Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Thursday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to pay teachers in advance for their service in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) slated in October 30, 2023.
“We owe it to them to ensure the safe and credible conduct of vote canvassing. Baka naman, sa amin lang from the Department of Education, mauna ‘yung bayad sa mga teachers namin bago ang election,” Duterte said before Comelec stakeholders at the 2023 National Election Summit at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila.
She said that public school teachers have been seeking in advance and appropriate recompense for the long and tiresome hours they work in voting precincts.
“Of course, bumabyahe sila, kumakain sila, and may gastusin din sila during the days na they are serving the country. Baka lang i-advance, or it can be a consideration, or plan for future elections na mauna ‘yung payments or ‘yung compensation para sa ating mga teachers,” she added.
She also called on the Comelec to ensure the safety of the teachers serving during elections.
“Minsan, ang mga guro ay tinatakot ng mga mga warlord politicians at ginagawang kasangkapan sa kanilang pandaraya,” Duterte said, adding that these incidents usually happen in remote areas known to be controlled by politicians’ private armies. Alam natin na mahirap kalaban ang mga warlords na may private army. Pero kailangan nating ipakita na mas mahirap pong kalaban ang mga taong gobyerno katulad ng mga pulis at mga sundalo because they represent the government,” she said.
Duterte also suggested technology procedures like fingerprint, face, and eye scanning as a preferable alternative to shading or writing on ballots to protect the legitimacy of the people’s votes.
She said that DepEd was very grateful for discussions like this because it gave teachers a platform to share their experiences during polls.
“We are very hopeful and optimistic for the commissioners and chairman of the Commission on Election that there will be an election coming up this year, in the next two years, in the next three years, and the several years to come, na hindi na natin makikita kung ano ‘yung mga problema na nakikita natin ngayon dahil nabigyan natin ng solusyon dahil mayroon tayong summit na ginagawa where we listen to our stakeholders and we sincerely look for solutions to the problems,” she added.
