Tuesday, May 22, 2007 Official assures teachers: honoraria out soon
SOME 7,000 public school teachers who served in the May 14 election in Cebu City will have to wait a few more days before they can claim the remaining P1,500 honoraria promised to them.
City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo said they are still reconciling the list of those who already received the first tranche of their pay, and the official list of teachers who were members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI).
She asked the teachers to wait patiently as they complete their review of the list.
“We are still preparing the payroll and reconciling the list of those who already got the first P1,500 against the Comelec’s officials list of BEI members. Hopefully, we will finish everything within this week,” Camarillo told Sun.Star Cebu.
She admitted that the City Treasurer’s Office has already received several complaints from teachers waiting for their honoraria.
Teachers and private citizens who rendered poll duties already received the first half of the P3,000 honoraria last May 13, the day before the elections.
But thousands of them complained that they were made to wait as early as 5 a.m. and were given the runaround before finally claiming their pay at around 3 p.m.
According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu City’s records, a total of 7,002 teachers rendered poll duties on election day.
“There are 7,002 names to check and we want to do it carefully because if there is any discrepancy and any release of funds to those who did not serve, I will also be held liable for it,” Camarillo said.
In a separate interview, City Schools Superintendent Lorna Rances said none of the teachers has complained to her so far about the delay, perhaps because she already briefed them about the procedures before the honoraria can be released.
All canvassed election returns will still have to be checked to find out if all BEIs completed the required statistical data in the form.
“The inventory of all election returns is still ongoing and we will have to ask the teachers to fill out election returns that are incomplete, otherwise they cannot claim their honoraria,” Rances said. (LCR)
