THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to provide additional honoraria amounting to P2,000 to each of the teachers who served at extended hours during the May 9 polls.

According to Comelec Commissioner George Garcia, the commission en banc has approved the proposal for additional honoraria for members of Electoral Boards (EBs) that handled faulty vote counting machines and/or SD cards.

"It has been approved. It's P2,000 across-the-board," said Garcia.

"We really don't have a budget for this. We just looked for a way to provide it coming from our savings," he added.

Garcia said they are already in the process of determining the identities of the poll workers that will be entitled to the additional honoraria.

By estimate, Garcia said the number could involve EB members, support staff, and technicians in around 1,000 clustered precincts.

"We to hope to give this before May 25th," said Garcia.

Last week, Garcia asked the commission en banc to provide additional honoraria to those who served in the May 9 polls.

The Department of Education has also proposed to the poll body an additional P3,000 pay for qualified teachers.

In particular, the additional honoraria is being eyed for those that were assigned to polling precincts that encountered malfunctioning vote counting machines and SD cards. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)