REPUBLIC ACT No. 138 June 14, 1947
AN ACT TO DEFINE THE PAY STATUS OF PERSONNEL IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
ARTICLE I
Definition of Terms
Section 1. For the purposes of this Act. -
(a) "Pay" includes base pay and all additional pay for length of service or type of duty such as longevity pay and flying pay.
(b) "Allowance" includes quarters, subsistence, travel and such other allowances as may by law become payable to Army personnel.
(c) "Officers" refers to commissioned officers and Army nurses only.
(d) "Army" includes all military personnel or persons in the active service of the armed forces of the Philippines.
ARTICLE II
Pay Status in General
Section 2. The pay and allowances of military personnel are prescribed by law and as long as a person is in the active military service of the Philippines he is entitled to receive pay and allowances corresponding to his rank or grade, unless said pay and allowances have not accrued or have been forfeited under this Act or any other provision of law.
Section 3. The Army shall be paid in such manner that the arrears shall at no time exceed two months, unless circumstances shall make further arrears unavoidable.
Section 4. Separation of any person from the active service cannot be effected for purposes of pay and allowances, before the date on which the individual receives or become legally chargeable with notice of his separation from the active service, whether by resignation, discharge, reversion to inactive status, retirement or dismissal: Provided, That the date on which a person is to be legally chargeable with notice of his separation shall be determined in accordance with pertinent Army regulations.
ARTICLE III
Military Personnel Missing; Missing in Action; Interned in a Neutral Country; Captured or Besieged by Enemy Forces
Section 5. Any person who is in the active service and who is officially reported as missing, missing in action, interned in a neutral country, or captured by an enemy, shall, while so absent, be entitled to receive or to have credited to his account the same pay and allowances to which such person was entitled at the time of the beginning of the absence or may become entitled to thereafter: Provided, That such person shall not have been officially reported as having been absent from his post of duty without authority: Provided, further, That expiration of the agreed terms of service during the period of such absence shall not operate to terminate the right to receive such pay and allowances: Provided, further, That should proper authority subsequently determine that the person concerned has been absent from his post of duty without authority, such person shall be indebted to the Government in the amount for which payments have been made or pay and allowances credited to his account in accordance with the provisions of this Act during such absence.
Section 6. In case any person is entitled under section five of this Act to receive pay and allowances, the Secretary of National Defense or such persons as he may designate, may direct that so much of the absent person's pay and allowances necessary for the reasonable support of his dependents and/or payment of insurance premiums, shall be paid by the appropriate disbursing officer for a period of twelve months from the date of commencement of absence: Provided, That any premiums paid by the Government subsequent to the declared date of death and unearned on insurance issued on the life of a person shall revert to the appropriations of the Philippine Army.
Section 7. When the twelve month's period from the commencement of absence is about to expire in any case of a person missing or missing in action and no official report of death or of being interned has been received, the Chief of Staff is authorized to direct the continuance of the person's missing status, if the person may be reasonably presumed to be living, or to make a finding of death. In the event a continuance of the missing person's status is directed, the Chief of Staff shall order a review of the case whenever warranted by information received or other circumstances. When a finding of death is made, it shall include the date upon which death shall be presumed to have occurred for the purpose of termination of crediting pay and allowances, settlement of accounts, and payment of death gratuities and other benefits arising by reason of death. Such date shall be the day following the date of expiration of an absence of twelve months, or in cases in which the missing status shall have been continued as authorized herein, a day to be determined by the Chief of Staff.
Section 8. When the circumstances surrounding the absence of a missing person of one of the classes mentioned in section five of this Act justifies such action, the Chief of Staff, or such persons as he may designate, may direct the continuance, suspension, or resumption or payments of the pay and allowance of such person. Except as provided in section seven of this Act, payment of insurance premiums or amounts necessary for the support of dependents shall not continue beyond the twelve months' period following the officially reported date of commencement of absence.
