The bill that aims to give government employees the option to retire earlier at the age of 56 was advanced in the Senate plenary this Wednesday.
This is the content of Senate Bill 2444 by Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla.
In Revilla’s proposal, it is four years lower than the current optional retirement age of 60-years-old.
The purpose of the bill is to amend Section 13 of Republic Act 8291 or the Government Service Insurance System Act of 1997.
In his sponsorship speech, Revilla said that there is already such a proposal in the House of Representatives that has passed the third reading.
“This is our response to the clamor coming from our dear civil servants who if given the option would wish to enjoy their retirement days at a much earlier time,” said Revilla.
Present at the Senate plenary were some Civil Service Commission or CSC staff who according to Revilla support his bill.
“Sa mahabang konsultasyon para dito ay binalanse ng komite ang kakayahan ng GSIS bilang tagapamahala ang kontribusyon ng mga kawani ng gobyerno. Manilaw din sa naganap na technical working group meetings na katulad ng mga lingkod bayan ang Civil Service Commission ay sumusuporta at nagtutulak din ng panukalang ito,” said Revilla.
Senate deliberates bill on ‘optional retirement’ of gov’t workers
If passed as law, the optional retirement age of 56 years for government employees will be the same as the retirement age of soldiers and police in the country.
Revilla assured that there was a thorough study for his proposal and he said the fund managed by the GSIS will not be jeopardized.
According to data from the CSC, only about 18 percent or less than 1 in every 5 government employees are 56 years old or older.
Revilla said, if you look at the age of the optional and mandatory retirement age of government employees in neighboring countries of the Philippines in Southeast Asia, he said here in the country the oldest retirement age is 60 for optional retirement and 65 for mandatory retirement.
In other countries, it is allowed to retire at the young age of 40 years.
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