Push Admin

Comelec: No budget for teachers' overtime pay in barangay elections

Article (news)

Victoria Tulad, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Comelec Board of election Inspectors and poll clerks begin the counting of ballots as voting ends at the Paranaque Elementary School Central in Paranaque City on October 30, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/11/02/20231030-bske-2023-paranaque-jc-15.jpg"/><figcaption>Comelec Board of election Inspectors and poll clerks begin the counting of ballots as voting ends at the Paranaque Elementary School Central in Paranaque City on October 30, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it had no budget for the overtime pay of teachers who served in the recent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). Comelec Chairman George Garcia said while he wanted teachers to receive overtime pay, his hands were tied due to a joint circular from the Commission on Audit and the Department of Budget and Management. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/01/23/understand-why-teachers-withdrew-from-bske-duty-comelec-urged">Understand why teachers withdrew from BSKE duty, Comelec urged</a></li></ul>The joint circular showed that only employees of an agency or a government department were entitled to overtime pay. &quot;At dahil nga yung mga DepEd personnel kagaya ng mga guro ay hindi kasi empleyado ng Commission on Elections, hindi po namin sila pupuwedeng bigyan ng overtime pay,&quot; said Garcia. But he noted that the Comelec increased the honoraria from the 2018 elections. Under new guidelines, an electoral board chair will receive P10,000, while members will get P9,000. An additional P2,000 will be given to those who served in sites where there was early voting. Garcia said he wanted the honoraria to be given by Friday afternoon, but admitted this might be difficult to accomplish. Comelec has 15 days after the elections to complete the payment for teachers. <div>FILING OF CASES</div>Meanwhile, the Comelec chief said it was not prioritizing the filing of cases against teachers who backed out on the day of the BSKE, especially if their reasons for doing so were valid. Garcia said the Comelec did not yet have the total number of those who backed out on election day but said these were just a few. Most of them were from the Bangsamoro region, he said. &quot;Ang priority pa rin is alamin ano po ang kadahilanan para po hindi maulit. ‘Yung punto sa criminal o adminsitrative, secondary na po yan. In fact pupuwede nga pong wala based sa kanilang sasabihin sa atin,” said Garcia. “Kung saka sakaling administratibo, ibibigay na lang po namin sa DepEd o kaya sa... Bangsamoro kung ano ang kanilang gagawin administratively. As far as the Comelec is concerned, gusto lang namin munang palaliman ang kadahilanan,” he said. The withdrawal of teachers as poll workers were among the factors for the vote delays in Lanao Del Sur. This was compounded by the delay in delivery of election paraphernalia, the reason of which was still under investigation.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2861901" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>“Bakit sa araw ng eleksiyon tapos nagsimula na yung pagpapaboto ay bigla na lang nag-withdraw ng kanilang serbisyo sa mismong araw ng eleksiyon na ‘yan at nakapagsimula na, nakapag-open na yung mga presinto?” Garcia said. “At mas naging worse pa po, merong mga reports tayong natanggap na yung mga binabanggit nating mga ilang miyembro ng, electoral board members na yan, ayaw nilang ibigay o ayaw nilang i-turnover yung mga election paraphernalia na humalili sa kanila na mga personnel ng Philippine National Police,&quot; he said. The poll body, he said, wanted to find out if teachers were threatened. Prior to the local elections, around 3,000 other teachers already withdrew from poll duty. One of the reasons given was fear due to threats. “Yung implied na pananakot o imagine na takot nangyari before the elections pero on conduct of elections naging maayos,” Garcia said.<div>COPS WHO WITHDREW FROM ELECTION DUTY </div>Comelec also raised questions on why some cops withdrew from election duty last Monday. Garcia said this would be probed. Some officers supposedly said they were informed late. “Sabi natin, eh diba tinrain nga natin sila para maglingkod? Ano ang dahi-dahilan nila para hindi magpalit o pumalit o mag-substitute. Ano yung kadahilanan?&quot; said Garcia. &quot;Parang hindi kasi katanggap-tanggap sa &#x27;kin... Lalo namang hindi tamang dahilan yung tinakot sila. Eh pulis sila tapos tinakot?”He said he would leave the possible filing of administrative cases to the Philippine National Police. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos on Wednesday said he would support the filing of cases against policemen who withdrew from their BSKE duty.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said while he wanted teachers to receive overtime pay, his hands were tied. 

Comelec: No budget for teachers' overtime pay in barangay elections

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

News

Comelec: No budget for teachers' overtime pay in barangay elections

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 02, 2023 03:27 PM PHT

Read More:

BSKE

barangay elections

Comelec

overtime pay teachers

electoral board

OT pay teachers update Comelec

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.