President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected a proposal which sought to grant survivorship benefits to the dependent children or parents of deceased officials of constitutional offices.
Mr. Duterte threw away the plan which sought to amend an existinglaw, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Under the law RA 10084, benefits are only given to legitimate spouses of the deceased retired officials of government offices such as the Commission on Audit , Civil Service Commission, Commission on Elections, and the Ombudsman.
The vetoed proposal aimed to extend the benefits to children, the surviving parents, or up to two nominated persons of the deceased retiree.
“He vetoed it,” Sotto said. “Duterte said it would have disrupted the salary standardization and the other pension programs of the government,” Sotto told radio station dwIZ.
The proposed measure last January was approved by the Senate on third and final reading.
Senate Bill No. 1917, known as “Granting Survivorship Benefits,” was sent to the Office of the President last March 14.
Senator Loren Legarda, one of the proponents, said the measure was needed to ensure that “qualified beneficiaries are rightfully provided with benefits and entitlements as allowed by law.”