An Act to Amend Sections Eight Hundred and Seventy-Two and Eight Hundred and Seventy-Four of the Administrative Code, Relative to the Sources of the Pension and Retirement Fund and the Life Pension of the Officers and Enlisted Men of the Constabulary

March 8, 1924

ACT NO. 3157

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO AND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, RELATIVE TO THE SOURCES OF THE PENSION AND RETIREMENT FUND AND THE LIFE PENSION OF THE OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF THE CONSTABULARY

SECTION 1. Section eight hundred and seventy-two of the Administrative Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 872. Sources of pension and retirement fund. — To this fund shall accrue all fines and forfeitures imposed by summary courts, all fines imposed upon commissioned officers under the authority of this chapter, and three per centum of the pay of every officer and two per centum of the pay of every enlisted man of the Constabulary, which shall be deducted from said pay monthly. TIHCcA

"All such fines, forfeitures, deductions, and retentions shall be noted and retained on the pay roll and deposited with the Insular Treasurer: Provided, That the working capital of the Constabulary pension and retirement fund shall always be maintained at the minimum sum of two hundred and fifty thousand pesos, including business investments. In the event of the total receipts of said fund from all sources above mentioned falling below said sum, the Insular Treasurer is hereby authorized to advance, at the beginning of each fiscal year, out of any available balance in the Insular Treasury, as a loan to said fund, such sum as may be necessary to cover the difference."

SECTION 2. Section eight hundred and seventy-four of the Administrative Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 874. Life pension. — Any officer or enlisted man of the Philippine Constabulary who has had twenty or more years of actual and satisfactory service and has attained to the age of fifty-five years or who, without having reached said age, is on account of his physical or mental condition prevented from continuing in active service, may take advantage of the benefits of this Act and retire from active service, upon approval by the Governor-General, and when so retired he shall receive until his death from the fund above specified an annual pension equal to two and one-half per centum of the total pay received annually by him up to date: Provided, That service rendered by an officer as enlisted man shall be taken into account for the purposes of the retirement provided for in this section: Provided, further, That with the exception of the Chief of Constabulary, no officer shall be retained in active service after having attained to the age of sixty-four years: And provided, finally, That the annual pension of a retired officer shall in no case exceed seventy-five per centum of the total pay received by him on the date of his retirement.

"Subject to the same condition and in accordance with the same rules and limitations, an enlisted man shall be entitled to retirement and to a similar annual compensation from the same fund, based on the total current pay and allowances received annually by him at the time he is retired, but in no case to exceed seventy per centum of such total current pay and allowances for each year.

"Upon the death of an officer or enlisted man who has either been retired or would, at the time when he died, have been entitled by reason of length of service to the retirement provided for in the two preceding paragraphs, the surviving legitimate or acknowledged children of such officer or enlisted man or his lawful wife, in case he left no children, shall be entitled to receive fifty per centum of the pension to which such officer or enlisted man would have been entitled if he had not died: Provided, That no payment shall be made as pension to children after they have attained to the age of eighteen years or have married, nor to the widow if she remarries. For the purposes of this Act, all officers and enlisted man still residing in the Philippine Islands who are at present in the enjoyment of a life pension and who lack five years or more, from and after the date of the approval of this Act, before completion of the fifty-fifth year of life, and who are still in a physical and mental condition for active service, may be called into active service if such officers or enlisted men agree, as vacancies in the positions left by them occur, and shall take their place on the roster, if officers, as if they had been in active service during the time of their retirement."

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, March 8, 1924.