Case Digest: RE: REQUEST OF CHIEF JUSTICE NARVASA (RET.) FOR RE-COMPUTATION OF HIS CREDITABLE GOVERNMENT SERVICE

RE: REQUEST OF CHIEF JUSTICE ANDRES R. NARVASA (RET.) FOR RE-COMPUTATION OF HIS CREDITABLE GOVERNMENT SERVICE

559 SCRA 296 (2008)

Payments of increments of judges and justices should include only those that have accrued effective January 1999 and subject further to availability of funds.

The Retired Chief Justice Andres R. Narvasa (Chief Justice Narvasa) asked the Court to approve his grant to monthly pension. The Supreme Court made a Resolution granting Chief Justice Narvasa’s request and directing the Fiscal Management and Budget Office (FMBO) to determine the equivalent payment of 142 days leave that Chief Justice Narvasa needs to reimburse to pave the way for the payment of his monthly pension.

Chief Justice Narvasa provided in his letter his own computation for the 142 days leave, which would amount to P 386,963. Thus, Chief Justice Narvasa asked the Court to re-compute his Creditable Government Service and also to ascertain the amount he should be reimbursed with.

ISSUE:

Whether or not Chief Justice Narvasa’s computation as to the days leave is correct

HELD:

Flores clarifies that the correct amount is P386,963.61 as computed by the retired Chief Justice Narvasa, and not P393,752.45 which was deducted from his accumulated monthly pensions following the Office of Administrative Services’ computation.

Flores points out that in computing the total monetary value of the retired CJ’s leave credits which he was asked to reimburse, the Office of Administrative Services factored the Personnel Emergency Relief Allowance (PERA) and the additional compensation (ADCOM), apparently in accordance with the Court’s Resolution of February 29, 2000 in A.M. No. 99-8-05-SC holding that the same be included in the computation of retirement benefits and terminal leave pay of justices and judges. The monetary value of the leave credits actually received by the CJ did not, however, include the PERA and ADCOM in the computation thereof.

It may be recalled that by Resolution of January 25, 2000 in A.M. No. 99-12-01-SB, the Court “grant[ed] justices and judges increment through length of service, in addition to their longevity pay, subject to the condition that payments of increments should include only those that have accrued effective January 1999 and subject further to availability of funds.”