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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES DEC
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES sale! am.
QUEZON CITY
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

Second Regular Session

House Bill No. 8114

Introduced by
REP. JOHNNY T. PIMENTEL

The realization of programs require a certain length of time before they are fully
implemented. The persons in charge thus need to hold the appropriate length of
service to adequately plan, test and execute programs. This is the case of crucial
government positions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief-of-Staff,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and other Armed Forces Officers.

The tenure for such positions are limited by the Constitution to only three years
and is further shortened by the compulsory retirement age which requires AFP
personnel to retire at the age 56.

It must be noted that a soldier still stands at the prime of his life at such age
and is still very much capable of rendering his expertise in the interest of the
nation. Furthermore, such situation also delimits the President’s choices to fill
in vacancies in the Armed Forces with senior officers whose dates of retirements
are forthcoming.

With the position being critical to the country’s national interest, public policy
requires that the person who should occupy the post must be in the one’s best
qualified capacity. A term of service must serve to allow the Chief of State to take
up leadership in the Armed Forces unhampered by imminent retirement and
change of officers. This Measure creates a venue for the implementation of long-
term and continuous program of the AFP.

The approval of this Bill is earnestly sought.



REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
QUEZON CITY

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No. Bild

Introduced by
REP. JOHNNY T. PIMENTEL

AN ACT
STRENGTHENING PROFESSIONALISM AND CONTINUITY OF POLICIES
AND MODERNIZATION INITIATIVES OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE
PHILIPPINES BY PRESCRIBING FIXED TERMS FOR THE CHIEF-OF-
STAFF/ CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS AND OTHER KEY OFFICERS
THEREOF, INCREASING THE MANDATORY AGE OF RETIREMENT OF
GENERAL/FLAG OFFICERS, PROVIDING FOR A MORE EFFECTIVE
ATTRITION SYSTEM, REPEALING SECTIONS 5, 10, 11 AND 12 OF
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1638, AS AMENDED, AND SECTIONS 3
AND 4 OF REPUBLIC ACT 8186, AS AMENDED, AMENDING SECTION 1
OF REPUBLIC ACT 9188 AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

Title I DECLARATION OF POLICY

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. —It is hereby declared the policy of the
State that in the pursuit of modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) to:

(2) Enhance professionalization in the organization by strengthening the
merit system and allow the new leadership a longer period to
implement reforms and institutionalize good policies that will redound
to the improvement of the AFP;

(b) Promote the most qualified officers of general rank; and

(©) Obviate revolving door accommodation promotions in order to
successfully create a new culture of excellence in leadership and
accountability in the AFP.

Towards this end, the State shall:

(a) _ Fix the tour of duty of the Chief of Staff/Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
(CJC) and other officers holding key positions;

(b) Adjust the mandatory retirement age of General/Flag Officers of the
AFP; and


(Ensure implementation of merit-based promotion and attrition
system that will assure the Armed Forces of continuous pool of
qualified and effective leaders.

TITLE Il TERMS OF OFFICE

SECTION 2. Tour of Duty of Key Officers — The members of the Joint Chiefs
and the Joint Force Commanders, upon appointment, shall have a tour of duty
of three (3) years. Provided, That the Joint Chiefs shall be composed of the
following:

(a) AFP Chief of Staff/ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (CJC);
(b) Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs;

() Chief of the Joint Staff;

(4) Chief of the Army;

(©) Chief of the Air Force; and

(Chief of the Navy

Unless otherwise specified by the President, the tour of duty of the
aforementioned officers shall commence on the date the appointment is signed,
and shall be for three (3) consecutive years unless sooner terminated by the
President.

‘The fixed tour of duty provided herein shall apply to General/Flag Officers
appointed by the President after the effectivity of this Act.

‘The members of the Joint Chiefs shall be selected by the President from
among the officers in the grades of Major General/ Rear Admiral and Lieutenant
General/Vice Admiral who, in his/her judgment, is best and qualified for those
positions, regardless if the officer is occupying a position with a fixed tour of duty
or not.

Section 4 of Republic Act No. 8186 entitled "An Act Prescribing Officer
Grade Distribution in the Active Force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and
Limiting the Tenure of Officers in the Grade of Colonel/Captain (PN) And
General/Flag Officers in the AFP" (R.A. No. 8186) is hereby repealed.

