Faster inflation last March means there's now even more reason for the House of Representatives to immediately pass the measure seeking an increase in Personnel Economic Relief Allowance, or PERA.

Deputy Minority Leader ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio on Tuesday, April 7 highlighted the need to prioritize House Bill (HB) No.206, or the PERA bill for teachers as inflation climbed to 4.1 percent in March from 2.4 percent in February.

This, even as fuel prices continue to spike and drive up transport fares and the prices of basic commodities.

“Teachers cannot eat press statements denying the crisis,” said Tinio, who authored HB No.206 with fellow Makabayan bloc member Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co.

“With March inflation at 4.1 percent—a huge jump from 2.4 percent in February—every peso of a teacher’s pay buys less. Combined with relentless oil price hikes, this is an emergency for educators and public servants. PERA must be increased now,” Tinio said.

Filed last year at the start of the 20th Congress, HB No.206 mandates an increase in PERA from the current P2,000 per month to P5,000 per month.

"PERA shall likewise be subject to automatic yearly adjustments equivalent to any increase of the annual inflation rate in the country," the measure read.

It added that PERA shall be granted tơ civilian government personnel whether employed by the national or local governments, appointive or elective, and whether occupying regular, contractual, or casual positions, whose positions are covered by Republic Act (RA) No.6758, otherwise known as the "Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989, as amended, as well as military and uniformed personnel Provided, that the government personnel stationed abroad already receiving overseas allowances shall not be entitled to PERA

“Kumikitid ang badyet ng guro sa bawat pagtaas ng langis at mga bilihin. Krisis ang nararanasan ng mga guro at kawani, hindi ‘temporary inconvenience'. Dapat agarang itaas ang PERA sa hindi bababa sa P5,000, lalo pa at mula 2009 ay napako na ito sa P2000," Tinio said.

(The budget of teachers shrinks with every increase in fuel and basic goods. Teachers and staff are experiencing a crisis, not a ‘temporary inconvenience'. The PERA must be raised immediately to no less than P5,000, especially since it has been stuck at P2,000 since 2009.)

Tinio says the current PERA is grossly inadequate amid soaring prices, and that the government’s continued refusal to grant meaningful wage relief effectively forces teachers to subsidize the crisis from their own pockets.

“PERA is supposed to be economic relief, but it has been kept at a level that no longer relieves anything. Government employees—especially teachers—are being asked to do more with less, while prices keep rising. This is unacceptable,” he said.

Tinio also pointed to structural policy failures that worsen the crisis, including fuel deregulation and regressive fuel taxes, and urged the administration to take decisive action rather than deny reality.

“You cannot solve a crisis you refuse to admit. The government must stop gaslighting the public and start delivering real, immediate relief—starting with higher PERA for teachers who keep the education system running,” the militant solon reckoned.

“Tumigil na dapat ang gobyerno sa pagmamaliit sa krisis. Ipatupad ang agarang relief, hindi pangakong paulit-ulit na napapako (The government must stop downplaying the crisis. Implement immediate relief, not promises that are repeatedly broken)," he said.