THE COMMISSION on Elections has given assurances that teachers who will serve in the elections in May will receive their honoraria and allowances in cash.

The commission gave the assurance during a Senate committee hearing on April 21, 2022.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers had called on the Comelec to clarify the mode of payment for Board of Election Inspectors, citing concerns with the previous mechanism of utilizing cash cards, which resulted in teachers being charged for every withdrawal.

“This is an important development towards uplifting the conditions of teachers rendering election service, and should be coupled with a timely and properly scheduled release of their hard-earned pay. BEIs previously experienced difficulties in getting their honoraria and allowances due to the unnecessary use of cash cards and because of the delays and unclear schedules of release of payment,” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said.

“We nonetheless welcome Comelec’s positive response to our demand and hope that we can continue heading towards this direction and address the remaining concerns raised by our teachers,” he added.

The group maintained that teacher-poll workers’ honoraria, which fell short of their P10,000 demand, should be excluded from taxes.

“We hope that Comelec will finally meet with us in a dialogue so we can further collaborate on how to better ensure the welfare of election frontliners. It is in the best of interest of everyone, including the entire electorate, to guarantee fair pay and ample support for BEIs,” Basilio said.