SECTION 3. Tour of Duty of the Superintendent of the Philippine Military
Academy (PMA). — A general officer of proven competence and academic
excellence shall be appointed as Superintendent, PMA and shall be exempt from
the application of the maximum tenurein-grade defined under this Act. He/she
shall be given a tour of duty of four (4) years, unless sooner terminated by higher
authority, and shall be compulsorily retired after completion of his/her tour of
duty or upon relief from office.

SECTION 4. Prohibition on the Extension of Term. - Except as provided for
under Section 5 of this Act in accordance with the Constitution, no extension of
tour of duty of the Joint Chiefs, PMA Superintendent, and Joint Force
Commanders shall be allowed.

SECTION 5. Tour of Duty of the Chief of Staff/ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
-The tour of duty of the Chief of Staff /CJC of the AFP shall not exceed three
years. However, in times of war or other national emergency declared by the
Congress, the President may extend such tour of duty.


TITLE I] RETIREMENT

SECTION. 6. Compulsory Retirement for Military Personnel. - Section 5 (a)
of Presidential Decree No. 1638, entitled “Establishing a New System of
Retirement and Separation for Military Personnel of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines and for Other Purposes’, as amended by Presidential Decree
No.1650, is hereby repealed and replaced with a new provision which shall read
as follows:

"Sec 5.(a). An officer or enlisted personnel shall be compulsorily
retired upon accumulation of at least 30 years of active service or upon
reaching the age of 56 years old, whichever comes later. Provided, That
officers in the grades 07-09 shall be compulsorily retired upon attaining
the maximum tenure-in-grade as defined in this Act, regardless of age and
without prejudice to be promoted to the next higher rank; Provided further,
that an officer appointed to the grade 0-10 shall be compulsorily retired
upon completion of three (3) years tour of duty or sixty-five (65) years of
age whichever comes earlier; and Provided finally, that such Officer who
was commissioned under Presidential Decree Nr 1908, who has attained
fifty-six (56) years of age with at least 16 years of active service shall be
allowed to complete twenty (20) years of active service for purposes of
compulsory retirement.”

SECTION 7. Optional Retirement. - Upon accumulation of at least twenty
years of satisfactory Active Service, an officer or enlisted personnel may, at
his/her own request, be retired from Active Service, subject to the approval of
appropriate authority as provided for in the Implementing Rules and Regulations
of this Act.

SECTION 8. Retirement Grade. ~ In case of optional retirement, a general
/ flag officer shall be retired in his/her present grade only after serving at least
two (2) years in that grade prior to the date of said retirement, otherwise, he/she
will be retired in his/her previous grade.

‘TITLE IV
ATTRITION SYSTEM FOR THE PERSONNEL OF THE AFP

SECTION 9. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Title, the following terms
shall mean:

(a) Active Duty - the service or duty in the regular force AFP.

(b) Enlisted Personnel - refer to members of the AFP with the rank of
Private, up to First Chief Master Sergeant or their equivalent in the
other services, usually referred to as Non-Commissioned Officers
upon reaching the rank of Corporal and above.

(Forced Attrition-is a mode of attrition wherein an officer or enlisted
personnel, who, after having been considered for promotion to the
next higher grade; or an officer who has been considered for
retention pursuant to law, but failed to qualify on account of his/her
own fault, failure or negligence or lack of individual merit, is
separated from the active service.

(4) Grade - the military rank of a commissioned officer and enlisted
personnel.


Commissioned officers, from the lowest to highest, are:

(1) Second Lieutenant/Ensign (PN);

@) First Lieutenant/ Lieutenant Junior Grade (PN);
(3) Captain/Lieutenant (PN);

(4) Major/Lieutenant Commander (PN);

(6) Lieutenant Colonel/Commander (PN);

(6) Colonel/Captain (PN);

(7) Brigadier General/Commodore (PN);

(8) Major General/Rear Admiral (PN);

(9) Lieutenant General/Vice Admiral (PN); and

(10) General /Admiral (PN)

For enlisted personnel, from lowest to highest, are:

(1) Private;
(2) Private First Class;
(3) Corporal;
(4) Sergeant;
(5) Staff Sergeant;
(6) Technical Sergeant;
(7) Master Sergeant;
(8) Senior Master Sergeant;
(9) Chief Master Sergeant; and
(10) First Chief Master Sergeant
or their equivalent in the Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force.

(b) Officers — refer to commissioned personnel in the active service of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

(0) Primary Zone - the primary zone shall be composed of officers who
are on promotable status in the uppermost portion of the promotion
list equivalent to the number of declared vacancies.

