The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms has approved the committee report on the substitute bill that seeks to strengthen the field offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The draft substitute bill on House Bills Nos. 511, 1669, 4853, 4985, 5190, 5270, 5305, 5524, 5563, 5649 seek amendments to Section 53 of Batas Pambansa 881, also known as the “Omnibus Election Code,” by proposing the creation of new field offices and upgrading some positions within the poll body.

The said bill intends to reorganize the Comelec offices and reclassify and upgrade plantilla positions within the poll body.

The measure also seeks to fix the disparity in the salary grades of Comelec employees nationwide, majority of whom are from the rank-and-file and receiving mid to low-level income.

The bill reclassified the positions of under the Comelec regional election office. Under the measure it will now be headed by a Regional Election Director (Director IV with a Salary Grade of 28) and be assisted by the Assistant Regional Director (Director III who will have a Salary Grade of 27).

The bill also seeks to reclassify positions in the provincial election offices, with the Provincial Election Director given with a Salary Grade 26 and with the rank of Director II regardless of the number of registered voters in the provincial election office.

The bill also provides for the designation of a city election officer for every highly urbanized city (HUC) election office with the rank of Director II and having Salary Grade 26, regardless of the number of registered voters.

According to the bill, an HUC is a city with a minimum population of 200,000 inhabitants as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and an income of at least P50-million as certified by the City Treasurer.