VOX POPULI, voxdei. The voice of the people is the voice of God.
With less than five percent of the total votes cast last May 9, 2016 national and local elections to be transmitted via COMELEC transparency server through the facilities of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPRCV), it is already clear that longtime Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will be our President starting on June 30, 2016, the day of his inauguration.
It is a welcome development that after the successful holding of the said exercise, Department of Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC in a press briefing commended the public school teachers for their efficient and effective performance during the national and local elections.
Luistro stressed that the teachers went out of their way to make this election generally peaceful and very orderly. Their transmission of the results is the fastest in my memory. They have proven that they can be trusted as they remained apolitical.
In the official website of DepEd, he also expressed gratitude for their support and said, “Saludo ako at nagpapasalamat sa kaguruan. Sa palagay ko, ito na ang pinaka-successful, clean and very efficient election natin.”
He observed that no untoward incidents had happened to any of the public school teachers nationwide who performed election duty.
He added, “Ang napakagandang balita ay ang ating command center ay wala ng naitalang ulat ng any untoward incident especially with respect to our teachers. As of now, wala pa tayong natatalang death or injuries to our teachers.”
Per records provided by DepEd, there are 409,392 DepEd personnel composed of Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs), Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEIs), Boards of Canvassers (BOCs), support staff and DepEd supervisors who served during the national and local elections.
Luistro also said that 60% of more than 685,000 DepEd employees were part of the elections, either as BEI member, support staff or supervisor.
The Comelec grants the DepEd personnel with poll duties the allowance of P4,500 for the chairman and members of the BEI; P1,500 for BEI support staff; P3,000 for DepEd supervisors and P1,500 for other support staff.
Luistro informed the public school teachers with poll duties that they can get their honoraria after the elections. This corner hopes that all sectors will do their share in effecting the real change the Duterte administration will pursue for the good of everyone.