THE COMMISSION on Elections has approved the proposal of the Department of Education to increase the honoraria of teachers who will serve in the 2022 national and local elections.

“We want to express our gratitude to the Comelec for approving our request for higher compensation for our teachers that will render their services in the next year’s election. Given the current health situation, it is rightful for them to receive additional allowance,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

In February 2021, Briones sent a letter to the Comelec requesting to increase the honoraria of teaching and non-teaching personnel.

In the proposal, DepEd prescribed the following honoraria rates: P9,000 for chairpersons of electoral boards, P8,000 for electoral board members; P7,000 for DepEd supervisor official and P5,000 for support staff.

Also, the Comelec will include the provision of transportation allowance, food and water allowance and clean-up and repair/maintenance expenses as part of its budget proposal for the 2022 elections.

DepEd’s request for health insurance coverage for those who will be infected with the virus will also be part of the budget proposal.

Other benefits such as on-site swab testing, shifting and working hours of public school teachers in the electoral board will still be studied by the Comelec and DepEd.

To ensure that teachers will be technically and legally equipped, the department also proposed the creation of a monitoring and coordination teams as part of the 2022 DepEd Election Task Force.

“With DepEd and the teachers’ vital participation in the 2022 National and Local Elections, we will continue our dialogue with Comelec to ensure the health and welfare of our teachers and personnel who will be sitting in the polling,” Briones said.