Teachers fear disenfranchisement, duty disqualification in 2013 election

MANILA, Philippines - Public school teachers urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to address the massive disenfranchisement of teachers in the May 2013 elections who were removed from voters’ list in their respective voting precincts for failure to vote in the two previous elections due to their poll duty.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), a federation of public school teachers’ associations all over the country, said that the removal of these teachers in the voters’ lists will also disqualify them from again serving in the coming elections.

This scenario, the TDC warned, could pose a big problem for the Comelec on election day if they do not have enough public school teachers to serve as chair or members of the board of election inspectors (BEIs).

TDC cited DepEd’s own figures that placed the disenfranchised teachers last May 2010 elections at around 120,000. It was learned that there were some 300,000 teachers who served in the 2010 elections.

“In 2013 elections, we do not want this to happen again,” the TDC said.

The TDC stressed that DepEd and Comelec can address these concerns by verifying early the status of teachers’ registration to identify those who are qualified to sit in the BEIs especially where they are registered to vote so that they can also exercise their right to vote.

The TDC also recommended the reactivation of voters’ registration of teachers who have been deactivated by the Comelec for failing to cast votes in the past two elections.

“We believe that the Commission has enough time, power and resources to preempt yet another massive disenfranchisement of public school teachers — the very facilitators of Philippine elections,” TDC said.

“Suffrage is a constitutional right of every citizen, and it is quite ironic that we teachers, the frontline workers to assure that every Filipino could participate in this democratic exercise will be deprived of this right,” TDC stressed.

“While the terrible experiences in the past elections give us good reason to lobby for the optional poll duties of public school teachers, we still believe that this is a part of our extended obligation to our people, beyond classroom teaching — it is our patriotic duty,” TDC said.