THE southern town of San Fernando finally has enough teachers to serve in local polls in May.

This, after 21 of the 25 public school teachers who initially backed out changed their minds, said San Fernando election officer Renante Angcos on Saturday, Feb. 16.

Angcos also said they were able to secure the commitment of four private school teachers to fill in the four available slots.

He said the 21 public school teachers had a change of heart following the assurance of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that they would have additional security.

Backup plan

“For me, the commitment of our bosses from Comelec and PRO 7 was a main factor in convincing them (teachers) to no longer back out from serving as election board (EB) members,” Angcos told SunStar Cebu.

The 177 teachers in the town who will serve as EB members will undergo a four-day training with Comelec starting on March 13.

However, Angcos admitted they couldn’t be complacent just yet, especially since there was still the possibility that some of the 177 teachers who registered to work as EBs might back out again if another poll-related incident would happen in San Fernando.

If that happened, he said they already secured the commitment of four private school teachers in the town to serve in the polls.

Earlier this week, public school teachers in San Fernando refused to serve as EBs in May following the ambush of Mayor Lakambini Reluya, which killed her husband and running mate, Panadtaran Barangay Captain and the town’s Association of Barangay Councils president Ricardo Jr., and two of her staff last month.

Before the ambush, two aspiring councilor candidates were also gunned down in separate incidents.