THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers welcomed the Commission on Elections’ resolution heeding their demand for the grant of additional compensation for teachers who served for extended hours on May 9, 2022.

The group submitted an additional 4,213 names of poll workers who shall receive the P2,000 additional compensation. ACT earlier submitted to the Comelec 1,036 poll workers who rendered more than 24 hours of service on May 9.

“We are glad that Comelec approved our just demands for overtime compensation. This is the first time that our teacher-poll workers will receive compensation for extended hours of service on election, and is a product of our unions’ unrelenting fight for teachers’ rights and welfare. Now, we must work on ensuring that all eligible poll workers receive proper remuneration,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

Teachers had to render overtime work because of malfunctioning vote counting machines and issues on SD cards.

Several teachers also reported that their extended election service was due to disorganized and unsystematic process of the retrieval of election paraphernalia, delays in the transportation of materials and heavy paperwork load.

“We therefore emphasize that Comelec must justly grant additional compensation to all poll workers who rendered more than 24 hours of election service on May 9 due to the varying issues they encountered during this period. And we also ask that this payment be released at the soonest possible time,” Basilio said.