Teachers welcome honoraria increase for 2010 election service

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today welcomed the statement made by the Commission on Elections that teachers serving in the May 2010 elections will receive a better compensation package.

COMELEC commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told media yesterday that public school teachers can expect a “bigger and better honoraria package” consisting of honorarium, five-day leave credit, legal support, and medical assistance. He added that the honorarium could be higher than the Php 3,000 received by teachers in the 2007 elections.

“This is certainly a positive development,” said ACT national chairperson Antonio Tinio. “Previously, COMELEC had always stated that there are no funds available for additional honoraria.” Tinio reiterated ACT’s call for a doubling of teachers’ pay from Php 1,000 to 2,000 per day of election service.

“We are certainly more than willing to work with COMELEC to lobby Malacanang to allocate additional funds,” added Tinio. He noted that ACT had worked with former COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos in 2004 to successfully lobby for an increase in teachers’ honoraria.

Tinio noted that the other components of the compensation package mentioned by Larrazabal were already standard benefits being received by teachers in previous elections. “ACT has successfully negotiated for 5-day leave credits, legal support, and medical assistance since 2004. We have also asked for and received insurance coverage worth Php 100,000 in previous elections. Of course, at the minimum, we expect to receive these same benefits in 2010.”

Tinio added that a number of important concerns, such as security and safety as well as training for the automated elections, have yet to be addressed by COMELEC. #