It's possible to give the honoraria to the teachers who will serve poll exercises in advance but in a way, it will be up to the Commission on Audit (COA), according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia.
In a press conference on Thursday, March 9, during the second day of the National Election Summit, Garcia mentioned that matters such as this, which will greatly benefit the teachers is of no problem to the poll body, however, he stated that this is something that must be allowed by COA.
He explained that there have been instances wherein they paid in advance but some teachers failed to serve on election day.
"Kapag nagkaganun kinakailangan ibalik lahat ng naiadvance namin na yun. Alam niyo naman sa pamahalaan lalong-lalo na sa isyu ng budgeting, accounting mukhang hindi basta basta pinapayagan yung advanced payment sa mga services. Dapat po maglingkod po muna pagkatapos saka yung bayad (If that happens, we need to return the honoraria that was given in advance. As you know in the government when it comes to the issue of budgeting, accounting it seems that advanced payment is not easily permitted. Services must be rendered first before the payment comes)," he shared.
"As far as the Comelec is concerned, we can always do anything para lang sa ikabubuti ng ating mga guro. Kaya lang po, muli, ginawa na po namin yan dati. Nag-advance ng 50 percent, kaya lang po maraming mga guro dahil tinakot dahil sa kung ano mang kadahilanan hindi nag report sa araw ng election at nagkaroon ng problema lalo na sa COA (We have done this before. We asked for an advance of 50 percent, but a lot of teachers who for some reason became too afraid to report on election day which created more problems with COA) ," he explained.
Garcia said that they will definitely proceed with this move should COA allow them to do so.
Comelec's first-ever summit aims to provide a platform for national dialogue, and consultation with election stakeholders in the enhancement of policies, plans, and programs in election administration and enforcement of election laws.
The election summit will focus on the following topics:
- voter registration
- voting, counting, and canvassing processes;
- campaign finance and fair elections;
- filing of Certificate of Candidacy, party-list accreditation, and adjudication of cases;
- teachers as members of the electoral boards; and
- integration of voter education in the K-12 Curriculum, tertiary education, and the National Service Training Program (NSTP)
The summit will be held until March 10.