23/06/2026
The (SC) has ruled that the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) exceeded its authority when it issued a rule that excluded secondary beneficiaries from receiving survivorship benefits of deceased members who had at least three but less than 15 years of service.
In a Decision written by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the SCโs Third Division declared Section 24.2.2 of the ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด (๐๐๐) of Republic Act No. 8291, or ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง 1997 (๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ต), ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ข ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด or beyond the GSISโ rule-making authority.
As a result, the GSIS is barred from enforcing the provision to the extent that it conflicts with Section 21(c) of the law.
The case arose from the application of Petronilo B. Laroco (Laroco) for survivorship benefits following the death of his daughter, Cristie. She was a public school teacher with 13 years of government service and had paid GSIS premiums for 12 years. She died single and had no children.
The GSIS rejected the application. Under Section 24.2 of the IRR, Laroco was ineligible for survivorship benefits because he was not a primary beneficiary.
The GSIS held that secondary beneficiaries qualify for survivorship only if the deceased member had served at least 15 years in the government. Since Cristie had only 13 years of service, only her primary beneficiariesโsuch as her spouse or childrenโwere entitled to survivorship benefits.
Ruling in Larocoโs favor, the SC pointed out that Section 24.2.2 of the IRR conflicts with the law because it adds a new requirementโlimiting survivorship benefits for secondary beneficiaries only to cases where the deceased member served at least 15 years.
Under the ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ต, a secondary beneficiary is entitled to survivorship benefits if: (1) there is no primary beneficiary; (2) the secondary beneficiary meets the dependency requisites under the law; (3) the member was in government service at the time of their death; and (4) the member has rendered at least three years of service.
The SC stressed that although the GSIS had good intentions to address the โunequal situationโ under the law, it cannot simply change the ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ต through a mere administrative issuance.
The three-year government service requirement for survivorship benefit under Section 21 might be, as argued by the GSIS, unfair and disadvantageous to other members who are required to render at least 15 years of service before qualifying for pension, but this is what is provided in the law.
The SC remanded the case to the GSIS Committee on Claims for the computation of the benefits payable to Laroco.
Read the full text of the Press Release at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=167839.
Read the full text of the Decision at http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=165811.
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