Solons want teachers' poll duty to be voluntary

MANILA, Philippines - Four legislators are now pushing for bills seeking to make poll duty of public school teachers and other qualified citizens voluntary.

House Bill 444 by ACT Teachers partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, HB 3205 by 1-SAGIP partylist Rep. Erlinda Santiago, HB 3255 filed by Paranaque City Rep. Eric Olivarez, and HB 3514 authored by Camarines Sur Rep. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo are now with the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.

"Elections are fundamental to a democratic country like the Philippines. Election service is an essential civic duty that should be made available to all concerned and qualified citizens, providing greater opportunities for people’s participation in this democratic process," the authors said.

Under Republic Act 6646 or the Omnibus Election Code, teachers cannot refuse to serve as members of the Board of Inspectors (BEI), Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI), Board of Election Tellers (BET), and Special Board of Election Tellers (SBET).

They can only refuse to serve if: a) teacher is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any of the candidates or spouse; b) sick or otherwise pregnant; or c) physically incapacitated.

The proposed measures also were one in proposing to institutionalize the benefits and privileges of BEI, SBEI and BET members, as follows: (a) compulsory insurance coverage with the Government Service Insurance System; b) legal assistance and indemnification; honoraria and allowance; c) voting privilege in the precinct where he/she is assigned on election day; and d) option of public school teachers as BEI members.

Robredo's bill defines and lays out a standard system in the provision of honoraria, allowances, and insurance coverage as well as private legal assistance and security measures to the members of each specified board.

"These intend to keep our teachers safe and provide them the needed protection against any election-related harassment," Robredo said.

Olivarez's bill, on the other hand, noted that in other countries, election tellers for BEI are not necessarily public school teachers but they come from all sectors of society.

"In fact, the world-wide trend is to open up election service to citizens of known probity and competence and not limited to teachers," Olivarez added.

Santiago's HB 3205, meanwhile, provides for regular and adequate training program for all BRI members and institutionalizes the provision of security for BEI members to be provided by law enforcement units under the direction of the Commission on Elections.

"Our election laws already provide for the participation of other sectors in elections such as the local government units, military and police, poll watchers, canvassing watchers. Getting other sectors to fill-up BEI positions will no longer be a new development therefore," Santiago said.

For his part,  Tinio said that mandatory election duty has long been an additional burden for public school teachers, who are already hard-pressed to provide quality education to the Filipino youth, in the face of low pay and difficult working conditions.

"In order to alleviate their plight, teachers must be given the freedom to choose whether or not they want to fulfill the roles of the BEI," Tinio added.

Among the many violent incidents against teachers during poll duties, Tinio cited that in the 1995 elections, teacher Filomena Tatlonghari was shot and killed in Mabini, Batangas for refusing to surrender a ballot box to armed men.

In 2007, teacher Nelly Banaag died protecting ballots after masked armed men torched two classrooms which served as polling precincts in Taysan, Batangas.

"In the 2010 national and barangay elections, many more unsung heroes faced tremendous odds just to ensure the people’s votes are kept safe," Tinio said.