Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 22) — There is no increase in the teachers’ honoraria for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in October as the proposed additional ₱10-billion budget did not push through, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
‘
“Dahil nga po sa kakulangan ng budget ay minarapat po natin na i-fix na lang po ang kanilang matatanggap sa ₱6,000 sa electoral board chairman, ₱5,000 sa mga members po, at ‘yong ibang precinct workers ₱4,000,” Comelec Chairperson George Garcia told reporters on Saturday.
‘
[Translation: Because of the tight budget, we have fixed their honoraria at ₱6,000 for the electoral board chairman, ₱5,000 for the members, and ₱4,000 for other precinct workers.]
‘
Congress only allocated an additional ₱2.7 billion for the BSKE. Sen. Imee Marcos earlier said the requested additional ₱10 billion was an “outrageous demand.”
‘
The ₱2.7 billion would be on top of the ₱8.441 billion that the poll body received last year for the postponed BSKE scheduled for last December.
‘
Garcia said the readjusted budget will be ₱2.7 billion to ₱3 billion if the number of new voters will reach 1.5 million to cover expenses for additional precincts and ballots.
‘
READ: Comelec: New voters for barangay, SK polls reach 1M; extension unlikely
‘
The Comelec chief also said the poll body is looking for ways to help teachers as the counting of votes will be manual, and he is still hopeful that Congress could still increase the teachers’ honoraria.
“As far as the ₱8.441 billion, ‘yun po ay sapat lamang para doon sa original honoraria ng ating mga guro…Subalit, alam niyo naman po kapag tayo ay nagkakaroon ng budget hearing, ito po ay isasalang sa budget deliberation ng ating Kongreso at ng ating Senado. Di po natin alam baka po sakaling sila naman ay magbigay ng karagdang matatangap ng ating mga kababayang electoral board members,” he explained.
‘
[Translation: The ₱8.441 billion is only enough for the original honoraria of our teachers…But then again, we know that if there will be a budget hearing, the proposed pay hike will be included in the deliberation of the House of Representatives and Senate. We don’t know, maybe they might allot additional pay for electoral board members.]
