COTABATO CITY – The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) is set to deploy 6,000 teachers to serve during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Monday.
DepEd-ARMM secretary, lawyer Rasol Mitmug Jr., said three teachers will be assigned as members of the electoral board for every voting precinct in the region for this year’s nationwide village and barangay and youth council polls.
“Each electoral board member will receive an allowance worth PHP6,500,” he said during a press conference held at the DepEd-ARMM main office here Wednesday.
Mitmug said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set for the election, with ARMM security forces ready to protect teachers assigned to polling stations.
DepEd–ARMM, he said, is also implementing a mechanism that will monitor the safety of the teachers during the elections, known as the DepEd-ARMM Emergency Response Network.
About 22,000 teachers have been assigned to the region’s area components — the cities of Marawi and Lamitan, and the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, and Basilan.
The region has some 2,490 barangays according to regional file records.
Mitmug said he has so far not received any request from teachers for relief from election duties in connection with the upcoming polls.
This developed as DepEd-ARMM is set to fill up a total of 2,458 available items for school year 2018-2019, which includes teaching positions in the elementary and junior high school levels, pending the issuance of the Notice of Organization, Staffing and Compensation Action from the DepEd-Central Office.
Mitmug said he is pushing for the school-based management system, which better empowers the DepEd-ARMM, along with schools across the region, in terms of planning and decision-making on education policies. (Noel Punzalan/PNA)
