[ Act No. 3205, December 03, 1924 ]

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO AND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, AS AMENDED BY ACT NUMBERED THIRTY-ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN, RELATIVE TO THE SOURCES OF THE PENSION AND RETIREMENT FUND AND THE LIFE PENSION OF THE OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF THE CONSTABULARY

Be  it enacted by the Senate  and House  of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:SECTION 1. Section eight hundred and seventy-two of the Administrative Code, as amended by Act Numbered Thirty- one hundred and fifty-seven, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 872. Sources of pension and retirement fund.—To this fund shall accrue all  fines and forfeitures imposed by  summary courts, all fines imposed upon commissioned officers under the authority  of this  chapter,  and four per centum of the pay of every officer and three per centum of the pay  of  every  enlisted man of  the Constabulary, which  shall be deducted from said pay monthly."All such fines, forfeitures,  deductions, and  retentions shall be noted and retained on the pay roll and  deposited with the Insular Treasurer to the credit of the Constabulary pension and retirement fund."

SEC. 2.  Section eight hundred and seventy-four of the Administrative Code, as amended by Act Numbered Thirty- one hundred and fifty-seven,  is hereby  further amended to read as follows:

  "SEC. 874. Life pension.—Any officer or enlisted man of the Philippine Constabulary who has had twenty or more years of actual and  satisfactory service  and has  attained to the age of fifty-five years or who, without having reached said age, is on account of his physical or mental condition prevented from  continuing in  active service,  may  take advantage of the benefits of this Act and retire from active service, upon approval by the Governor-General, and when so retired he shall receive until his death from the  fund above  specified an annual  pension  equal to two  and one- half per  centum,  for each  year of active service rendered by him up to  date,  of the  total pay received annually  by him on the date  of  his  retirement; but in no case more than seventy-five  per centum  of such total  current  pay: Provided,  That service  rendered by an officer  as enlisted man shall be taken  into account for the  purposes of the retirement provided for in  this section: Provided, further, That with the exception of the Chief of Constabulary,  no officer  shall be retained in active service after having  attained  to the age of sixty-four years: And provided, finally, That officers and enlisted  men of the  Constabulary .who have completed twenty or more years of actual satisfactory service previous to the approval of Act Numbered Thirty- one hundred and fifty-seven shall be entitled  to retirement on the same  terms and  subject to the same condition  as originally set forth in section eight hundred and seventy- four of the Administrative Code  previous  to  its amendment by Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and fifty-seven."Subject to  the same conditions and in accordance with the same  rules and  limitations, an enlisted  man  shall  be entitled to retirement and to a  similar annual compensation from the  same fund, based on the total current  pay and allowances received annually by him at the time he is  retired, but  in no case to exceed seventy-five per centum of such current pay and allowances  for each  year."Upon the death  of an officer or enlisted man  who has either  been retired or would,  at the time when  he  died, have been entitled  by reason  of length  of  service to the retirement provided  for in the two preceding paragraphs, the surviving  legitimate or acknowledged children of such officer  or enlisted man or his widow,  or only the  latter in case he left no children or after his surviving minor child has reached the age  of  eighteen years, shall  be entitled to receive in  equal shares  and with the right of accretion, fifty per centum of the pension to which such officer or enlisted man would have been entitled if he  had not died: Provided,  That no  payment shall be made as pension to children after they have attained to the age of  eighteen years or have married, nor to the widow if she remarries: And provided, further, That no pension whatever shall be paid to the widow if the marriage was  contracted  after the retirement of the deceased  officer or enlisted man.   For the purposes of this Act, all officers and enlisted men still residing in the Philippine  Islands  who are  at present in the enjoyment of a life pension and who lack five years or more, from and after the date of the approval of this Act, before completion of the fifty-fifth year  of  life, and who are still physically and mentally fit for active service, may be called into active service if  such officers or enlisted men agree, as vacancies in the positions  left by them occur, and shall take  their place on the roster, if officers, as if they had been  in active service  during the time of their retirement."

SEC.  3.  To carry out the purposes of this Act, there shall be appropriated in the Appropriation Act each year, beginning  with the first day of the fiscal year next following the approval of this  Act and annually thereafter, the sum of one hundred thousand pesos which shall be included in the total appropriation for the  Constabulary, and said sum shall be credited on the books of the Insular Treasurer to the Constabulary pension and retirement fund, and said funds is hereby set aside to complete the  payment of pensions to the officers and enlisted men of the  Constabulary: Provided,  That any portion of the sum  above mentioned remaining  unexpended at the end  of  each economic year shall revert to  the general funds, with  the exception  of a sum  sufficient to maintain  the working capital of the Constabulary  pension and  retirement fund,  including investments, at the minimum sum of three hundred thousand pesos.SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its  approval.Approved, December 3, 1924.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library