THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Davao Region on Monday, May 7, started the training and seminars for school teachers who will serve as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Comelec 11 assistant director Marlon Casquejo said the voting and counting in the May 14 barangay and SK elections will be manual unlike the automated elections in 2016, thus, the need for the BEIs to be re-oriented on the rules in appreciating and counting the ballots.
He added that their training will be beneficial for the teachers who served as BEIs in past elections as well as for the newbies.
Casquejo said the electoral board is composed of a chairman, poll clerk, and a third member. He added that there are about 9,000 public school teachers who will serve as chairpersons and members of the electoral boards in Davao City.
All BEIs are currently undergoing training and instruction on the manual voting, counting the ballots, canvassing, and proclamation of the barangay and SK candidates who will win after the election.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) earlier urged the Comelec to intensify the training for school teachers who will serve as BEIs so that they could handle the pressure of the polls.
Based on the Election Service Reform Act of 2016 or Republic Act 10756, the electoral boards shall be entitled to corresponding honoraria. The chairman shall receive P6,000 while the members shall receive P5,000 each.
Those serving as Department of Education Supervisor Official (DESO) shall get P4,000 while the support staff shall be entitled to P2,000.
On top of the honoraria, the BEIs shall also receive P1,000 travel allowance to be paid within 15 days from the election day. They are also entitled to a minimum of five days accrued service credits.
Meanwhile, Republic Act 10756 provides that rendering of election services is no longer compulsory for public school teachers who may opt out of election duty.
Should there be lack of volunteer teachers, the Comelec can appoint private school teachers, national government employees excluding military officers, DepEd nonteaching personnel, other national government officials and employees with permanent position, members of Comelec -accredited civil society organizations, or any registered voter in the city or municipality with known integrity and not connected with any candidate or political party.