Request of Atty. Ma. Piedad B. Ferrer-Campaña, Deputy Clerk of Court and Reporter to Retire under RA 910

March 3, 2009

[A.M. No. 08-10-7-SC]

Sirs/Mesdames :

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of the Court En Banc dated March 3, 2009

"A.M. No. 08-10-7-SC — Re: Request of Atty. Ma. Piedad B. Ferrer-Campaña, Deputy Clerk of Court and Reporter to Retire under RA 910

Atty. Ma. Piedad B. Ferrer-Campaña addressed a letter dated October 9, 2008 to Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno where she requested permission to retire under Republic Act No. 910 (An Act to Provide for the Retirement of Justices of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals, for the Enforcement of the Provisions Hereof by the Government Service Insurance System, and to Repeal Commonwealth Act Numbered Five Hundred and Thirty-Six).

On October 21, 2008, the Court issued a Resolution which noted the letter of Atty. Campaña and referred the administrative matter to the Office of the Chief Attorney (OCAT) for comment within 30 days from notice.

In her Comment in compliance with the October 21, 2008 Resolution, Atty. Edna E. Diño, Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Attorney, recommended that the Court issue a Resolution that shall:

(1) Reiterate the Resolutions dated July 30, 1987 and July 3, 1990, which declared that all Court officials vested by En Banc Resolution or by law with judicial rank, salary and privileges shall retire under Republic Act No. 910 (RA 910), as amended; and aEcTDI

(2) Direct (a) the Fiscal Management and Budget Office (FMBO) to request the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to issue immediately the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) and the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) for retired Deputy Clerk of Court and Reporter Ma. Piedad Ferrer-Campaña and all other Court officials with judicial rank, salary and privileges, whose retirement gratuities have not yet been released by the DBM; and (b) the DRM, upon receipt of the requests for SARO and NCA, to immediately release the retirement pay pursuant to RA 910, as amended, of all the said retired Court officials.

The Chief Attorney relies on previous resolutions of this Court which has recognized the right of Court officials granted judicial rank, salary and privileges to retire under RA 910. Atty. Diño underscores the value of said resolutions as "legal acts or instruments which are deemed worthy to serve as rules or models for subsequent cases". She observes that the Court officials are in a peculiar situation that points to no other retirement law for them except RA 910, as amended. Hence, the Chief Attorney believes that withholding the benefits of RA 910 to Atty. Campaña and similar Court officials would deny them the equal protection of the law. aCHcIE

By analogy to Atty. Campaña's request, the Chief Attorney reproves the DBM's failure to release the gratuity benefits of retired Deputy Clerk of Court and Judicial Records Officer (JRO) Chief Teresita Dimaisip, who retired in December 2007. According to Atty. Diño, such nonchalance not only violates Section 5 (a) of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees enjoining all public officials to promptly act on letters, but also disregards resolutions of the Court allowing its officials to retire under RA 910. The Chief Attorney surmises that the DBM did not act on Atty. Dimaisip's letter on the assumption that only requests of Court officials granted judicial rank by law should be favorably acted upon to the exclusion of those granted judicial rank by "mere" Court resolution.

The Chief Attorney identifies the issue as "whether a Court resolution should be accorded the same weight in law so that the DBM and COA shall be duty-bound to respect and implement it in the same way as statutes of Congress". She invokes the Civil Code as authority in saying that "judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form part of the legal system of the Philippines". The Chief Attorney, likewise, cites the case "Re. Expiration of the Fixed Term of Office of Atty. Alauya, Office of the Jurisconsult of Zamboanga City, August 3, 2004",A.M. No. 11238-Ret. where the Court held that its decision, which includes Court resolutions, forms part of the laws of the land. IaHDcT

In a Manifestation dated December 10, 2008, Chief Attorney Diño informed the Court that the FMBO had furnished her office with a copy of a SARO dated December 4, 2004. The SARO, which pertains to the terminal leave and retirement gratuity due Atty. Campaña in the amount of Php4,021,893, has been signed by DBM Secretary Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. and transmitted to the FMBO for release. Nevertheless, the Chief Attorney reiterates the recommendations in her Comment.

The Chief Attorney's recommendations are well-taken.

On April 8, 1997, Atty. Ma. Piedad Ferrer-Campaña was appointed as Deputy Clerk of Court and Reporter, with the rank, privileges and salary of a Regional Trial Court Judge.

