Since majority of poll workers are public school teachers, an organization of education workers asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure “just compensation, safety, and the overall well-being” of poll workers in the precinct level.

A year before the 2022 presidential elections, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Monday, May 10, urged the Comelec to thoroughly plan for the 2022 polls noting the “peculiar context” of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and “unresolved” issues and concerns experienced by poll workers in past elections

“Public school teachers who have rendered their services in the past elections have long complained over unjust compensation and inhumane treatment of poll workers,” ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio said.

Basilio noted that as it is, the honorarium is already low and even tax deductible. “For others, the preparation and monitoring service at the precincts and ballots takes more than 24 hours,” Basilio said in Filipino.

With the pandemic into the equation, Basilio said that it is even “more crucial” that Comelec urgently address these issues to “ensure the safety and welfare of our poll workers who would be putting their health and safety at risk to ensure a clean, fair, transparent, and honest presidential elections.”

Basilio noted that it is “only just” that Comelec properly compensates and takes into account the well-being of its poll workers.

“They are the backbone and front liners of every election, and the government must exhaust measures to guarantee they are being subjected to a fair labor environment and granted proper compensation,” he added.