Government Employee Benefits — Personal Economic Relief Allowance (P2,000.00)
Another compensation of a government employee is called Personal Economic Relief Allowance or PERA amounting to P2,000.00.
The PERA was originally given to government employees in the amount of P500.00 but in 2009 (based on Senate-HOR Joint Resolution No. 4, s. 2009), the same was combined with the ADCOM (additional compensation) of P1,500.00 to make it a total of P2,000.00.
The PERA was first given in 1991 in the amount of ₱500.00, increased to ₱1,000 by virtue of Administrative Order No. 53 in 1993, and raised to the current ₱2,000 beginning January 2010.
The PERA is among the standard allowances and benefits given to government employees across agencies.
Who are entitled to the Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) of P2,000?
These employees are entitled to the PERA of P2,000.00, viz:
- Civilian government personnel covered by RA 6758; and
- Military and uniformed personnel.
[See Budget Circular No. 2009-3 for the complete details of who are entitled to the PERA]
Guidelines on the grant of Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA)
Under the guidelines, the PERA shall be paid to government employeess only when basic pay is also paid. Provided also that they render full-time services for eight (8) hours per working day, twenty-two (22) working days per month, including leaves of absence with pay.
If an employee was on absence of leave without pay, or if hired on any working day of the month, his/her PERA is computed based on the number of days worked (i.e., P2,000.00 / 22 days = ₱90.91 x no. of days worked by the employee).
[A Theory on why the 22-day rule is used and why not 28, 30 or 31 days]
Is the PERA of government employees taxable?
According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the PERA of government employees is not taxable based of Revenue Memorandum No. 23-2014 dated June 20, 2014, among other non-taxable compensations.
Increase in the Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA)
Under the existing Salary Standardization Law, the compensation system of government employees shall be periodically reviewed to check if the same is still appropriate given the existing economic condition of the country and the purchasing power of the peso.
There were already several proposals in the Congress that aim to increase (double the amount of) the PERA of government employees.
For instance, then Senator Manny Villar proposed the increase in PERA from ₱2,000.00 to ₱4,000.00 per month. In Senate Bill No. 3151, Senator Villar explained that the existing PERA is “still not enough to improve the quality of life of our government workers. Thus, it is essential that we address their financial needs and at the same time motivate them to be more productive and render services in an efficient manner.”
Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada and Mark Villar likwise filed SB Nos. 60, 1027 and 1378, respectively, to increase the amount of PERA being received by more or less two million government employees.
Just recently this year, Congressman Anthony Golez passed in the House of Representatives House Bill No. 7622 to increase the PERA from ₱2,000 to ₱4,500 since the existing rate was given fourteen (14) years ago and to counter the financial challenges faced by government employees brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued early this year, the Department of Budget and Management said that “President Bongbong Marcos directed us to conduct a study to ensure that the compensation of all civilian personnel will be generally competitive with those in the private sector doing comparable work to attract, retain, and motivate corps of competent and dedicated civil servants. Apart from the conduct of the study, the DBM is also undertaking a review of the rates of the existing benefits being provided to qualified government employees to assess if these may need adjustment in the future.”
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