Comelec wants automatic honoraria increase for teachers in every poll

Comelec pushes for honoraria increases for teachers during every election. Photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta.

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Thursday said that there should be a law mandating the automatic increase for honoraria for teachers serving as electoral board members in every election.

For the 2025 midterm elections, the teachers were granted a P2,000 across-the-board increase in honoraria.

“As the time goes by, our expenses also increase. So there should be an automatic increase in honoraria for teachers and of course, we are pushing for the tax exemption for the teachers,” Garcia, speaking in Filipino, said in a forum organized by the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association.

READ: Teachers unhappy with poll pay hike

Garcia said that without tax exemption, the honoraria increase will just be rendered useless as prices of commodities and basic goods continue to rise nowadays.

“Even if the teachers don’t say it, it’s only right. We can see their sacrifices,” Garcia noted.

Aside from the P2,000 increase in payout, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier approved the additional P1,000 for teachers and poll workers who served in the recent elections.

The Comelec on Wednesday reported that the poll body completed the distribution of the honoraria of teachers across the country.

However, Garcia said that the poll body will wait for some teachers who attend the Palarong Pambansa before they start distributing the P1,000 election pay hike.

Garcia also reiterated that they will appeal to the president to grant the additional P2,000 honoraria for teachers who will serve in the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

The additional honoraria for the teachers in the 2025 midterm elections will not be applied to the 2025 BSKE due to budget cuts./mr