Blame teachers’ groups for growing refusal to serve in polls — Brillantes

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. has blamed teachers’ groups for the growing number of teachers   refusing to serve in elections.

“This is only my personal (opinion) and I’m not committing the commissioners,” he said last Friday. “We are having these things now because there are several associations already.”

Brillantes was reacting to reports that polls were cancelled in about 97 barangays – 66 of them in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao – after teachers have declined to serve as Board of Election Tellers (BETs).

Commissioner Grace Padaca said of the almost 500,000 teachers called for poll duty, only 1,750 were not able to report for election duty as many of them found out that they have relatives running, thus disqualifying them from serving at BETs.

“They volunteered the information because they did not know they have relatives among the candidates until the deadline (for the filing of the certificates of candidacy) which was Oct. 17.”

The Comelec was also faced with demands to increase the BETs’ P2,000 honorarium and P500 transportation allowance.

Some teachers’ groups also wanted election duty to be optional.