A.M. No. P-95-1167. February 9, 2010.
Carmelita Lledo, Complainant, vs. Atty. Cesar V. Lledo, Branch Clerk of Court, Regional Trial Court, Branch 94, Quezon City, Respondent.

FACTS

On December 21, 1998, the Supreme Court dismissed Atty. Cesar V. Lledo from service, with forfeiture of all retirement benefits and leave credits, due to charges of immorality, abandonment, and conduct unbecoming a public official filed by his wife, Carmelita Lledo. In 2006, Cesar’s son, Cesar L. Lledo, Jr., wrote to the Court, stating his father was bedridden and abandoned by his mistress, and appealed for reconsideration specifically on the forfeiture of leave credits to pay for medical expenses. The Court granted this request. Subsequently, Cesar Jr. requested judicial clemency for the refund of his father’s personal contributions to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). The GSIS, through its Regional Manager and Board, commented that such a refund is disallowed as a matter of policy for employees dismissed with forfeiture of benefits, arguing it would negatively impact the System’s financial viability and that the Court’s dismissal decision did not provide for such a refund.

ISSUE

May a government employee, dismissed from the service for cause, be allowed to recover the personal contributions he paid to the GSIS?

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court directed the GSIS to return to Atty. Cesar Lledo his own premiums and voluntary deposits, if any, plus interest of three percent per annum, compounded monthly. The Court held that while dismissal carries the forfeiture of retirement benefits under administrative rules, the claim here is solely for the return of personal contributions, not for retirement benefits. Examining the governing laws, the Court found that Section 11(d) of Commonwealth Act No. 186 , as amended by Republic Act No. 660 , specifically provides that upon dismissal for cause, an employee “shall be entitled only to his own premiums and voluntary deposits, if any, plus interest.” This specific provision was not repealed or amended by subsequent laws like Presidential Decree No. 1146 or Republic Act No. 8291 (The GSIS Act of 1997), which are silent on the treatment of personal contributions for employees dismissed for cause. The Court ruled that GSIS laws are social legislation to be liberally construed in favor of employees, and the personal contributions belong to the employee from the outset. Forfeiting these contributions would condone undue enrichment by the GSIS.