ACT urges Comelec to give addt’l benefits for teacher-poll workers
THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines has called to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for an across-the-board granting of P3,000 additional compensation for poll work duty that extended beyond 24 hours on election day.
The group also provided an initial list of 1,036 electoral board (EB) members who reportedly rendered more than 24 hours of election service from May 9, 2022.
“We have called for the granting of overtime pay to poll workers since our very first letter to Comelec regarding this year’s elections, which we sent them almost exactly a year ago today. And so, we very much welcome their positive response to our demand after some fuss at the beginning. This is a great feat borne out of teacher-poll workers’ unrelenting fight for fair pay not only this election but which started in the 2019 mid-term polls where scores of teachers had to continue rendering election service for up to two days after election day,” said ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio.
Earlier this year, Comelec said that they have no authority to grant such, supposedly because teachers are not employees of the commission.
The group, therefore, recognized this recent pronouncement as a major development, especially after several reports confirmed that teachers indeed rendered extended poll work hours on election day.
Out of the 1,104 poll workers ACT initially asked on extended duties last May 9; 877 or 79.4% cited problems related to their VCMs (vote-counting machines) and SD cards, as well as that of other precincts within their clusters all of which resulted in the extension of their work hours.
ACT pledged to remain vigilant for the granting of their hard-won remuneration for poll workers.
They intend to continue pushing for the immediate scrapping of the hefty 20% tax on election service compensation and the refund for the 5% tax imposition on the same in previous elections.
They are also calling on Comelec to ensure the health and legal support for electoral board members who are in need of such. By Arlene Rivera
