The Commission on Election (Comelec) chairman George Garcia explained the respective honorarium that teachers who served as members and chairpersons of electoral boards (EBs) during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) should receive.

“Dapat talaga ang matatanggap na honoraryum ng ating mga guro ay pagka chairman P6,000 [at] pag myembro P5,000 yun po kasi yung patakaran kahit ng 2018. Subalit hindi po tayo pumayag diyan ipinaglaban natin kahit wala kaming budget ginawan po namin ng paraan sa aming savings. Ginawa po natin natin na lahat ng teachers sa buong Pilipinas [na] yung chairman P10,000 at yung myembro ay ginawa nating P9,000,” Garcia told DZRH.

The Comelec chair said they matched the honorarium of teachers to the commission members during the 2022 elections.

“Sabi natin wala dapat distinction ang automated at manual elections [dahil] parehas po ang trabaho. In fact, mas mabigat po ang trabaho pag manual elections so yun po ang ginawa natin,” he said.

Garcia added that respective cities in the country were given an additional P2,000 due to their added work during BSKE.

“Dito sa Muntinlupa at Naga city kasama ang Bulacan dahil meron silang plebisito, may dagdag pa pong P2,000 lahat across the board kasi may extrang trabaho sila na ginawa dito sa mga lugar na ito. At the same time, meron po silang service incentive leave na limang araw,” he said.

The Comelec chair said the release of honorarium is currently ongoing and has reached 75 percent out of the entire threshold. But they are expecting to fully distribute the honorarium of teachers nationwide before the day ends.

“Umabot na po kahapon ng 75 percent ang release sapagkat sinabi natin ang nakalagay po sa batas dapat labinlimang araw matapos ang eleksyon maipamahagi na lahat ng honoraryum nila. Gusto po natin hanggang ngayong araw na ito man lang maipamahagi ang honoraria ng mga guro nationwide,” he said.

But Garcia explained their despite efforts, the honorarium received by the teachers will be slashed following the vetoed tax extension.

“Ito po ang problema natin. Nung nakaraan, ipinursigi at sinuportahan natin ang tax extension ng ating mga guro na maglilingkod as electoral board members subalit ito po unforutnately ay ne-veto [...] kaya babawasan pa yung ng 20 percent yung kanilang mga matatanggap,” he said.

Garcia, however, hoped that teachers’ honorarium will further improve for the next elections.