Poll reforms urged to protect teachers

Education Secretary Raul Roco said yesterday he will push for reforms in the country’s electoral system to protect the teachers against abuses and harassment.

Roco said he will ask President Arroyo to certify as urgent during her "State of the Nation Address" all pending bills on electoral reforms so that they could be implemented in the 2004 elections.

"If we cannot let go of teachers during elections, we must at least minimize their participation. We owe it to the teachers to lessen their workload, especially if we cannot give them enough compensation and protection," he said.

During elections, it is mandatory for the 500,000 public school teachers to serve as election inspectors in polling precincts.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has been opposing this policy, citing the inefficiency of the government to shield teachers from harassment and exploitation by candidates and their supporters.

ACT complains that teachers are usually blamed by losing candidates despite their sacrifices during elections.

One of the reforms which Roco wants the government to carry out is the computerization of the electoral process.

When the elections are computerized, Roco said teachers no longer have to participate in the counting of votes.

"Teachers will only be tasked to give voters the ballots and oversee the dropping of the ballots in the boxes. The counting will be done by computers so this means lighter workload for teachers," he added.

In Monday’s polls, ACT complained that many teachers were subjected to coercion and abuses. Aside from this, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) also did not release their P900 per diem on time.

Raymund Villanueva, ACT deputy secretary-general, cited survey results that 80 percent of teachers no longer want to serve in elections.

"These are not new problems but the government could still not offer any concrete solution. So the teachers now no longer want to take part in any election," he added.

ACT believes that the rights of teachers are being violated when they are forced to do something against their will.

Villanueva said ACT will push for the voluntary participation of teachers in the coming elections.

"Unless the government is able to institute safety measures for teachers, we must not be required to participate in elections. We’ll push for this," he added.