INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
BACOLOD CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the newly created Negros Island Region (NIR) has appealed to the mayors of Himamaylan and Kabankalan cities to help pay for the unpaid honoraria of 841 support staff who served in last year’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.
Comelec-NIR regional director Lionel Marco Castillano said he met with the mayors of the two cities to seek their help so an honoraria of P5,000 would be given to each support staff composed of teachers and other personnel of the Department of Education.
The poll body admitted to an “honest mistake” in hiring the services of the support staff, which was allowed during previous national elections, but not during the barangay and SK elections.
This led to the Comelec’s failure to pay the honoraria promised the support staff.
Catillano said the marching order of Comelec commissioner George Garcia to him was to find a way to pay the support staff because they deserved it.
The NIR Comelec legal officer provided the basis that would enable the local governments to pay the honoraria without being disallowed by the Commission on Audit.
READ: Negros leaders want NIR to function as an admin region before year end
“Hopefully, the city councils will see the way,” Catillano said in an interview on Aug. 20.
“And I hope the support staff can be paid at the earliest possible time so they will be encouraged to serve in the next polls,” he added.
Meanwhile, Castillano said the Comelec had not been informed or monitored any private armed groups in Negros Oriental ahead of the 2O25 polls.
He said they were keeping a close watch on Negros Oriental given its history of violence.
While killings in Negros Oriental did not happen during the election period, Castillano said “we know that they were a result of the elections.”
Negros Oriental was in the limelight following the killing of former Gov. Roel Degamo and nine other persons inside the local chief executive’s residential compound in Pamplona town, Negros Oriental on March 4, 2023.
Eleven suspects were arrested and earlier linked then Rep. