THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent the legislation that seeks to exempt from tax the service pay of those who serve in elections.

“After six years of failing to fulfill his multiple promises to significantly hike teachers’ pay and abject abandonment especially in the time of grave crises, we find it only just for the President to ensure that the tax-exemption bill for election service pay gets passed into law before he steps down. It won’t make up for his neglect of teachers, that’s for sure, but it’s the least he can do to provide some lasting relief to election frontliners,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

On May 26, 2022, Senate Bill 2520, which will exempt election service pay from tax, was passed on second reading in the Senate. A counterpart measure in the House of Representatives, House Bill 9652, was approved on third and final reading in August 2021.

“The President must wield his power and guarantee that this measure gets approved on final reading and in the bicam that shall immediately take place next week. Duterte only has a few weeks left in office, he should once and for all, finally include in his priorities the welfare of teachers, who also happen to compose the majority of poll workers,” Basilio said.

“Magpakita naman siya ng kahit kaunting sinseridad sa mga nakaraang deklarasyon niya ng pagpapahalaga sa mga guro, aksiyunan niya ang matagal na nating panawagan laban sa pabigat na buwis sa mga nagsisilbi sa halalan,” he added.