, May 30, 1997. (Emphasis ours)
13Supra note 4.
14Id.
15Fetalino v. COMELEC, 700 Phil. 129, 149 (2012).