(4) Service member - any active duty officer or enlisted personnel of the
AFP.

(©) Tenure-In-Grade - the allowable/maximum year given to an
Officer /Enlisted Personnel in a certain grade/rank.

SECTION 10. Forced Attrition. - Sections 10, 11 and 12 of P.D. No. 1638
are hereby repealed and replaced by the following new provisions which shall
read as follows:

"Sec. 10. Forced Attrition of Officers. - Officers who were considered but
failed to qualify for promotion to the next higher grade on account of their own
fault, failure or negligence or who lack the individual merits required for
promotion shall be subsequently separated from the active service. Officers with
contractual service obligations who were recommended for separation on
account of their own fault, failure or negligence, shall be required to refund the
government the amount equivalent to the cost of training proportionate to the
remaining period to be served as stipulated in the training contract. The following
are the instances of forced attrition of officers:


(a) Attrition by Non-Promotion.-

(1) Deferment of promotion. - An officer in the grade of Second
Lieutenant/Ensign (PN) who is deferred once shall be separated in the
permanent grade he/she holds on the first day of the third month
after the President shall have approved the promotion of officers
recommended by the selection board which recommended the
deferment of such an officer for the first time.

(2) Twice Deferment of Promotion. - An officer in the grade of First
Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade (PN) to
Lieutenant

Colonel/Commander (PN) who is deferred twice for promotion to the next higher
grade shall be separated in the permanent grade he/she holds on the first day
of the third month after the President shall have approved the promotion of
officers recommended by the Selection Board which recommended the deferment
of such officer for the second time. This subsection applies only to officers in the
primary zone of consideration because they were considered or deliberated upon
by the selection board but failed to qualify for promotion to the next higher grade.

(3) Maximum Tenure-in-Grade for Officers. -
(i) General Officers. - The maximum tenure of officers

in the grades of
General/Flag Officer in the AFP are hereby prescribed

as follows:

GRADE MAXIMUM ‘TENURE-IN-GRADE
General/Admiral (0-10) Three (3) years
Lieutenant General/ Three (3) years
Vice Admiral (0-9)
Major General/ ‘Three (3) years
Rear Admiral (0-8)
Brigadier General/ Three (3) years
Commodore (0-7)

Unless earlier separated, retired or promoted to the next higher grade or
occupying a position calling for the rank of higher grade in the AFP Table of
Organization, General/Flag Officers shall be compulsorily retired upon either the
attainment of the maximum tenure-in-grade herein prescribed or the fixed tour
of duty prescribed in Section 2 of this Act, whichever comes earlier. Any
General/Flag Officer who is relieved from post and is not designated to or
occupying any position in the AFP Table of Organization as funded in the General
Appropriations Act shall be deemed retired from the military service effective
upon relief.

(i) Officers. - The maximum tenure of officers in the
grades of Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel or their equivalent in
the other services in the AFP are hereby prescribed as follows:

GRADE MAXIMUM TENURE-IN-GRADE

Captain / Lieutenant (PN) (O-3) Six (6) years



Major / Lieutenant Commander
(PN) (0-4)

Six (6) years

Lieutenant Colonel /
Commander
(PN) (0-5)

Seven (7) years

Colonel/ Captain (PN) (0-6)

Nine (9) years



(b) Low-Potentiality. - An officer referred to and found by the AFP Efficiency and
Separation Board not fit for retention, lacking leadership skills, of doubtful
integrity, or fails to demonstrate satisfactory performance may be separated
from the military service subject to the approval of the President.

“Section 11. Forced Attrition of Enlisted Personnel. —

(a) Failure of Promotion. - An Enlisted Personnel who fails to qualify for
promotion to the next higher rank shall be recommended for
evaluation by the appropriate Promotion Board, subject to the
provisions of the implementing rules and regulations.

(6) Maximum Tenure-in-Grade for Enlisted Personnel. - An Enlisted
Personnel shall be separated in accordance with the provisions of
existing laws for failure to be promoted after having attained the
maximum allowable Active Cumulative Service for the present grade
except if occupying a position calling for a higher grade in the AFP
Table of Organization:

GRADE MAXIMUM
TENURE-IN-GRADE
E-10 Three (3) years
E-9 Three (3) years
E-8 Three (3) years
E7 Three (3) years
E-6 Five (5) years
E-5 Five (5) years
E4 Four (4) years
E-3 Four (4) years
E-2 Four (4) years
E-1 Four (4) years

(©) Low Potentiality. - An enlisted service member who is referred to and
found by the Enlisted Personnel Reenlistment Board not fit for
retention, complacent, lacking leadership skills, of doubtful
integrity, or fails to demonstrate outstanding performance may be
separated from the military service.

