Teachers ready as poll workers | Photo via DepEd
QUEZON CITY – The Department of Education (DepEd) provides nearly 648,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel to assist the Commission on Election (COMELEC) in serving as poll workers in the May 9 elections.
Marcelo Bragado, DepEd Election Task Force (ETF) Head, said 37,219 public schools nationwide would be turned over to COMELEC as polling centers, including 106,439 classrooms as clustered precincts, the same number of classrooms as isolation polling places.
In addition, among the DepEd personnel provided by the agency, 319,317 are members of the Electoral Boards, 200,627 are EB Support Staff, 38,989 are DepEd Supervisor Officials, 87,162 are DESO Support Staff, and 1,717 are members of the Board of Canvassers.
Concerned with the plight of public school teachers serving during the elections, Revsee Escobedo, Undersecretary of Field Operations, said that as early as February 2021, DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones has submitted several proposals to the COMELEC that are all geared towards the improvement of the honoraria, benefits, and allowances as well as the protection, safety, and insurance of all DepEd poll workers.”
She noted that COMELEC had granted DepEd’s requests to increase honoraria of poll workers, including a grant of Php 500 COVID-19 hazard pay and a Php 2,000 transportation allowance.
To ensure the safety of the elections, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and Philippine National Police (PNP) also provided support to the COMELEC. The assistance includes 154,000 armed personnel from AFP, 225,000 from PNP, and 22,500 from PCG.
–With Ricky Rillera/PDM
