Former Vice President and senatorial aspirant Jejomar Binay backed the scrapping of the tax on the honorarium of teachers and other poll workers in the upcoming May 2022 elections.

Binay made the statement on Monday, March 21, following the petition filed by a group for the removal of the honorarium tax.

“Ito ay pagkilala sa hirap at sakripisyo ng ating mga guro at mga poll worker tuwing eleksyon (This is to recognize the sacrifices of our teachers and poll workers every election),” Binay said.

He added that aside from ensuring that the elections remain honest and credible, teachers and other poll workers also have to endure the weather conditions and the threat of Covid-19.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) started imposing a five percent tax on teachers’ compensation for their election duties in 2018.

But the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said that for the May elections, a 20 per cent tax will be imposed on teachers’ travel allowance.

Members of the electoral board for this year’s elections will receive P6,000 to P7,000 honorarium. Other poll workers, including DepEd Supervisor Officials (DESO), medical personnel, and technical support staff will be given P3,000 to P5,000.

Electoral board members, DESOs, and their support staff are also entitled to a P2,000 travel allowance, while medical personnel and other support staff will be given P1,000 for transportation. All are also entitled to a P500 anti-Covid-19 allowance.

Binay said that removing the tax would make it easier for poll workers to collect their pay.

“Kung gusto nila ma-exempt sa pagbabayad ng tax, kailangan pa nilang mag-file ng deklarasyon na mababa sa P250,000 ang kanilang annual gross income para ma-exempt sa pagbabayad ng tax (If they want to be exempted in paying taxes, they have to declare that they are just earning less that P250,000 annually),” Binay added.