The basis of Atty. Campaña's judicial rank is the Court En Banc Resolution dated June 20, 1995. In said resolution, the Court approved the petition of various court officials for the grant of salary, rank and privileges of a Regional Trial Court Judge upon a memorandum dated March 21, 1995 issued by then Clerk of Court Luzviminda D. Puno. Said memorandum upheld the legality and propriety of the Court officials' request for judicial ranking, "provided the hierarchy of positions in the Court be maintained and all lawyer-officials under the same salary grade be accorded the same benefits". EDISaA

On August 3, 2004, the Court issued an En Banc Resolution which amended its June 20, 1995 Resolution, in light of the enactment of Republic Act No. 9282, which elevated the rank, category, salary, emoluments and other privileges of the Presiding Judge and Associate Justices of the Court of Tax Appeals to the same levels as those of the Presiding Justice and Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals, respectively. Consequently, the "judicial rank" of the Deputy Clerks of Court and Chiefs of Offices was raised to that of an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals.

Notably, this was not the first time that the Court bestowed "judicial rank" upon Court officials and, corollarily, allowed them to retire under RA 910.

As early as June 16, 1971, the Court had issued a Resolution appointing a Clerk of Court with the rank and privileges of a Judge of the Court of First Instance (CFI, now known as the Regional Trial Court).This was followed by the Resolution of June 14, 1974 whereby the Court vested upon two Division Clerks of Court the rank, salary and privileges of a CFI Judge. DEHcTI

In A.M. No. 11238-Ret. Re: Expiration of the Fixed Term of Office of Atty. Saaduddin A. Alauya, Office of the Jurisconsult, Zamboanga City,the Court had occasion to articulate the basis of its power to grant judicial rank to its officials, thus:

The mandate of fiscal autonomy, read with Section 6, Article VIII of the Constitution providing that the Supreme Court shall have "administrative supervision over all courts and personnel thereof",is the foundation of the authority of the Supreme Court to prescribe compensation or vest judicial ranking upon officials in the judiciary. ¹

The mandate of fiscal autonomy is provided for in Article VIII of the Constitution as follows:

Sec. 3. The judiciary shall enjoy fiscal autonomy. Appropriations for the Judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year and, after approval, shall be automatically and regularly released.

The fiscal autonomy enjoyed by the Judiciary and other constitutional bodies "contemplates a guarantee of full flexibility to allocate and utilize their resources with the wisdom and dispatch that their needs require. It recognizes the power and authority to ...fix rates of compensation not exceeding the highest rates authorized by law for compensation and pay plans of the government and allocate and disburse such sums as may be provided by law or prescribed by them in the course of the discharge of their functions.²

The exclusive authority of the Court under Section 6, Article VIII is reproduced in Section 20, Chapter 4, Book II of the Administrative Code of 1987. Although administrative supervision is fundamentally equated with the imposition of disciplinary measures, it underscores the inherent power of the Supreme Court to oversee all matters relating to the general concept of "administrative supervision".Such concept includes the determination of the salary of Members and personnel in the Judiciary, provided that its amount is within the limits of the law, with the end in view of encouraging the official or employee to perform his tasks and responsibilities in accordance with the stringent demands of judicial service. No other [branch] of the government may intrude into this judicial power without running afoul of the doctrine of separation of powers. ³ IcTCHD

On the basis of such judicial ranking, the Court has issued various resolutions acknowledging the right of its officials to retire and avail themselves of the benefits provided under RA 910.

By Resolutions dated July 30, 1987 and July 3, 1990, the Court permitted Clerk of Court I Vicente Bengzon, Jr. and Assistant Clerk of Court I Lourdes I. Ramirez, respectively, to retire under RA 910. More importantly, in its September 30, 2003 Resolution in A.M. No. 02-12-01-SC (Resolution Granting Automatic Permanent Disability Benefits to the Heirs of Justices and Judges Who Die in Actual Service),the Court construed the term privileges in "judicial rank, salary and privileges" to embrace entitlement of Court officials with judicial rank, salary and privileges to the lump sum permanent physical disability benefits provided for in Sections 2 and 3 of RA 910, as amended. caCTHI

In Re: Request of Retired Deputy Court Administrator Bernardo T. Ponferrada for Automatic Adjustment of His Retirement Benefits to Include Special Allowance Granted Under R.A. 9227, A.M. No. 11838-Ret., the Court En Banc in the Resolution dated December 9, 2008, recognized the Supreme Court's power to grant judicial rank to its officials by distinguishing the application of RA 9227 ⁴ to Court officials who are granted judicial rank by law from its application to those granted judicial rank by Court resolution. In said case, the Court enunciated that Court officials granted judicial rank by law are entitled to the benefits under RA 9227 as long as they are in the service. Upon retirement, their retirement benefits are computed under RA 910 according to the latest compensation they have received, including the benefits under RA 9227. They are not, however, entitled to receive adjustments in their monthly pension under Section 3-A ⁵ of RA 910.

