A TEACHERS group Tuesday said it is considering boycotting election-related duties next year if the government failed to address security concerns and adequate compensation.

Antonio Tinio, national chairperson of the 30,000-strong Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), said the government and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should do everything to resolve the issues, which he said were repeatedly aired by teachers every election time.

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“Taking mass leave is one of the possible options namin kung hindi tutugunan ng gobyerno ang concerns ng mga teachers regarding safety, adequate training and compensation,” Tinio said.

ACT is demanding a P2,000 compensation for teachers rendering poll duty in the 2010 national elections but the Comelec said they can afford to pay teachers only P1,000 per day.

Public school teachers are required by law to sit as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs).

The manual system of elections has, for decades, required them to stay at the precincts until the wee hours of the morning following the elections, and to return to poll duties for the next two or three days, to finish tallying the votes.

Tinio said aside from the mass leave, they are also considering protest actions if authorities refused to address their concerns.

He added that their appeal for dialogue to resolve the issues have fallen on deaf ears despite the fact that the election day is just six months away.

“We’ve been asking for a dialogue since September pero hanggang sa ngayon wala pa rin. Di pa kami ma-accommodate ng Comelec,” he said, adding that they have addressed their call to the poll body, the Department of Budget and Management, and Malacañang.

At the same time, he said there should be proper training for teachers in the use of the automated machines for vote counting in next year’s polls.

“Safety measures should also be instituted to ensure that teachers are not harassed by losing poll candidates and their supporters.”

In the 1998 elections, 23 teachers of the Tatalon National High School in Quezon City were sued by a losing candidate. They were subsequently arrested and handcuffed right in front of their students.

Musa Dimasidsing and Nellie Banaag were also killed while serving in the May 2007 elections.

Banaag, of Taysan, Batangas, died when masked men set on fire the school building where teachers were tallying election results.

Leticia Ramos, a poll watcher, was also killed in the fire.

Dimasidsing, an election supervisor who denounced massive fraud in Pagalungan, Maguindanao, was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman.

The Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) earlier called on lawmakers to amend the election law so that the teachers will be given the option of not doing election duties.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo, for his part, said the automation process will not expose the teachers to long hours of work or to harassment by losing candidates.

He added that even the number of teachers needed for the election will be reduced because of the automation process. From the 700,000 required in previous elections, around 50 percent will be slashed.

Since the automation has reduced the number of precincts from 250,000 to 80,000, only around 300,000 teachers would be needed. (AH/Sunnex)