ALMOST 40 years after a Philippine Army officer died, his widow stands to receive P432,312.87 based on an order from the Commission on Audit (COA) which found that she had been underpaid her entitlement from derivative pension between December 1997 to July 2019.
In a decision released last March 29, the COA en banc granted the petition of Clarita Sta. Maria Narag filed on March 27, 2023 as the widow of the late Master Sergeant Luis Narag, who retired from service in 1984 and died the following year.
As the designated legal beneficiary of her husband, Mrs. Narag received 75 percent of his monthly retirement pay. From 1997 to 2019, she received pension payments from the Armed Forces of the Philippines Pension and Gratuity Management Center (AFPPGMC).
An audit of the pension benefits account of the AFPPGMC found discrepancies initially thought to be overpayments of monthly pensions, but revalidation revealed they were in fact underpayments of derivative pensions.
Computations showed Mrs. Narag was owed P432,312.87 that she should have been paid in the past 21 years and four months.
“Upon being informed of this circumstance by the AFPPGMC, Mrs. Narag filed her claim for the release of underpaid derivative pension, but to no avail. Instead, she was advised to file a petition for money claim before the Commission,” the COA noted.
In its answer to the widow’s petition, the AFPPGMC admitted that there was indeed an underpayment in the sum demanded by the claimant.
“In this case, Mrs. Narag clearly established her entitlement to an underpaid derivative pension. Considering that the AFPPGMC admitted the validity of the claim, and the ATL (audit team leader) and the CD (cluster director) verified the propriety of the amount, this Commission finds no cogent reason to deny the claim,” the COA en banc declared.
