COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Atty. George Erwin Mojica Garcia announced on Thursday morning, October 19, 2023 that the 836,000 teachers who will be deployed for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) are expected to receive an honorarium of P9,000 for electoral chairpersons to P10,000 for board members, higher than the P5,000 to P6,000 proposed honoraria.
This was revealed during the Comelec and Ministry of Basic, Higher, Technical, and Education (MBHTE) signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in view of BSKE and pursuant to Bangsamoro Autonomous Act No. 35, known as the "Bangsamoro Electoral Code", in consonance with meaningful autonomy under (R.A.) No. 10756, otherwise known as the "Election Service”, at Dusit Thani Hotel in Davao City.
According to Garcia, the October 30 poll is a manual election that requires full effort and hardwork of the electoral personnel, particularly the teachers, since they are the frontline in maintaining the secrecy and integrity of the ballot.
“Ginawa po ng Comelec ay itinaas namin sa P9,000 to 10,000 ang kanilang pangangailangan. Manual ang eleksyon ngayong Oktobre 30; mas mahaba ang oras na kanilang ilalaan, mas nahihirapan sila kaya nararapat din po na taasan ang kanilang honorarium (What the Comelec did was we raised their honorarium to P9,000 to P10,000. The election on October 30 is manual; the time they will spend is longer which is more difficult for them, so it is also appropriate to increase their honorarium),” the official said.
Garcia also cited the Education Act where honoraria should be given 10 to 15 days after the conduct of polls. This is also in line with Comelec's assurance to ensure the protection of teachers following the signing of a MOA with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) last September 18, this year.
“Ginawa po natin yan lahat sa savings na meron ang Comelec. Ibinigay natin lahat yun sa mga guro para sa kanilang kapakanan. Nakalagay talaga sa Education Act na dapat maibigay namin yan within 15 days. (We did that with the savings that the Comelec has. We gave all that to the teachers for their welfare. It is actually stated in the Education Act that we must provide that within 15 days.)
Under Executive Order No. 162, signed by former President Cory Aquino, the involvement of teachers as watchers and members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) are crucial to elections. However, the 2016 Election Reform Act, made election service for teachers in public schools optional. According to the survey, teachers are frequently inspired by nationalism to serve in elections.