Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:

SECTION 1. The City of Manila is hereby authorized to provide for the payment of retirement gratuities to its officers and employees retired or separated from the service on or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and thirty-three, as a result of the reorganization of the Government of the City of Manila by the consolidation of departments, divisions or offices, as hereinafter prescribed:

1. Regularly appointed officers and employees may receive a gratuity not to exceed one month's salary or its equivalent in the case of those paid by the day or by the week for each year of service and the proportionate amount of any fraction thereof, but not to exceed twenty-four months in the case of those whose compensation exceeds twelve hundred pesos a year: Provided, That in the case of those who receive twelve hundred pesos a year or less the total retirement gratuity to which they may be entitled shall not exceed twenty-four hundred pesos.
   
   
2. Temporary officers and employees who have served the Government of the City of Manila for at least five years before the approval of this Act, shall be entitled to gratuity not to exceed one month's salary or its equivalent in the case of those paid by the hour, by the day or by the week for each year of service and the proportionate amount of any fraction thereof, but not to exceed twenty-four months in the case of those whose compensation exceeds twelve hundred pesos a year: Provided, That in the case of those who receive twelve hundred pesos a year or less the total retirement gratuity to which they may be entitled shall not exceed twenty-four hundred pesos: Provided, further, That for the purposes of computing length of service, employees transferred to offices of the Government of the City of Manila while in the service of the Insular Government shall be credited with such previous service.
   
   
3. Temporary officers and employees who have served the Government of the City of Manila less than five years before the approval of this Act, shall be entitled to a gratuity not to exceed half a month's salary or its equivalent in the case of those paid by the hour, by the day or by the week for each year of service and the proportionate amount of any fraction thereof.
   

SEC. 2. In separating or retiring employees under the provisions of this Act, the Department Head, on recommendation of the Mayor, shall give preference to officers or employees who, on account of their advanced age or of any physical or mental defect, are not fit to render further efficient service in the positions they occupy: Provided, however, That the appointees of the Governor-General may be retired only with the approval of the Governor-General.

SEC. 3. The gratuity provided in section one hereof shall be paid monthly at the rate of thirty-three and one-third per centum of the monthly salary, with the exception of those who will be entitled to a gratuity of one month's salary or less who shall totally be paid immediately upon separation: Provided, however, That any officer or employee may, subject to such rules and regulations as may be approved by the Secretary of the Interior and Labor, sell, transfer or cede his right to the gratuity payments, to any investment fund under the control of the Insular Government, or to any bank duly authorized to transact business in the Philippine Islands: Provided, further, That the gratuity provided for in this Act shall not be attached or levied upon execution.

SEC. 4. If an officer or employee separated or retired under the provisions of this Act is entitled to the benefits of Act Numbered Twenty-five hundred and eighty-nine, as amended, or to the benefits of any law or special pension fund created by authority of the Philippine Legislature, such as the Teachers' Retirement and Disability Fund by virtue of Act Numbered Three thousand and fifty, as amended, and the Pension and Retirement Fund of the Philippine Health Service under Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and seventy-three, he shall have the privilege to choose between the benefits prescribed in said Acts and those herein provided for; but in no case shall the payment of gratuity under more than one Act be authorized. If he chooses the benefits granted by the special pension or retirement Act, he shall be retired under the provisions of said Act if he is entitled to its benefits; in case he prefers the gratuity provided for in this Act, he shall be granted such gratuity, and the amounts deducted from his salary as contributions to the Teachers' Retirement and Disability Fund or the Pension and Retirement Fund of the Philippine Health Service, as the case may be, shall be refunded to him, and in the case of the Teachers' Retirement and Disability Fund, said fund shall also return to the general funds of the Insular Government the corresponding direct contributions made to said special fund by the Insular Government.

SEC. 5. In case of the death of an officer or employee after separation or retirement from the service under the provisions of this Act, any gratuity or part thereof due to him shall be paid to his legitimate heir or heirs, or, if discounted under the provisions of section three hereof, then to the investment fund of the Insular Government or to the bank to which the right to such gratuity may have been ceded.

SEC. 6. a person separated or retired under the provisions of this Act may be reappointed to any position in the Philippine Government but by accepting such reappointment he shall forever waive all future gratuity payments and/or claims under the provisions of this Act. Similarly, a retired person who, under the provisions of section three hereof, has discounted the gratuity payments to which he is entitled shall, upon his reappointment to any position in the Insular Government, first refund to the investment fund or the bank to which he has ceded his right to the gratuity the total discounted value of all the gratuity payments which he would not yet have received had these been made to him in monthly installments: Provided, That upon being satisfied that the financial situation of a retired employee reappointed to a position with the Philippine Government does not allow his making the refund herein required, the Department Head may authorize the payment of the sum to be refunded in monthly installments equivalent to the sums being paid by the Insular Government to the investment fund or bank, to be deducted from the monthly pay accruing to such retired and reappointed employee after reappointment, such monthly deductions to continue until the last monthly installment payable by the Philippine Government to the investment fund or bank shall have been paid in full. The sums deducted from the salaries of re-appointed officers and employees as herein authorized shall be covered as a refund into the Retirement Gratuity Fund created by section nine hereof.

SEC. 7. The offices or positions vacated by the separation or retirement of officers and employees with gratuities as herein provided shall not be filled and shall be considered abolished ipso facto, except as regards officers and employees of the Police and Fire Departments retired upon attaining to the age of sixty-five years, in which case they may be filled at a salary not to exceed the sum fixed as entrance salary of a new member of the Police or Fire Department.

SEC. 8. Nothing herein provided shall be construed as entitling to the benefits of this Act those officers and employees of the Government of the City of Manila who voluntarily resign from the service due to the reduction of their compensation or to transfer from one office to another by virtue of consolidation or for any other reason, or to the abolition of double compensations to which they were formerly entitled, or to any cause not provided herein.

SEC. 9. The Municipal Board of the City of Manila may appropriate the necessary sum to carry out the purposes of this Act from any funds in the City Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 10. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, November 29, 1933.