SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 232522, August 28, 2019
CARISSA E. SANTO, PETITIONER, v. UNIVERSITY OF CEBU, RESPONDENT.
D E C I S I O N
LAZARO-JAVIER, J.:
Optional RetirementIn April 2013, she applied for optional retirement; she was then only forty-two (42) years old but had already completed sixteen (16) years of service with respondent. The latter approved her application and computed her optional retirement pay at fifteen (15) days for every year of service per provisions of the Faculty Manual. She asserted, though, that her retirement pay should be equivalent to 22.5 days per year of service in accordance with Article 2876 of the Labor Code. Respondent refused to accept her computation. Thus, she initiated the complaint7 below for payment of retirement benefits under Article 2878 of the Labor Code, damages and attorney's fees against respondent.
A permanent employee may, upon reaching his fifty-fifth (55th) birthday or after having completed at least fifteen (15) years of service, opt for an early retirement (which is a resignation with separation pay) considering that separation before reaching 15 years of full-time service does not entitle an employee to any separation pay, except that which is contributed by the University to PAG-IBIG), and shall be entitled to the retirement pay equivalent to a total of fifteen (15) days for every year of service based on the average monthly salary to the employee computed for the past three years.5 (emphasis supplied)
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of complaint against respondent UC ordering the latter to pay complainant her retirement benefits plus 10% thereof as Attorney's fees, in the total amount of P402,824.43 (P366,204.48 Retirement benefit + 36,620.40 Attorney's fees).
All others claims are dismissed for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.13
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, respondents' appeal is given due course. The Decision of the Labor Arbiter is hereby REVERSED, SET ASIDE and VACATED and a new one entered ordering respondent University of Cebu to pay complainant the sum of P192,401.97 representing her optional retirement benefits plus whatever additional financial assistance it has offered the complainant. x x x.17
Retirement PayClearly, the Faculty Manual intends to grant retirement benefits to qualified employees. It entitles an employee to retire after fifteen (15) years of service or upon reaching the age of fifty-five (55) and accordingly collect retirement benefits. It even mandates compliance with RA 764136 such that when the computation of its retirement plan is found to be lower than what the law requires, respondent is bound to pay the deficiency.
Compulsory Retirement
Retirement from the service of the University shall be compulsory upon the regular employee's attainment of his sixtieth (60) birthday or twenty (20) years of service, whichever comes first, provided: that depending on the exigency of the service, the University has the option to extend the service of the employee concerned beyond the retirement period on a year-to-year basis.
Upon retirement, an employee shall be entitled to the retirement pay in an amount equal to that which is required by law or that granted by the PAG-IBIG and the PERAA Retirement Plan, whichever is higher. x x x.
Optional Retirement
A permanent employee may, upon reaching his fifty-fifth (55th) birthday or after having completed at least fifteen (15) years of service, opt for an early retirement (which is a resignation with separation pay), considering that separation before reaching 15 years of full-time service does not entitle an employee to any separation pay, except that which is contributed by the University to PAG-IBIG) (sic), and shall be entitled to the retirement pay equivalent to a total of fifteen (15) days for every year of service based on the average monthly salary of the employee computed for the past three years.34
Retirement Plan
The University has insured the retirement pay of its employees with the PERAA Retirement Plan and continued with the PAG-IBIG law (RA 7742). For purposes of computing the retirement pay, only the University's PERAA and PAG-IBIG contribution and its increments shall be considered, as mandated by DOLE's 1996 Guidelines for the Effective Implementation of RA 7641, the retirement pay law. In case the PERAA and PAG-IBIG retirement pay is higher than the computed retirement pay the institution grants herein, the employee gets the total amount granted by the retirement plan under PERAA and/or PAG-IBIG. However, in case the retirement pay from PERAA and/or PAG-IBIG is lower than the institutional computation as mentioned above, the University shall provide the deficiency or difference as required by DOLE's 1996 Guidelines for the Effective Implementation of the Retirement Pay Law (RA 7641). This policy applies likewise to the computation of the early retirement pay.35 (emphasis supplied)
Art. 287. Retirement. - Any employee may be retired upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining agreement or other applicable employment contract.Similarly, respondent's Faculty Manual provides for two (2) types of retirements: 1) Optional Retirement; and 2) Compulsory Retirement. To be entitled to optional retirement benefits, an employee must have rendered service for at least fifteen (15) years or must have reached fifty-five (55) years of age. To be entitled to compulsory retirement benefits, an employee ri1ust have rendered at least twenty (20) years of service or must have reached s1ixty (60) years of age, whichever comes first. The Faculty Manual further provides that the compulsory retirement benefit shall be in an amount equal to that which is required by law or that granted by the PAG-IBIG and the PERAA Retirement Plan, whichever is higher. For optional retirement benefit however, it shall be equivalent to fifteen (15) days per year of service.41
In case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned under existing laws and any collective bargaining agreement and other agreements: provided, however, that an employee's retirement benefits under any collective bargaining and other agreements shall not be less than those provided herein.
