dycaico vs sss- petitioner applied survivor's pension as she is the wife of a deceased member of sss.

the
deceased member became a sss member when he was still cohabiting with petitioner as common-law
spouses. sss denied petitioner's application stating that petitioner cannot be considered as a primary
beneficiary since she married deceased sss member on 1997 after he was retired in 1989. ra 8282
section 12 enumerates those who could be primary beneficiaries. sc ruled that section12 distinction
between spouses of deceased members whose marriage was contracted before the member's
retirement and the spouses of member whose marriage were contracted after retirement is a violation
of the equal protection clause since it does not have a relation to the purpose of the law. Put differently,
such classification of dependent spouses is not germane to the aforesaid policy objective. if it were the
purpose of the congress to prevent sham marriages a duration for the guarantee of a marriage of good
faith should have been in the law just like in the us. said distinction is also arbitral and discriminatory
since there is no real or substantial distinction between them. Rep. Act No. 8282 with respect to
entitlement to benefits, to be valid and reasonable, must satisfy the following requirements: (1) it must
rest on substantial distinctions; (2) it must be germane to the purpose of the law; (3) it must not be
limited to existing conditions only; and (4) it must apply equally to all members of the same class. It is
noted that the eligibility of “dependent children” who are biological offsprings of a retired SSS member
to be considered as his primary beneficiaries under Section 12-B(d) of Rep. Act No. 8282 is not
substantially affected by the proviso “as of the date of his retirement.” A biological child, whether
legitimate, legitimated or illegitimate, is entitled to survivor’s pension upon the death of a retired SSS
member so long as the said child is unmarried, not gainfully employed and has not reached twenty-one
(21) years of age, or if over twenty-one (21) years of age, he or she is congenitally or while still a minor
has been permanently incapacitated and incapable of self-support, physically or mentally.

On the other hand, the eligibility of legally adopted children to be considered “primary beneficiaries”
under Section 12-B(d) of Rep. Act No. 8282 is affected by the proviso “as of the date of his retirement”
in the same manner as the dependent spouses. A legally adopted child who satisfies the requirements in
Section 8(e)(2)10 thereof is considered a primary beneficiary of a retired SSS member upon the latter’s
death only if the said child had been legally adopted prior to the member’s retirement. One who was
legally adopted by the SSS member after his or her retirement does not qualify as a primary beneficiary
for the purpose of entitlement to survivor’s pension under Section 12-B(d) of Rep. Act No. 8282.