Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Teachers in barangay, SK polls to get P1T extra pay
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday ordered Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. to release a P1,000 additional honoraria to teachers who served in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections last October 29.
Arroyo said the additional honoraria will bring to P2,500 the remuneration that the teachers would receive for election duty. The 2007 budget provided only for P1,500 maximum honorarium for barangay election duty.
She said the funding for the additional allowance would come from savings from the government’s fiscal surplus.
“This financial initiative to our teachers is extended to them by a grateful government not just for the services beyond the call of duty in the last elections but also for the sacrifices they continue to endure in molding the minds of our young,” she said.
She said the success of the barangay elections affirmed the maturity of the country’s democracy.
“The free, fair and fast selection of our grassroots leaders would not have been possible without the vigor and the vigilance of our teachers selflessly shown so we can all exercise our right to suffrage. Their industry will not go unappreciated,” she said.
Arroyo also said she has ordered the budget and education departments to coordinate with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to review the policies pertaining to the release of pay for teachers performing election duties “so that miscommunications and delays are avoided.” (JMR/Sunnex)
