A former executive of state-owned International Broadcasting Corp. (IBC) Channel 13 has won her claim for P7.33 million retirement benefits from the television network after the Commission on Audit granted her petition.
In a seven-page en banc ruling, the COA said the obligation of IBC-13 to claimant Marijo Ballena, former director of the Administrative Service and Human Resources Department for IBC-13, had already been adjudicated and decided by a labor arbiter on a decision issued on April 2, 2022.
Moreover, the ruling in favor of Ballena was also upheld by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) on July 28, 2022 which dismissed IBC’s appeal for non-posting of the required appeal bond.
The claimant was an employee of IBC from May 4, 1981 to February 28, 2019. She retired at the age of 61 after she was retained by the station’s management for an extra year despite having reached the compulsory retirement age of 60 in January 2018.
In total, she served the government-owned TV station for 36 years and 254 days.
At the time she left her post for good, she was entitled to P8.25 million in retirement pay equivalent to 100 days of pay per year of service.
But upon being told that IBC has been operating at a loss, she agreed to accept only an initial payment of 15 percent of her retirement benefits entitlement.
However, instead of being paid the balance of benefits due her, Ballena instead received only P10,000 monthly from July 2020 until she decided to file the petition for money claim on December 12, 2022.
“This commission finds no compelling reason to deviate from the findings of the adjudicating bodies which had already attained finality,” the COA En Banc said.
It recommended that the IBC request the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for subsidy so it can settle the unpaid retirement benefits of its retired former employees.
