Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

TIME _ 32

House Bill No.4942

Introduced by Representative Mark Cholo I. Violago

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Survivorship benefits is the payment of the retirement or
pension benefits to the beneficiaries of a deceased individual to
ensure that a surviving spouse or dependents receive financial
support after the individual's death.

Survivorship benefit is not an extraordinary retirement benefit,
and in fact it is one of the most common benefit enjoyed by all
government employees under the GSIS law. It is also being enjoyed
as part of the retirement benefit under the SSS law. In other words,
all employees are enjoying this benefit.

Unfortunately, since the year 2008, the Commissioners and
Labor Arbiters of the National Labor Relations Commission
(NLRC) have been denied this benefit. In the years prior to 2008,
the said NLRC Officials were enjoying survivorship benefits under
the GSIS law.

On 27 July 2006, R.A. 9347 became effective granting
equality in rank, salaries, retirement, benefits and other privileges to
the NLRC Officials with their judiciary counterparts. Consequently,
sometime in 2008 to implement their special retirement privileges
under R.A. 9347, the NLRC Officials were taken out of GSIS and
their retirement benefits were placed under the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM). In the process, the NLRC
Official’s survivorship benefits were not carried-over.

Under the circumstances, there exists an ongoing and
continuing distortion of retirement benefits as the NLRC Officials
are denied the survivorship benefits while NLRC staff and

RECEIVED A
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employees and other government employees of the same or lower in
rank are all enjoying survivorship benefits. There is also an
undisputed diminution of benefits for while Section 4 of R.A. 9347
expressly provided that no diminution of benefits should happen in
the implementation of the said law, survivorship benefit was
inadvertently discontinued and not carried-over when R.A. 9347
was implemented.

In fact, the NLRC is currently maintaining two sets of benefits
for its officials, that is, widows of NLRC Officials who retired prior
to 2008 are enjoying survivorship pension benefits; while widows
of NLRC officials who retired after 2008 are denied survivorship
pension benefits.

It is therefore ironic that these NLRC Officials who are tasked
by law to enforce and correct, among others, diminution or
distortion of benefits for employees find themselves helpless against
the very distortion and diminution of the benefits they should enjoy.

It is noted that the judiciary counterparts of the NLRC also lost
their survivorship benefits upon the enactment of their special
retirement law, R.A. 910. Later on their survivorship benefits was
restored through R.A. 9946. In recognition of correcting the
survivorship benefits, R.A. 9946 was made applicable to justices
and judges who retired prior to the enactment of R.A. 9946 but with
prospective application. It is under the same grant as part of the
parity in rank, retirement, and benefits that the NLRC Officials
seeks for the enforcement of their survivorship benefits to correct
the denial of their survivorship benefits.

The NLRC has pursued their survivorship benefits through
dialogues and negotiations with the DBM. This culminated in a
Declaratory Relief case filed by the DBM before the Regional Trial
Court of Manila. Unfortunately, just this February 2025, the RTC
ruled against the survivorship claims of the NLRC Officials. While
the NLRC is still pursuing the available legal remedies through
Motion for Reconsideration and/or appeal, time is of the essence for
the ageing survivors. Hence, NLRC seeks to pursue a double barrel
approach to remedy the situation.

This bill therefore is a curative measure not only to correct the
continuing distortion and diminution of benefits but to once and for
all restore the mandated parity in ranks, annual salaries, and
entitlement to the same allowances, emoluments, retirement and


other benefits and privileges between the NLRC Officials and their
Judiciary counterparts.

In turn, this should enjoin more lawyers of exceptional
competence and indisputable integrity to join the NLRC and uphold
labor justice.

The passage of this bill should only entail minimal
appropriations in view of the fact that there are only an existing
twenty-nine (29) widows and widowers of NLRC officials, with a
prospective application in the computation of the survivorship
benefits; and there are only twenty-four incumbent NLRC
Commissioners, and 142 incumbent Labor Arbiters at a given time.
The appropriations needed should be viewed more on the fact that
the government has already made savings when the survivorship
pensions was denied since 2008 until the present, and this bill is only
seeking to enforce the survivorship pension of existing survivors
after the effectivity of this measure.

Time is of the essence for the still living survivors of NLRC

Officials, and it is in this view that the immediate passage of the bill
is earnestly sought.

