BEI support staff in NCR still unpaid — report

Ten days after the May 10 polls, the allowance for the support staff contracted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to help the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) has yet to be paid, a report on radio dzBB said on Thursday. The report cited Comelec National Capital Region (NCR) director Michael Dioneda as saying that the P22.5-million fund for the 15,000 support staff in the region has not yet been released by the commission’s finance department. Following complaints from members of the support staff, Dioneda assured that he was following up on the release of the fund, which allots P1,500 for every member of the support staff who served in the elections. Aside from the support staff, Dioneda also said teachers who served as members of the BEI in Caloocan and the First District of Quezon City have not yet received their pay. All the other poll inspectors in the region, however, were already paid, the report cited Dioneda as saying. Days after the election, members of the BEI staged protests asking for a P2,000-additional pay after the Comelec failed to pay them promptly. Two-week timetable hit Meanwhile, militant teachers’ group complained over the two-week timetable they got from the Comelec and the Department of Education (DepEd) on the payment of their colleagues who performed poll duty last May 10. Alliance of Concerned Teachers president Antonio Tinio questioned the new timetable, saying that in past elections, teachers got half their pay before Election Day. “Unfortunately ang naririnig nating tugon sa DepEd at Comelec, up to two weeks pa, o 15 days sinasabi ng time frame na bayaran ang teachers. Pag-atras ito. Sa nakaraang dalawang election ang practice ay kalahati ibibigay bago mag-election; tapos ang kalahati naibibigay right after maisauli ng election paraphernalia (Unfortunately we hear from the DepEd and Comelec that our pay will not come until after two weeks or 15 days after Election Day)," Tinio said in an interview on dwIZ radio. Citing information reaching his group, Tinio said teachers can expect to get their pay 15 days after Election Day, or May 25, at the earliest. He said the ACT is concerned for the teachers who fully deserve the P4,300 honorarium after serving as BEI members. Satisfactory security On the other hand, Tinio said they were satisfied with the security for teachers, as none of the teachers on duty during Election Day were reported injured. "Up to now walang serious issues na lumilitaw sa safety and security ng teachers (Up to now there have been no serious issues on the safety and security of teachers)," he said. When asked if the teachers were “more secure" in this year’s elections, he said, “maaari nating sabihin yan (we can say that)." “Definitely nagpapasalamat tayo na walang teacher na namatay. Dahil na rin siguro mas mabilis in general ang proseso, mas nabawasan nang malaki ang exposure sa banta sa mga teacher (Definitely we are thankful that no teacher was reported killed, in part due to the fast process of the elections. Thus the teachers were exposed less to threats)," he said.— Nikka Corsino/LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV