By Myris Lee
An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday, May 16, that the commission has “approved in principle” the provision of additional honorarium to election personnel who had extended duty during the national and local elections.
In the Laging Handa briefing, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said the additional honorarium will cover teachers, technicians, and support staff who had overtime due to problems in vote-counting machines and defective Secure Digital cards.
“Approved na po iyan in principle. Napag-usapan na po ng en banc kahapon iyan. Ang amin lang pong inaalam ngayon, anu-ano at saan po ba iyong mga medyo may nasira, nagkaroon ng diperensiya na machine and therefore, napilitang mag-extend,” he said.
“Hindi na po pinag-uusapan kung anong oras, gaano kahaba, basta po nasira and therefore, kinakailangang alamin muna ng mabuti. Iyan po ay tiyak na ipapadala sa atin ng ating operation center,” he added.
Garcia has not yet disclosed the exact amount for the additional honorarium.
“Hindi na po pinag-uusapan kung anong oras, gaano kahaba, basta po nasira and therefore, kinakailangang alamin muna ng mabuti. Iyan po ay tiyak na ipapadala sa atin ng ating operation center,” he said.
“Pati po iyong mga nagsilbi na mga support staff, iyong mga technicians diyan po sa mga presinto na iyan, kinakailangan na sila po ay pantay-pantay na makatanggap,” he added. – ag