House approves lowering retirement age of gov’t workers to 56

House approves House Bill No. 5509 lowering the optional retirement age of gov’t workers from 60 years old to 56.

Voting 192 in the affirmative and zero in the negative, the chamber approved House Bill 5509, which also amends Section 13-A of RA 8291 or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Act of 1997.

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“With a lower optional retirement age, the retirees can enjoy a better quality of life thorough their pension and retirement benefits at an earlier age…” said one of the bill’s authors, Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., in his explanatory note.

“The lower retirement age ultimately helps the bureaucracy, as it hastens the turnover of government positions to younger professionals, making way for infusion of fresh blood in public service,” he added.

One of the measures for the purpose of HB 5509, said a lower optional retirement age for government workers will allow them to enjoy a better quality of life as they are given their pension and retirement benefits at an earlier age.

Retirement benefits that a GSIS member will get under the law are: the lump sum payment of basic monthly pension times 60, payable at the time of retirement plus an old-age pension benefit equal to the basic monthly pension payable monthly for life, starting upon expiration of the five-year guaranteed period covered by the lump sum; or cash payment equivalent to 18 months of his or her basic monthly pension plus monthly pension for life payable immediately with no five-year guarantee.

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Qualified GSIS members who has retired or separated from service before the effectivity of the measure will also be covered by its provisions, provided that the benefits to be granted will be prospective.

France Castro, ACT Teachers Party-list Representative and principal author of the bill, said that retirement is one of the demands raised by public-school teachers during formal and informal consultations nationwide

“Respect and humane consideration demand that a person of 56 years—a few years shy of being a senior citizen—should not be required to perform the arduous functions expected of a public-school teacher in the Philippines. At such stage of their lives, public- school teachers should at least be given the choice if they wish to rest from the profession and enjoy better and healthy years ahead,” said Representative Castro.