The purpose of this Circular is to prescribe and update the rules and regulations on the grant of Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) in the amount of five hundred pesos (P500.00) per month to all appointive officials and employees of the national government, government-owned and -controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and local government units as authorized under Section 47 of RA 8250, the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 1997.


2.1       All civilian appointive government personnel under permanent, temporary, contractual, casual, substitute or emergency status, regardless of salary grade assignment, whether or not receiving Representation and Transportation Allowances (RATA), or on full-time or part-time basis; and

2.2       All uniformed personnel, regardless of rank, of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.


3.1       Elective officials and members of local legislative bodies;

3.2       Government personnel stationed abroad and others similarly situated;

3.3       Those who are absent without leave (AWOL); and

3.4       Consultants and experts hired by government entities for a limited period to perform specific activities or services with expected outputs; student laborers; apprentices; laborers of contracted projects (pakiao); mail contractors, including those paid on piecework basis; and others similarly situated.


The PERA herein authorized shall be paid in accordance with the following rules and regulations.

4.1       Government personnel who are paid on annual or monthly basis shall be paid PERA of P500 per month.

4.2       The PERA of government personnel paid on an hourly, daily or part-time basis shall be computed on the basis of actual services rendered during the month but not to exceed P500 per month.

4.3       The PERA of government personnel who incurred absences without pay including those on leave without pay during the month shall be computed on the basis of actual services rendered with pay during the same month.

4.4       Government personnel who are on full -time or part-time detail with another government agency or special project shall receive the PERA from their home office, or in the case of those paid from project funds, from the same source where they draw their basic salaries. No one shall receive PERA from more than one source.

4.5       The PERA of government personnel with pending cases shall continue to be paid for as long as they are allowed to continue rendering service. Otherwise, payment thereof shall be discontinued until they are allowed to report back to work.

4.6       The payment of PERA of government personnel under preventive suspension shall be held in abeyance during the period of their suspension. If exonerated, they shall be entitled to the full amount of suspension. If exonerated, they shall be entitled to the full amount of PERA from the time of their suspension, and if meted penalty, they shall not be entitled to PERA until they have served their penalties.

4.6.1        In this regard, if the penalty meted out is only reprimand, such penalty is not one that can be made the basis for the disqualification to receive the said benefit.

4.7       The rate of PERA in Local Government Units (LGUs) shall be in accordance with the following schedule which is based on their income classification:

For Provinces/ Cities

For Municipalities

Special Cities and 1st Class

100%

90%

2nd Class and 3rd Class

90%

80%

4th Class, 5th Class and 6th Class

80%

70%

4.8.      However, LGUs which can afford to pay higher than the rates authorized in the schedule above for their particular income class shall be allowed to do so at a rate uniformly applied to all personnel entitled to this benefit, but not exceeding P500 per month, subject to the limitation on personal services expenditures as provided in RA 7160.


The PERA authorized herein shall be taken from the following funds:

5.1       For national government agencies, it shall be taken from the amount appropriated for PERA. In case of deficiency, the same shall be charged against savings from released allotment for current operating expenditures provided that all authorized mandatory expenses shall have been paid first.

5.2       For government-owned and -controlled corporation, including government financial institutions, it shall be taken from their respective corporate funds, subject to the approval by their respective corporate funds, subject to the approval by their governing boards.

5.3       For local government units (LGUs), it shall be taken from their respective local funds.


The head of the agency/LGU shall be held responsible and personally liable for any payment of PERA not in accordance with the provisions of this Circular, without prejudice, however, to the refund of any excess payment by the employee concerned.


Cases not covered by the provisions of this Circular shall be submitted to the Secretary of Budget and Management for appropriate resolution.


This Circular shall take effect not earlier than January 1, 1997.

Adopted: 07 April 1997