THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers welcomed the filing of a bill by Senator Leila de Lima that seeks to make poll workers’ pay tax-free.

The group urged legislators to pass the bill, saying it is “overdue.”

“There are two more weeks left of session in both chambers of Congress before they go on recess. We believe that, with enough will and decisiveness from our duly elected senators, they can and should use this time to ensure that poll workers’ meagre pay will no longer be subjected to tax. The honoraria and allowances of the BEIs (board of electoral inspectors) hardly suffice to cover the actual expenses of rendering services during elections, much less to be considered as income,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

De Lima filed the measure three months after the House of Representatives approved on final reading House Bill 5962 endorsing the same proposal.

“We hope our senators would deal with this matter with a sense of urgency. It’s a simple yet very important measure that needs to be passed ASAP before our teacher-poll workers begin the preparations for the 2022 elections,” ACT said in a statement.

It said that in 2018, the BIR subjected poll workers’ honoraria and allowances to 5 percent income tax without providing any legal basis. ACT reiterated its stance that election service compensation cannot be considered as income because teacher-poll workers are not employees of the Commission on Elections.

“Kung tutuusin, napakaliit lang ng kompensasyon ng frontliners natin sa eleksiyon kumpara sa bigat ng tungkuling ginagampanan nila, kaya nga nananawagan din kaming kagyat itong mataasan,” ACT said.

“Our legislators, who without the service of our teachers will not be in office right now, should ensure that teacher-poll workers will get the full amount of their hard-earned honoraria and allowances as part of recognizing the crucial role they play during elections,” Basilio said.