(Eagle News) — Supreme Court Administrator Midas Marquez on Tuesday said “no application” for the availment of benefits for the family of deceased justices was “acted on” for more than two years even after he sent a letter to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno “respectfully recommending” that the Supreme Court hear the matter “urgently” and “make a ruling on the same and at the soonest possible time.”
“From October 2015 to November 6, 2017, no application was acted upon,” Marquez said.
He said this was exactly two years, one month and 1 day after he wrote and submitted the letter to Sereno, after his office received “a number of calls and visits of surviving kin” of judges.
The calls reportedly came after there was a delay in the taken action on applications following the creation of a committee and two technical working groups approved by Sereno.
In the letter dated Jan. 12, 2017 and received by Sereno’s office on the same day, Marquez said he gave an enumeration of the 29 names of applicants and their ages ranging from 80 to over 90 years old.
“Considering that it has been more than a year since the court’s last action on pending applications for survivor pension, since majority of surviving spouses are already beyond 80 years old, there’s a compelling need to expedite the actions on these 29 applications,” Marquez said he wrote in his letter.
“It is most respectfully recommended that the court plead the matter urgently and make a ruling on the same and at the soonest possible time,” the letter added.
According to Marquez, the en banc “first heard the issue” on Aug. 8, 2017, a week after Gadon held a press conference where he said he would include in his impeachment complaint Sereno’s delay in acting on the 29 applications.
He said the en banc deliberated on the issue on Aug. 22 and on Aug. 29.
“DI ko alam kung nagkataon lang…In just a month, nakalabas ang court en banc ng decision (on Sept. 19, 2017). Mabilis ho, penned by Justice (Samuel) Martires,” he said.
“Thus, there is no question that the benefits under RA 9946 extends to those who died before 11 February 2010..The court sees no compelling reason to revisit this ruling,” Marquez quoted Martires as saying in the decision.
“Because of the decision promulgated on (Sept.) 19, unti unti nang naglalabasan resolution ng court,” Marquez added.