MOA on teachers’ poll duty pay signed

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) guaranteeing duty pay for teachers who will serve in May 14 elections.

In a letter to Education Undersecretary for legal affairs Franklin Sunga, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos also gave assurance that steps were being taken to avoid the disenfranchisement of teachers serving as election inspectors.

"(We) would like to inform all our teachers who served in the last two electoral exercises whose registrations have been deactivated that their registrations shall be reactivated," Abalos told Sunga in a letter dated March 21.

Sunga said the letter of Abalos addressed the teachers’ concern of disenfranchisement for rendering poll duties after being deputized as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs).

Earlier, in a dialogue with Comelec, teachers expressed fear that they will be deprived of their right to vote on the basis of the poll body’s ruling that failure to vote on two consecutive elections will mean deactivation from the list of voters.

On the matter of the teachers’ poll duty pay, the terms agreed upon include a P3,000 allowance per public school teacher who will serve as chairman or member of the BEI; another P3,000 for public school teachers or principal or supervisor who will be assigned by the Comelec as team leader to look after and monitor 10 polling precincts. – Rainier Allan Ronda