Congress passed on second reading a proposed measure providing retirement benefits and hazard allowance to the Office of the Ombudsman officials and employees.
Under House Bill 6578 or the “Retirement Law of the Office of the Ombudsman,” the Ombudsman shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as those of a presiding justice of the Court of Appeals.
Zamboanga Rep. Ann Hoffer, the bill’s co-author, said benefits and allowances of employees and officials of the Office of the Ombudsman are still not comparable to those of their counterparts in other government agencies and in other anti-graft and corruption bodies in the Asia Pacific Region.
She said the Ombudsman also “suffers from a high turnover of personnel, who eventually join other government agencies or the private sector that offer better compensation and retirement benefits.”
Co-author Cibac Rep. Sherwin Tugna also expressed concern over the heavy task of gathering of evidence and preparing air-tight cases against erring government officials, saying wages and package of benefits are not commensurate to the heavy workload of Ombudsman officials and employees.
Oriental Mindoro Rep, Reynaldo Umali, House committee on justice chairperson, has endorsed the measure for plenary approval.
A deputy Ombudsman and a special prosecutor shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as those of an associate justice of the Court of Appeals.
All other officials and employees covered by the proposal, if passed, from salary grades 26 to 29, shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as those of judges of regional trial courts, municipal trial courts and even municipal circuit trial courts with the same salary grades.
The measure also provides for an automatic increase in the pension benefits of Ombudsman’s retired officials or employees whenever there is an increase in the salary and allowance in the same position from which they retired.
One of the benefits was an added monthly hazard allowance not exceeding 50 percent of the basic monthly salary to officials and employees exposed to hardships, security risks and other hazards by reason of their assigned tasks and responsibilities.