Question Retirement Benefits in Compulsory Retirement

Good day. I just want to inquire about the retirement benefits of my mother and not about the merit of her case.

My mother is 65 y/o and she retired last January 2021. Two years prior to her retirement she was charged with Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service. However, the case was not resolved even after she retired. Thus, she has not receivedd any of her retirement benefits.

Sometime in April 2021, the concerned office released their FORMAL INVESTIGATION REPORT against my mother which imposed a penalty of a fine equivalent to her 6 mos salary since the penalty of suspension is not applicable anymore to her case. Considering that our whole family acquired Covid-19 and we were under home quarantine for more than a month, my mother was not able to follow up on the status of her case to process her retirement benefits. She only found out later that the said FORMAL INVESTIGATION REPORT was already the DECISION for her case and the fine will be deducted from her total number of leave credits. She filed a MR last July 2021 and it's already more than three months but the MR is still not resolved. So she later filed a Motion to Dismiss considering that there was no DECISION yet on the case and until now (December 2021) it was not yet resolved. She cannot claim her leave credits until the said MR and Motion to Dismiss are not resolved. The same is with the GSIS, they won't release her retirement benefits until the said case was resolved.

My concerns are:
1. What can we do in our part to compel the office to already resolve the MR and Motion to Dismiss that we filed in order for my mother to process her retirement benefits?
2. What remedy do we have for the GSIS to release her pension, considering that even if the case is resolved against my mother the maximum penalty is only a fine equivalent to her six months salary, which her leave credits were is more than enough to cover it? She has no other financial obligation to her office and in fact, she already has clearance from her office for all her obligation and the said case is the only reason that she cannot process her benefits.

Hope you will be able to help us regarding this issue. My mother needs her hard-earned benefits. With the pandemic, it is very difficult for her to expose herself to the risk of acquiring covid-19 again just to constantly follow up her case. Her health is also starting to deteriorate due to the sleepless night because of the issue. We don't know what to do anymore that is why I'm resorting to this forum.

Good day Sir/Maam.

Please be informed that as a policy, the Commission does not render opinions/rulings on issues that may eventually be the subject of a complaint or appeal before it. This is especially so if the material facts necessary to a judicious adjudication of the issues are not fully presented or substantiated as in this case.

Nevertheless, your mother may file a ‘Motion for Early Resolution’ with the agency where her Motion for Reconsideration and Motion to Dismiss is currently pending consideration.

We hope to have been of service to you.