SECTION 11. Renumbering. - The succeeding sections of P.D. No. 1638,
as amended, are hereby renumbered accordingly.

SECTION 12. Separation or Retirement from the AFP. — Any service
member of the AFP shall be:

(a) separated, if one has rendered less than twenty (20) years of service,
or

(b) retired, if one has rendered at least twenty (20) years of service
unless the concerned service member is disqualified by law to
receive such benefits.

TITLE V GENERAL PROVISIONS


SECTION 13. Competitive Categories for Promotion. ~ Under regulations
prescribed by the Secretary of National Defense, the AFP shall establish
competitive categories for promotion. Each officer whose name appears on an
active-duty list shall be carried in a competitive category of officers. Officers in
the same competitive category shall compete among themselves for promotion.

SECTION 14. Officer Grade Distribution. Section 1 of Republic Act 9188
is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SECTION. 1. Officer Grade Distribution. - The Secretary of
National Defense shall prescribe the authorized number of officers in the
active force in each grade and in each major, technical or administrative
service and shall implement the gradual decrease in the number of
officers in each officer rank as part of, and in line with, the Modernization
Program of the Armed Forces: Provided, That effective one (1) year after
the approval of this Act, such number shall not exceed the number in
each grade authorized in the Table of Organization of units of the active
force distributed as follows: One per centum (1%) in the General/Flag
Officer grade; six per centum (6%) in the grade of Colonel/Captain (PN);
twelve per centum (12%) in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel/Commander
(PN); eighteen per centum (18%) in the grade of Major/Lieutenant
Commander (PN); twenty per centum (20%) in the grade of
Captain/ Lieutenant (PN) and forty-three per centum (43%) in the grades
of First Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade (PN) and Second
Lieutenant/Ensign (PN): Provided, further, That such distribution is
based on the total officer strength authorized for the AFP: Provided,
furthermore, That the Table of Organization of units of the active force
shall be adjusted in accordance with their respective missions and officer
requirements, and shall be gradually decreased pursuant to this section
and such rules and regulations as the Secretary of National Defense
shall prescribe, subject to the condition that the schedule of percentage
for each grade as herein prescribed shall not be exceeded: Provided,
furthermore, That in the determination of the officer to enlisted personnel
ratio, the mission requirement, capabilities, scope of responsibility,
technical nature of the position and task, and equipment inventory of
units shall be taken into consideration: Provided, furthermore, That
considering the highly technical nature of the Air Force and the Navy,
they shall be allocated a higher officer to enlisted personnel ratio which
shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the officer to enlisted personnel
ratio allocated in the Philippine Army: Provided, furthermore, That as far
as practicable, officers in the technical or administrative services such
as, but not limited to, surgeon general, chief dental service and chief
nurse may be eligible for promotion to general/flag officer grade:
Provided, furthermore, That the quota limitation provided herein shall not
apply in the promotion to general/flag rank of reserve officers in the
inactive service: Provided, finally, That if the actual number in a grade is
less than the number prescribed, the difference may be applied as an
increase to the number prescribed in a lower grade.”

SECTION 14. Officer Lineal List. -There shall be only one seniority lineal
list for the officers of the Major Services and each of the Technical Services.

TITLE VI MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SECTION 15. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the effective
implementation of this Act shall be charged to the appropriations of the
Department of National Defense under the current General Appropriations Act.
Thereafter, such sum as may be necessary for its continued implementation shall
be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.


SECTION 16. Construction and Interpretation. - To protect state policy and
public interest as stated in Section 1 of this Act, this act shall be given a liberal
construction in favor of its provisions so as to further the accomplishment of its
declared policies in Section 1.

SECTION 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of
National Defense shall formulate the rules and regulations necessary to
implement the provisions of this Act within ninety (90) days from its effectivity.
Provided, That the IRR shall provide for a systematic transition to the new
retirement and separation system provided for under this Act.

SECTION 18. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other
provisions thereof.

SECTION 19. Repealing Clause. - Sections 3 and 4 of Republic Act 8186
as amended, Sections 5, 10 , 11 and 12 of the Presidential Decree No 1638, as
amended are hereby repealed. All other laws, executive orders or issuances or
any part thereof, which are inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed or
amended accordingly.

SECTION 20. Fffectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette and in at least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,