Philippine Army Retirement Act

November 14, 1936

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 190

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR THE PHILIPPINE ARMY AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS THEREFOR

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Army Retirement Act".

SECTION 2. In computing the length of service of an officer or enlisted man for purposes of this Act, service rendered by him as commissioned officer or as enlisted man in the Philippine Constabulary shall be given full credit.

SECTION 3. The ages and periods of service establishing eligibility for retirement under this Act are fixed as follows:

(a) Minimum: thirty years of continuous satisfactory service and fifty-five years of age. Upon attaining this eligibility, an officer or enlisted man has the option of retiring from active service with the approval of the President.

(b) Maximum: forty years of continuous satisfactory service or upon attaining sixty-four years of age with a minimum of fifteen years continuous service. Upon reaching this period of eligibility, retirement shall be compulsory unless the continued service of the individual are, in the opinion of the President, required for the good of the service.

Upon the completion of twenty years satisfactory continuous service, an officer or enlisted man may, at his own request be retired from active service. In such case he shall receive a gratuity equivalent to two per centum of his average annual salary, as hereinafter defined, for each year of satisfactory continuous service. Such gratuity shall be payable in one lump sum. The Government retains the right to grant or withhold retirement privileges under the provisions of this section. Average annual salary is defined as the average annual base pay received during the last three years of service.

All officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Army now drawing retirement pay and residing in the Philippines may at any time be called by the President for active service, during the period of which service they shall be entitled to receive the full pay of their rank or grade. Refusal on the part of any officer or enlisted man to perform such service shall terminate his right to further participation in the benefit of this fund, provided he is physically fit for service, such fitness to be determined by the Chief of Staff, with the approval of the President.

Any officer or enlisted man who is receiving the benefits of retirement pay under this or any other Act shall cease to receive such retirement pay upon his return to active service, or his failure to return to the active service when ordered to do so by competent authority, or when he is employed by the National, provincial, city, or municipal governments, with compensation equal to or more than the amount of his retirement pay; but if his compensation from such employment is less than his retirement pay then he shall be paid the difference from the Retirement Fund.

SECTION 4. When an officer or an enlisted man is retired under the provisions of section three (a) and (b) above, he shall receive until his death an annual retirement pay equal to two per centum of the basic pay received by him on the date of retirement for each year's active service rendered by him but not exceeding fifty per centum in case of commissioned officers and sixty per centum in case of enlisted men and non-commissioned officers of the total base pay received by him on the date of retirement: Provided, That this rate of retirement pay shall not be applied to officers or enlisted men separated from the service through the action of Classification Boards, Courts Martial, or as a result of his own misconduct, or resignation: Provided, further, That any officer or enlisted man of the Regular Force, Philippine Army, now in the service may elect to waive the full benefits of this Act and receive in lieu thereof the refund of the contributions mentioned in section two of the Act providing for the liquidation of the Pension and Retirement Fund of the Philippine Constabulary and a reduced retirement pay on the same rate herein provided, but only for the number of years of active service after December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, or to obtain the full benefits of this Act, in which case he shall be entitled to refund of the contributions above-mentioned only in the amount to be determined as follows: For those eligible for retirement under the provisions of this Act within twenty years or more from January first, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, a refund of one hundred per centum of said contributions; for those eligible within fifteen years, eighty per centum; for those eligible for ten years, sixty per centum; and for those eligible within five years, forty per centum.

SECTION 5. There shall be annually included under "Purpose 1 — Personnel" of the annual appropriation of the Philippine Army, sufficient amounts to cover the payment under section three hereof.

The sum appropriated as aid to the Philippine Army Pension Funds in the nineteen hundred and thirty-seven appropriations for the Philippine Army is hereby made available for carrying out the purpose of this Act relating to the payment of retirement benefits.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, November 14, 1936.