Comelec to allocate P20 million for teachers’ additional honoraria –Garcia

Should it be approved by the Commission on Elections en banc, the  Comelec would allocate around P20 million for the additional honoraria that would be provided to the teachers who rendered overtime service during the May 9 elections, poll Commissioner George Garcia said on Sunday.

“More or less, kulang -kulang P20 million po ang amount na pinaguusapan natin dito. Meron naman po kami na kahit papano ay natitipid tipid pa. So ‘yung natitipid natin ngayon, ayun na lang ‘yung ipambigay natin,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(We’re talking about more or less P20 million here. We have saved up some of our budget so that will be what will be given to them.)

Garcia earlier submitted a recommendation to the Comelec en banc to grant additional honoraria to the teachers and support staff assigned to precincts where vote counting machines (VCMs) and SD cards malfunctioned.

He pointed out that all members of the en banc were in favor of this proposal.

Asked if the decision about the honoraria would be bared within the day, Garcia said, “Opo dahil dahil meron kaming tinatawag na continuing session. Kahit hindi kami nagme-meeting, nagpapaikot na kami ng mga resolusyon. Kahapon, nakita ko na ang aking proposal sa part ng continuing session.”

(Yes because we have a continuing session and even if we don’t have a meeting, we still circulate resolutions. I saw my proposal during yesterday's continuing session.)

Meanwhile, Comelec acting spokesperson Rex Laudiangco on Sunday said at least P3,000 in additional honoraria would be given to teachers who worked overtime during Eleksyon 2022.

He, however, noted that the amount would be based on accounting and auditing rules.

Election Task Force (ETF) Head Atty. Marcelo Bragado Jr. earlier noted that at least 640,000 of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) personnel served as poll workers in the 2022 elections. — DVM, GMA News