On the other hand, those granted judicial rank by En Banc Resolution, without being a judge or justice in the Judiciary, are also given the benefits under RA 9227 as long as they are in the service. Likewise, upon their retirement, their retirement benefits are computed under RA 910 according to the latest compensation they have received, including the benefits under RA 9227. The Court clarified that the special allowance under RA 9227 cannot be availed of by those who retired before the effectivity thereof, unless they fall under Section 3-A of RA 910. ⁶ cHESAD

Worth stressing, the Ponferrada ruling was premised on the fact that the Court had allowed Deputy Court Administrator Bernardo T. Ponferrada to retire under RA 910, although it denied his request for the automatic adjustment of his retirement benefits under RA 9227, since the same was not yet effective on the date of Ponferrada's retirement.

Nowhere in said resolution did we renounce the Court's power to grant judicial rank to its officials or preclude Court officials granted judicial rank by En Banc Resolution from retiring under RA 910. Quite the contrary, the fallo of said resolution confirmed that Court officials granted judicial rank by either resolution of the Court or by law shall retire under RA 910. To reiterate, the Ponferrada ruling only set the limitation on the entitlement of Court officials granted judicial rank by En Banc Resolution and by law to the special allowance under RA 9227.

In the Resolution dated February 17, 2009, in the same administrative matter, the Court categorically declared:

[T]hose granted "judicial rank" by law or by En Banc Resolution, without being a judge or justice in the Judiciary, are given the benefits under RA 9227 as long as they are in the service. Their retirement benefits and monthly pension are computed under RA 910, including the benefits under RA 9227, according to the latest compensation they received at the time of their retirement. However, they are not entitled to receive adjustments in their monthly pension under Section 3-A of RA 910. ...

WHEREFORE, the Court APPROVES the request of Atty. Ma. Piedad B. Ferrer-Campaña, Deputy Clerk of Court and Reporter, to retire under R.A. No. 910, as amended by R.A. No. 5095 and P.D. No. 1438, effective November 30, 2008, ⁷ subject to the availability of funds and the usual clearance requirements.

The Court further resolves to adopt the recommendation of the Office of the Chief Attorney. Accordingly, we: (1) REITERATE the Resolutions dated July 30, 1987 and July 3, 1990 declaring that all Court officials vested by En Banc resolution or by law with judicial rank, salary and privileges shall retire under Republic Act No. 910, as amended; and (2) DIRECT: (a) the Fiscal Management and Budget Office to request the Department of Budget and Management to issue immediately the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) and the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) for all retired Court officials with judicial rank, salary and privileges whose retirement gratuities have yet to be released by the DBM; and (b) the Department of Budget and Management, upon receipt of the requests for SARO and NCA, to immediately release the retirement pay pursuant to Republic Act No. 910, as amended, of all the said retired Court officials."

Austria-Martinez and Tinga, JJ.,on official leave. (adv102)

Very truly yours,

 

(SGD.) MA. LUISA D. VILLARAMAClerk of Court

Footnotes

1.Re: Expiration of the Fixed Term of Office of Atty. Saaduddin A. Alauya, Office of the Jurisconsult, Zamboanga City,A.M. No. 11238-Ret.

2.Id. at 6-7.

3.Id. at 7-8.

4.AN ACT GRANTING ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION IN THE FORM OF SPECIAL ALLOWANCES FOR JUSTICES, JUDGES AND ALL OTHER POSITIONS IN THE JUDICIARY WITH THE EQUIVALENT RANKS OF JUSTICES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS AND JUDGES OF THE REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

5.SEC. 3-A. In case the salary of Justices of the Supreme Court or of the Court of Appeals is increased or decreased, such increased or decreased salary shall, for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be the salary or the retirement pension which a Justice who as of June twelve, nineteen hundred fifty-four had ceased to be such to accept another position in the Government or who retired was receiving at the time of his cessation in the office: Provided, That any benefits that have already accrued prior to such increase or decrease shall not be affected thereby. DTSIEc

6.Re: Request of Retired Deputy Court Administrator Bernardo T. Ponferrada for Automatic Adjustment of His Retirement Benefits to Include Special Allowance Granted Under R.A. 9227, A.M. No. 11838-Ret.

7.Atty. Ma. Piedad B. Ferrer-Campaña was due for retirement on October 19, 2008 but served until the extended period of November 30, 2008.