To address possible concerns of teachers who will serve as poll workers in the upcoming 2022 national and local elections, the Department of Education (DepEd) assured that it continues to coordinate with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“I am sure magkakaroon ng (there will be) simulation or dry runs ito (for this),” Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said in a recent public briefing when asked about the preparations of DepEd and Comelec related to the May 2022 elections.
As part of DepEd’s preparations for the upcoming polls, Malaluan said that the Office of Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua is directly coordinating with Comelec on matters related to the teachers who will sit as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs).
“Of course, we are interested to know kung may (if this has) effect ito sa (on the) timing,” Malaluan said as the 2022 election is scheduled at a time of a pandemic.
Given this, Malaluan said that health and safety protocols are expected to be implemented during the conduct of the elections since these will be “very important” information.
Meanwhile, he noted that DepEd and the teachers have also been preparing for the elections.
“As always ay ang atin namang (our) Department and our teachers on their own have shown that under most circumstances that they are always ready to assist in this democratic exercise,” Malaluan said.
He reiterated that DepEd and Comelec will continue to have a “high-level coordination” in anticipation of further developments in the conduct of the upcoming elections.
“As I mentioned may coordination tayo at a high level with the Comelec and we anticipate iyong mga... ibig sabihin partikular changes siguro sa oras at saka sa voting place protocols and certainly dapat ay mas maagang malaman ito ng mga guro natin para makapaghanda ng mabuti (As I mentioned we have coordination at a high level with the Comelec and we anticipate particular changes maybe in time and also in voting place protocols and certainly our teachers should know this earlier to be able to prepare well),” he added.