Section 9. Within the scope of the authority granted by this Act, the determination by the Chief of Staff or by such persons as he may designate, of the status of a person in the armed forces of the Philippines or of the fact of dependency under the provisions of this Act, or his direction relative to continuance, temporary suspension, or resumption of payment of pay and allowances, or finding of death, shall be conclusive.
ARTICLE IV
Unauthorized Absence as Affecting Pay and Allowances
Section 10. Neither pay nor allowances accrue to any person in the military service during unauthorized absence, unless excused as unavoidable.
Section 11. For purposes of entitlement to pay and allowances, the question whether absence from duty of any person in the military service is authorized or not and, if not, whether it is absence without leave or in desertion, is determined administratively. In the absence of court-martial finding thereon, it is sufficient to justify the withholding of pay and allowances that the fact of an unauthorized absence appears upon the morning report of the company, battery, troop or squadron, as the case may be.
Section 12. The computation of unauthorized absence for purposes of withholding pay and allowances shall be in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Chief of Staff shall promulgate with the approval of the Secretary of National Defense.
ARTICLE V
Military Personnel Absent Due to Diseases Arising from Misconduct
Section 13. No person in the military service who shall be absent from his regular duties on account of the effects of a disease, as distinguished from injury, which is directly attributed to and immediately follows his own intemperate use of alcoholic liquor or habit-forming drugs shall, except as hereinafter provided be entitled to any pay and allowances, for the period of such absence.
Section 14. No person in the military service who shall be absent from his regular duties on account of the direct effects of a venereal disease due to his own misconduct, shall, except as hereinafter provided, be entitled to any pay and allowances, for the period of such absence: Provided, That such absence is within a period of one year following the appearance of the initial symptoms of such venereal disease and regardless of whether the appearance of the initial symptoms occurs prior or subsequent to the date of entry into the service.
Section 15. Each person whose pay and allowances are forfeited for a period in excess of one month at any one time pursuant to the provisions of sections thirteen or fourteen of this Act shall be paid the sum of five pesos for each full month during which his pay is so forfeited.
Section 16. For all purposes within the scope of Article V of this Act, the period of absence and the cause thereof shall be determined under such procedure and regulations as may be prescribed by the Chief of Staff and such determination shall be final and conclusive.
ARTICLE VI
Personnel Awaiting Trial by Courts-Martial or Detained by Civil Authorities
Section 17. An officer awaiting trial by court-martial or the final result thereof is entitled to receive full pay and allowances for the period during which his case is pending, unless he is suspended from office by the President: Provided, That an officer suspended by the President shall continue to receive pay and allowances of the President shall so direct in the order of suspension.
Section 18. An enlisted man awaiting trial by court-martial or the result thereof is not entitled to receive pay and allowances, until the result of the trial is known, unless the Chief of Staff shall direct continuance of pay.
Section 19. Pay and allowances of an enlisted man who has been in desertion or absent without leave and who surrenders or is apprehended after the expiration of his term of enlistment, will not again accrue until he shall have been restored to a duty status.
Section 20. Pay and allowances of an enlisted man whose term of enlistment expires while he is in confinement awaiting trial or serving sentence, terminates on date of the expiration of his term of service, and will not again accrue until he shall have been restored to a duty status.
Section 21. Officers and enlisted men in arrest and confinement by the civil authorities, or temporarily released on bail, or convicted by the civil courts and released under bond pending final determination of an appeal to a higher court, will receive no pay and allowances for the time of such absence. If unconditionally released without trial, or after trial and acquittal, their right to pay and allowances for the period of such absence is restored.
Section 22. An officer or enlisted man discharged or released from active service while in the hands of civil authorities awaiting trial, will be paid only to the date of his arrest and will not be paid travel pay: Provided, That if the officer or enlisted man is acquitted, he is entitled to pay and allowances to date of discharge or relief from active duty.
Section 23. Notwithstanding section twenty-one of this Act, an officer on authorized leave or an enlisted man on furlough, who is arrested by civil authorities and convicted, is entitled to pay until the date of expiration of his leave or furlough, respectively.
Section 24. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 14, 1947
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