Short answer. Only within a framework tied to standards the Secretary of Labor and Employment determines. Labor Code Article 132 directs the Secretary to set the appropriate minimum age and other retirement standards for special occupations such as flight attendants, so an earlier mandatory retirement age has to trace to that regulatory authority, not the employer's own unilateral decision.
What the law says
To determine appropriate minimum age and other standards for retirement or termination in special occupations such as those of flight attendants and the like.
Labor Code, Article 132 — Facilities For Women Employees. Read the full provision →
What Article 132 assigns to the Secretary of Labor
Article 132 directs the Secretary of Labor and Employment to establish standards that will ensure the safety and health of women employees, and lists specific things employers may be required to do by regulation. The last of those is the one relevant here: to determine appropriate minimum age and other standards for retirement or termination in special occupations such as those of flight attendants and the like. The article places that determination with the Secretary of Labor acting through regulation, not with each individual employer deciding independently what age is appropriate for that special occupation.
What this means for an earlier retirement age
Because the article frames this as something the Secretary determines by regulation, an employer setting a mandatory retirement age for flight attendants earlier than the general retirement age is operating within a framework the law places under regulatory oversight, tied to the special nature of the occupation. This is different from an employer having free rein to pick any earlier age it prefers for a role like this. Whether a specific retirement age an airline applies is consistent with that authority depends on the applicable regulation issued under it, which this article does not itself spell out.
Why the article's other duties no longer stand alone
Article 132 was originally enacted alongside other facilities duties for women employees, such as separate toilet rooms and a workplace nursery, but those duties are no longer the whole picture on workplace facilities and standards for women. Republic Act No. 10028 now separately governs lactation stations and breaks, and Republic Act No. 11058 governs occupational safety and health standards and their enforcement more broadly. The retirement-age standard-setting function discussed above sits within this same article, so it is worth checking current regulation on this specific point rather than relying on the facilities list alone as though nothing around it had changed.
Why special occupations are treated differently
The article groups flight attendants under special occupations, a category it treats as warranting its own retirement standard distinct from the general retirement age that applies to employees generally. The underlying rationale for singling out an occupation like this usually involves the particular physical demands or safety considerations tied to the job, but the statute leaves the actual line-drawing, what age is appropriate and what other conditions apply, to standards the Secretary of Labor determines rather than spelling out a specific number in the Code itself.