Section 86March 04, 2008, Sec./Art. 86

Transfer of Personnel of Air Tramportation Office. - To ensure smooth transition into a corporate structure, the incumbent Assistant Secretary of the AT0 shall continue to hold office and assume the powers of the Director General until his successor shall have been appointed and inducted into office in accordance with this Act. However, affected officials and personnel, with appointments attested by the Civil Service Commission, whether hired on a permanent or temporary basis, who would opt to retire or to be separated from the service, and those hired on a casual or contractual basis, if qualified, shall be given the option to avail themselves of any of the following, whichever is beneficial to them:

(a) Retirement gratuity provided under Republic Act No. 1616, as amended, plus the refund of retirement premiums payable by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), without the incentive herein provided;

(b) Retirement benefit under Republic Act No. 660 or applicable retirement, separation or unemployment benefit provided under Republic Act No. 8291, if qualified, plus the following applicable incentives:

(1) One half (1/2) month of the present basic salary for every year of government service and a fraction thereof, for those who have rendered twenty (20) years of service and below;

(2) Three-fourth (3/4) month of the present basic salary for every year of government service and a fraction thereof, computed starting from the 1st year, for those who have rendered twenty-one (21) to thirty (30) years of service; and

(3) One (1) month of the present basic salary for every year of government service and a fraction thereof, computed starting from the lst year, for those who have rendered thirty-one (31) years of service and above: Provided, That the GSIS shall pay, on the day of separation, the retirement/separation/unemployment benefits to which an affected employee may be entitled to under Republic Act No. 660 or Republic Act No. 8291 and whenever there is an option, the one which the affected employee has chosen as the most beneficial to him/her: Provided, further, That for the purpose of complying with the required number of years of service under Republic Act No. 8291, the portability scheme under Republic Act No. 7699 may be applied, subject to existing policies and guidelines; and

(c) Those with less than three (3) years of government service may opt to avail of the separation gratuity under Republic Act No. 6656, plus the appropriate incentive provided under paragraph (b) of this section.

No affected employee who opted for retirement/separation shall receive less than an aggregate of Fifty thousand pesos (Php50,000.00) as his retirement/separation gratuity from both the national government and the GSIS.