Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones expressed her gratitude to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for granting the increase of the honorarium of the members of electoral boards which will be composed of teachers.
“I would like to express our appreciation to the Comelec, the Chairman, and all the officials, for the generous adjustments in honoraria and allowances for the members of the electoral board, which we were advocating for in DepEd,” Briones said in a statement issued Thursday, Jan. 27.
Citing the released Comelec Resolution No. 10727, DepEd said that the Chairperson of the Electoral Boards will now receive P7,000; Members of Electoral Boards – P6,000; Department of Education Supervisor Official (DESO) – P5,000; and Support Staff – P3,000.
Meanwhile, Briones also assured the cooperation of DepEd to ensure smooth preparations for the upcoming 2022 National and Local Elections.
“With three agencies working and cooperating very closely and linking our various campaigns, we can communicate with the public our joint efforts to assure free, fair, and clean elections,” Briones said during the virtual Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between DepEd, Comelec, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) early this week.
Based on the MOA, DepEd will spearhead the process of selecting teachers who will serve as members of the electoral board.
DOST, on the other hand, will be in charge of the upskilling activities and certification under the Automated Election Law.
DepEd, DOST, and Comelec also assured the public that members of the electoral board will undergo training and a written examination which will be held virtually.
They will also undergo a practical examination on the use of the vote-counting machines.
Aside from Briones, DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del Pascua and Undersecretary for Field Operations Revsee Escobedo joined the key officials from Comelec and DOST during the MOA signing.