The Supreme Court has struck down a Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) rule that barred secondary beneficiaries from receiving survivorship benefits from members who had rendered at least three but less than 15 years of government service.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the Third Division declared Section 24.2.2 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 8291, or the Government Service Insurance Act of 1997, as ultra vires, or beyond the rule-making authority of the GSIS.

The ruling effectively prohibits the GSIS from enforcing the provision insofar as it conflicts with Section 21(c) of the law.

The case stemmed from the application of Petronilo B. Laroco for survivorship benefits following the death of his daughter, Cristie Laroco, a public school teacher who had rendered 13 years of government service and paid GSIS contributions for 12 years.

Cristie died single and without children.

GSIS denied the application on the ground that Laroco was merely a secondary beneficiary and that survivorship benefits for secondary beneficiaries were available only if the deceased member had completed at least 15 years of government service.

The Court of Appeals upheld the denial, prompting Laroco to elevate the case to the Supreme Court.

In reversing the lower court’s ruling, the Supreme Court held that the GSIS Act expressly grants survivorship benefits to secondary beneficiaries when there is no primary beneficiary, the claimant satisfies the dependency requirements under the law, the member was in government service at the time of death, and the member had rendered at least three years of service.

The Court said the GSIS rule unlawfully added a requirement not found in the law by limiting survivorship benefits for secondary beneficiaries to cases where the deceased member had served at least 15 years.