Mark Cffolo |. Violago


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS.
First Regular Session

House Bill No, 4542

Introduced by Representative Mark Cholo |. Violago

AN ACT

GRANTING SURVIVORSHIP AND ALL OTHER
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS IN PARITY WITH THEIR
COUNTERPARTS IN THE JUDICIARY, IN FAVOR OF
THE CHAIRPERSON, COMMISSIONER OR LABOR
ARBITER OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS
COMMISSION, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR,
AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE PRESIDENTIAL
DECREE 442, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR
CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the
“Survivorship Benefits for NLRC Act of 2025.”

SECTION 2. Parity in Salaries and Benefits. - Article 223,
Chapter |, Title Il, Book Five, of Presidential Decree No. 442, otherwise
known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, is hereby
amended to read as follows:

ART. 223. Salaries, Benefits, and Emoluments. —

The Chairman and members of the Commission shall have

the same rank, receive an annual salary equivalent to, and

be entitled to the same allowances, retirement and benefits

as those of the Presiding Justice and Associate Justices of


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the Court of Appeals, respectively. Labor Arbiters shall
have the same rank, receive an annual salary equivalent
to and be entitled to the same allowances, retirement and
other benefits and privileges as those of the judges of the
Regional Trial Courts. THE CHAIRPERSON, MEMBERS
OF THE COMMISSION AND THE LABOR ARBITERS
SHALL LIKEWISE RECEIVE SURVIVORSHIP AND
OTHER BENEFITS UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9946,
ENTITLED “AN ACT GRANTING ADDITIONAL
RETIREMENT, SURVIVORSHIP, AND OTHER
BENEFITS TO MEMBERS OF THE JUDICIARY,
AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO.
910, AS AMENDED, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”.

"UPON THE DEATH OF THE CHAIRPERSON,
MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION OR LABOR ARBITER,
IF SUCH OFFICIAL HAS RETIRED, OR WAS ELIGIBLE
TO RETIRE OPTIONALLY AT THE TIME OF DEATH,
THE SURVIVING LEGITIMATE SPOUSE SHALL BE
ENTITLED TO RECEIVE ALL THE RETIREMENT
BENEFITS THAT THE DECEASED SAID OFFICIAL
WOULD HAVE RECEIVED HAD HE OR SHE NOT DIED.
THE SURVIVING SPOUSE SHALL CONTINUE TO
RECEIVE SUCH RETIREMENT BENEFITS UNTIL THE

SURVIVING SPOUSE'S DEATH OR REMARRIAGE.


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IN THE ABSENCE OF A SURVIVING SPOUSE,
THE SURVIVORSHIP BENEFIT SHALL TRANSFER TO
THE SURVIVING CHILD OR CHILDREN OF THE SAID
OFFICIAL, DIVIDED EQUALLY IF MORE THAN ONE (1),
UNTIL THEY REACH THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE (21),
OR IN CASE OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE REACHED THE
AGE OF MAJORITY BUT ARE UNABLE TO FULLY
TAKE CARE OF OR PROTECT THEMSELVES AS
DEFINED UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7610, UNTIL
SUCH TIME THAT SUCH INFIRMITY IS REMOVED.

IN THE ABSENCE OF A SURVIVING SPOUSE OR
CHILDREN, THE SURVIVORSHIP BENEFITS SHALL
TRANSFER TO THE SAID OFFICIAL’S SURVIVING
PARENT OR PARENTS, DIVIDED EQUALLY IF MORE
THAN ONE (1), UNTIL THE REST OF THE PARENT’S
NATURAL LIFE.

THE ABOVE STATED OFFICIALS SHALL ALSO
BE ENTITLED TO ALL OTHER ALLOWANCES,
RETIREMENT AND OTHER’ BENEFITS AND
PRIVILEGES GRANTED IN FAVOR OF THEIR
JUDICIARY COUNTERPARTS AS MAY HAVE BEEN OR
HEREINAFTER GRANTED BY LAW, RULES OR
REGULATIONS. In no case, however, shall the provision

of this Article result in the diminution of the existing


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salaries, allowances and benefits of the aforementioned

Officials.

SECTION 3. Coverage. - The benefits under this Act shall be
granted to all the said NLRC Officials who have retired prior to the
effectivity of this Act, Provided that, the benefits shall accrue only upon
the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 4. implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within
ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, the NLRC shall issue
the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of
this Act.

SECTION 5. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the
continuing implementation of this Act shall be programmed by the
Commission to be included in the General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 6. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act,
or any parts thereof, is declared unconstitutional, the same shall not
affect the validity and effectivity of the other portions.

SECTION 7. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders,
presidential decrees, proclamations, rules, regulations, issuances and
enactments of parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby
repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 8. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days from its complete publication in the Official Gazette of in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, whichever comes
earlier.

APPROVED.