Teachers on poll duty on May 14 to get higher pay

Public school teachers who will serve in the boards of election inspectors during the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls will receive an allowance of up to P7,000, Rep. Ron Salo of party-list group Kabayan said yesterday.

The grant and amount of allowance are provided under Republic Act No. 10756, or the Election Service Reform Act, which Congress enacted in early 2016.

Under the law, Salo said the mandated amounts of allowance are P6,000 for the electoral board chairman, P5,000 for a board member, P4,000 for a supervising officer, and P2,000 for each support staff member.

Additionally, each would receive a transportation allowance of P1,000.

Each clustered precinct on May 14 will have a board of election inspectors (BEI). The board is composed of three members, usually public school teachers, though the law allows substitution by another public officer if a teacher is not available.

The paramount concern of teachers who want to serve in the boards is when they would receive their allowance, Salo said.

He lauded the promise of Education Secretary Leonor Briones that they would get their allowance within 15 days from May 14.

“I can only hope that she makes good on her promise. In the past, there was a long delay in the release of the allowance,” he said.

The funds for the honorarium would come from the Commission on Elections.

“Hopefully, before May 31, the money should already be in the teachers’ ATM (automated teller machine) accounts,” he said.

The best incentive for teachers to render election duty is the expeditious payment of their allowance, he added.

Aside from the honoraria, teachers would be entitled to other benefits, including five days’ service credit, medical assistance of up to P200,000 and P500,000 in case of an electionrelated death.