Comelec: No complaint to be filed vs teachers who withdrew from BSKE duty

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections clarified on Friday that it will not be filing criminal complaints against teacher-poll workers who begged off from working during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections last Monday.

While the poll body will investigate the factors that caused some 2,500 teachers in the Bangsamoro region to back out at the last minute from serving as election workers, "no complaint will be filed against a single teacher," Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said in a press conference.

Instead, the Comelec will be "filing cases against those who have threatened or caused violence against our teachers, and against our personnel, and Comelec officials and employees," Garcia added.

The Comelec will, however, probe the reasons that made teachers back out on the elections day itself and those who refused to turn over the elections paraphernalia assigned to them, Garcia added.

Garcia also reiterated that teachers were well within their right to back out of election services. 

 "Criminal cases are very grave, and given that we provided only a limited amount for honoraria, and teachers were threatened… Why would we file a case against those who were threatened?" Garcia said in Filipino.

 At least 2,530 teachers who initially signed up to render election-related work in the Bangsamoro region backed out on election day, according to the Comelec. Members of the Philippine National Police took over their poll duties.

Two weeks before election day, around 44 teachers in the province of Abra begged off from election duties due to concerns over their safety following shooting incidents in Bucay town.

Almost 500,000 public school teachers served as election staff during the BSKE.

Two teachers' groups who conducted their independent monitoring of the BSKE said that several teachers experienced delays in returning election paraphernalia, forcing some to work up to over 24 hours.