Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9) — Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also education secretary, proposes to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that teachers be compensated in advance of poll duties.
“We owe it to them to ensure the safe and credible conduct of vote canvassing. Baka naman, sa amin lang from the Department of Education, mauna ‘yung bayad sa mga teachers namin bago ang election,” Duterte said before Comelec stakeholders at the 2023 National Election Summit.
[Translation: Maybe, just for us from the Department of Education, our teachers will be paid first before the election.]
She said public school teachers have been requesting early and proper compensation for the “long and tedious hours” in polling precincts.
Duterte also appealed to Comelec to guarantee the safety of teachers, claiming some of them were being threatened by “warlord politicians” to use as tools for electoral fraud. She added these often take place in “remote areas known to be controlled by politicians’ private armies.”
“Alam natin na mahirap kalaban ang mga warlords na may private army. Pero kailangan nating ipakita na mas mahirap pong kalaban ang mga taong gobyerno katulad ng mga pulis at mga sundalo because they represent the government,” she said.
