Elections on the Lens of a Teacher

Cherill S. Cunanan

The Omnibus Election Code Article XIV, section 164, explicitly states that “the Commission shall, directly or through its duly authorized representatives, constitute a board of election inspectors for each precinct to be composed of a chairman and a poll clerk who must be public school teachers.”

Above the call for teachers to be nonpartisan and impartial during the election period, the far much greater call is the call of duty for them to be members of the Board of Election. An immense amount of trust and confidence, as well as responsibility, is endowed to public school teachers upon entrusting with them the works in the “ground zero” during the election day. They are the backbone of the electoral process as they run and supervise the voting precincts and count the ballots (made easy by electronic voting machines), which they transport to town halls and city halls for tabulation. They have to prepare the paraphernalia and the precinct the day before and arrive in their assigned precinct before sunrise on the election day. Indeed, it is always a long day to carry on.

There were many incidents that the lives of the teachers serving in the national polls are put on the line and unfortunately there are some who died because of electionrelated violence just like what happened in Batangas in 2007 which was reported in New York Times (Conde, 2007).

Now that the country is still in a state of a pandemic, the risks of serving in the election have become worse. Teachers are not only predisposed to suspected violence during elections but are also susceptible to exposure to the virus. Although serving in the 2022 Elections is voluntary, still, the teachers are the ones called with the help of other DepEd employees and eligible government employees.

I am not saying this because I am a teacher myself but because I know the feeling of being in danger. The mere show of respect from the voters and candidates in the precinct and the assurance of our security is already a big reward to us.#

The author

is Teacher

--oOo-

III at Pampanga High School