The Teachers Dignity Coalition national chairman Benjo Basas said that half of public teachers decided not to serve as board of election tellers in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls in October, citing the delay of the release of the honorarium among 476,000 teachers who have served as BEIs during the May 9 national and local polls.
“If they had the choice, most of the teachers would opt not to do the duty,” Basas said Wednesday.
Citing the law signed by former President Benigno Aquino III in April, Basas said that public teachers have now options whether or not to participate as BEIs or BETs in the elections.
The Comelec has recently failed to pay at least 76,000 teachers 15 days after the presidential elections.
For the May 2016 polls, the chairperson and members of the BEIs as well as support staff members were entitled to receive a per diem at the rate of P1,000 a day for three days; P500 each for the verification and sealing of the Book of Voters, for the final testing and sealing of the vote counting machines, and for transportation allowance; and P2,000 for undergoing training for a total per diem of P6,500.
As of Wednesday, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said that the Comelec has yet to pay 194 teachers who served as BEIs in the recent polls.
“As of today, the director of finance reported that 194 have not yet been paid,” Guanzon said in a text message.
Even with just small numbers left unpaid, Guanzon already said in a recent interview that a delay more than 15 days is considered as “criminal offense.”
“Delay more than 15 days in paying the BEI teachers is a criminal offense,” Guanzon recently said.