WHEREAS, General Order Numbered 11, dated September 30, 1972 providing for an increased rate of base pay for commissioned officers on active duty contains a proviso excluding officers who retired from the service prior to January 1, 1972 from the readjustment of their gratuity or pension based thereon; WHEREAS, the persons who were excluded from the benefits of said General Order were mostly officers who, during the bleak year of World War II defended the Philippines at Bataan, Corregidor, and other war fronts, many of whom died in the process, many others became disabled, and the rest were fortunate to survive the war until they retired from the military service;
WHEREAS, these groups of retirees used to receive automatic readjustment of gratuity or pension every time a new rate of monthly base pay is prescribed for officers and enlisted personnel in the active service, pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act Numbered Three Hundred and Forty, as amended;
WHEREAS, officers who retired from the military service after December 31, 1975, are now receiving their monthly pensions based on the existing pay scales of officers in the active service;
WHEREAS, all government retirees in the civil service have recently been granted increases in their pensions due to the high cost of living brought about by the spiraling cost of prime commodities;
WHEREAS, Presidential Decree Numbered 854 dated December 22, 1975 provides for the establishment of new rates of monthly base pay of the officers and enlisted personnel responsive to the present economic conditions prevailing in the country;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the Philippines and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, General Order No. 1, dated January 17, 1973, do hereby decree and order that: