This case involves a challenge to Presidential Decree 644 which modified the pension benefits of retired justices under Republic Act 1797. Specifically, PD 644 fixed pension rates based on salaries at the time of retirement, removing the automatic adjustment feature where pensions would increase or decrease with active salaries. Congress passed House Bill 16297 to restore the automatic adjustment feature, but it was vetoed by the President. The petitioners, who were retired justices, argued that RA 1797 granted them a vested right to a pension with an automatic adjustment feature that could not be impaired by PD 644. The Supreme Court agreed, finding that once benefits are earned under a pension law, those benefits cannot be altered to the detriment of
This case involves a challenge to Presidential Decree 644 which modified the pension benefits of retired justices under Republic Act 1797. Specifically, PD 644 fixed pension rates based on s…