By Gabriela Baron
A total of 37,219 public schools will be used as polling centers for the May 9 national and local elections, the Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday, May 4.
In the May 4 Laging Handa briefing, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said these schools will host a total of 106,439 precincts.
Briones said these precincts will be manned by 756,083 poll workers. Of the number, 647,812 are from DepEd.
“Naging tradisyon na kasi ang pag-trust sa Department of Education, sa ating teachers to ensure na malinis, tama, [at] accurate ang pagbilang ng mga boto,” Briones said.
“We have 319,000 electoral boards, tapos 200,000 DepEd personnel, tapos may mga supervisory official. Napaka-intensive ang involvement ng Department of Education sa halalan na ito,” she added.
The Education secretary also said they are appealing to the Commission on Elections and the Department of Budget and Management to increase the teachers’ honoraria in the 2022 polls.
Chairpersons of the election board will receive a P7,000 honorarium, P6,000 for election members, P5,000 for DepEd supervisor officials, and P3,000 for support staff on top of a P2,000 travel allowance and P500 anti-COVID shots.
DepEd personnel who will serve on election day are also entitled to leave credits and ensured P500,000 death benefits, P200,000 medical assistance, and P50,000 legal indemnification package. – ag
