Add'l honoraria recommended for poll workers in precincts that had malfunctioning VCMs, SD cards —Comelec

A recommendation for the granting of additional honoraria to teachers who rendered overtime service during the conduct of the May 9 national and local elections has been submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc.

Based on the recommendation submitted by Commissioner George Garcia, those who should receive the additional honoraria are teachers and support staff assigned to precincts where vote counting machines (VCMs) and SD cards malfunctioned.

“As our partner during elections, we must ensure that the teachers and support staff, whose sacrifices during election day are unparalleled, are fairly compensated for the work done,” Garcia's recommendation read.

“Accordingly, in recognition of their invaluable service to ensure the successful conduct of the elections, the undersigned respectfully recommends the grant of additional honorarium to members of the EB, DESO, and DESO technical support staff who were assigned to polling precincts that encountered malfunctioning VCMs and SD cards,” it added.

In a press briefing on Friday, Comelec acting spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said the recommendation was "warmly received" by the en banc.

Laudiangco pointed out that teachers and electoral board members who were also affected by delays in the past elections were given additional honoraria.

He added that the additional payment will not be called overtime pay since the poll body has no authority to grant such incentive.

"Definitely it is not overtime pay. It may be called additional honoraria, it may be called additional service incentives. Yan po yung pinag-aaralan natin. But definitely it will only be given to those identified to have been delayed by the issues in the VCM," Laudiangco said.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will also make a formal manifestation regarding the additional honoraria, he added.

Election Task Force Head Atty. Marcelo Bragado, Jr. said at least 647,812 Department of Education personnel served as poll workers in the recently concluded elections — 319,317 as members of the Electoral Boards (EB) and 200,627 as EB support staff.

Bragado said that 38,989 were DepEd Supervisor Official (DESO), while 87,162 were DESO support staff, and 1,717 were DepEd members of the Board of Canvassers. —KBK, GMA News