Caloocan teachers paid for poll duty

Caloocan City Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri clarified that the city government has disbursed the honorarium and allowance of teachers who acted as members of the Board of Election Tellers (BETs) during the Oct. 29 synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Echiverri cited that a Nov. 9 Commission on Elections (Comelec) memorandum given to the Caloocan City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) mentioned an Oct. 27 memorandum of the Finance Services Department, which provides that members of the BETs shall receive only P1,000; those handling SK precincts shall be paid an additional amount of P500 per member; and an additional amount of P500 per BET member for the transportation allowance.

According to the statement, the CTO received P15 million from the Comelec only on Oct. 31. The CTO also issued an official receipt for P656,000 dated Nov. 13, 2007 to cover the payment of P1,000 for Department of Education supervisors and P500 for support personnel.

The city has around 2,257 precincts in its first district and around 1,019 precincts in the second district.

Echiverri has directed concerned offices to coordinate with the Comelec in case there are other allowances that  are in store for the teachers and to see to it that the allowances are given to them fully and immediately.