THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers called on senators anew to legislate a measure to exempt from taxes the honoraria and allowances of teachers who serve as poll workers.

The group wrote to several senators to press them to tackle and pass a counterpart bill for House Bill 9652, principally authored by ACT Teachers Party-list, which was approved on third and final reading in 2021. Three similar bills have been filed in the Senate but have not been discussed in committee hearings.

“With the increase in the tax imposition on our paltry election service honoraria and allowances, we need our senators now more than ever to act with urgency and heed our long-standing call: alleviate our teacher-poll workers from hefty and onerous taxes!” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said.

The group had protested the imposition of tax on the honoraria and allowances received by Board of Election Inspector members. From 5 percent, the tax was raised to 20 percent.

“Our teachers deserve to get in full their honoraria and allowances, which hardly sufficed to truly recognize and compensate their honest and vital work every election day. However small the increases in poll work pay, they are still a product of our teachers’ fight for better pay and should not be taken away from them by any means; especially considering how little the government stands to gain from taxing our BEIs—estimated to only be around P450 million,” Basilio said.

“Rendering services during elections is already a daunting task as it is. Our teacher-poll workers volunteer to perform their patriotic duty every elections, despite the risks on their lives and well-being. The least our government can do is to sufficiently remunerate them for their services and let them fully enjoy the modest amounts they receive. Scrap the 20 percent tax on BEI honoraria and allowances!” he added.