In the absence of a retirement plan or agreement plan providing for retirement benefits of employees in the establishment, an employee upon reaching the age of sixty (60) years or more, but not beyond sixty-five (65) years which is hereby declared as the compulsory retirement age, who has served at least five (5) years in the said establishment, may retire and shall be entitled to retirement pay equivalent to at least one-half (1/2) month salary for every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year.
Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term one-half (1/2) month salary shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days of service incentive leaves. x x x (emphasis supplied)
Endnotes:
1 Penned by Associate Justice Marilyn B. Lagura-Yap with Associate Justices Gabriel T. Ingles and Germano Francisco D. Legaspi concurring, Rollo, pp. 39-50.
2 Pursuant to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Advisory No. 1, Series of 2015, Renumbering of the Labor Code of the Philippines, As Amended, Art. 287 has been renumbered to Art. 302.
3 Entitled "An Act Amending Article 287 of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, by Providing for Retirement Pay to Qualified Private Sector Employees in the Absence of Any Retirement Plan in the Establishment."
4Rollo, pp. 51-53.
5Id. at 44-45.
6 Art. 302 [287]. Retirement. - Any employee may be retired upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining agreement or other applicable employment contract.
In case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned under existing laws and any collective bargaining agreement and other agreements: Provided, however, that an employee's retirement benefits under any collective bargaining and other agreements shall not be less than those provided therein.
In the absence of a retirement plan or agreement providing for retirement benefits of employees in the establishment, an employee upon reaching the age of sixty (60) years or more, but not beyond sixty-five (65) years which is hereby declared the compulsory retirement age, who has served at least five (5) years in the said establishment, may retire and shall be entitled to retirement pay equivalent to at least one-half (1/2) month salary for every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year.
Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term one-half (1/2) month salary shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days of service incentive leaves.
7Rollo, pp. 54-55.
8 Now Article 302 of the Labor Code, as renumbered.
9Rollo, p. 155.
10Id. at 112-119.
11 Should be Article 302, as per LABOR CODE (Amended and Renumbered), dated July 21, 2015.
12Rollo, p. 116.
13Id. at 119.
14Id. at 250-256.
15 Should be Article 302, as per LABOR CODE (Amended and Renumbered), dated July 21, 2015.
16Rollo, p. 254.
17Id. at 255.
18 Petition for Certiorari; Rollo, pp. 266-286.
19 Comment; Rollo, pp. 287-303.
20 Penned by Associate Justice Marilyn B. Lagura-Yap with Associate Justices Gabriel T. Ingles and Germano Francisco D. Legaspi concurring, Rollo, pp. 39-50.
21Rollo, pp. 39-50
22Id. at 45.
23 Should be Article 302, as per LABOR CODE (Amended and Renumbered), dated July 21, 2015.
24Rollo, p. 46.
25Id. at 51-53.
26 Should be Article 302, as per LABOR CODE (Amended and Renumbered), dated July 21, 2015.
27Rollo, p. 26.
28Id. at 340-351.
29 Should be Article 302, as per LABOR CODE (Amended and Renumbered), dated July 21, 2015.
30Rollo, p. 45.
31 Should be Article 302, as per LABOR CODE (Amended and Renumbered), dated July 21, 2015.
32Abanto v. Board of Directors of the Development Bank of the Philippines, G.R. Nos. 207281 & 210922, March 5, 2019.
33Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. v. Sagaysay, 769 Phil. 897, 906 (2015).
34Rollo, p. 142.
35Rollo pp. 29 and 142.
36 Entitled "An Act Amending Article 287 of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, by Providing for Retirement Pay to Qualified Private Sector Employees in the Absence of Any Retirement Plan in the Establishment."
37Fortune Medicare, Inc., v. Amorin, 729 Phil. 484, 494 (2014).
38C.F. Sharp Crew Management, Inc. v. Legal Heirs of Repiso, 780 Phil. 645, 668 (2016).
39 Now Article 302, as renumbered.
40 One-half (1/2) month salary means 22.5 days: 15 days plus 2.5 days representing one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th month pay and the remaining 5 days for service incentive leave; see Elegir v. Philippine Airlines, Inc., 691 Phil. 58, 73 (2012).
41Rollo, p. 142.
42 G.R. No. 223795, April 3, 2019.
43 Supra note 40.
44 See Sta. Catalina College and Sr. Loreta Oranza v. NLRC, 461 Phil. 720, 734 (2003).
45 See Cainta Catholic School v. Cainta Catholic School Employees Union, 523 Phil. 134, 150 (2006); Pantranco North Express, Inc. v. NLRC, 328 Phil. 470, 482-483 (1996); Progressive Development Corporation v. NLRC, 398 Phil. 433, 437 (2000); and Philippine Airlines, Inc. v. Airline Pilots Association of the Phils., 424 Phil. 356, 363 (2002).
46Progressive Development Corporation v. NLRC, 398 Phil. 433, 437 (2000).
47Pantranco North Express, Inc. v. NLRC, 328 Phil. 470, 482-483 (1996).
48Cainta Catholic School v. Cainta Catholic School Employees Union, 523 Phil. 134, 152 (2006).
49Id. at 151-152.
50Id.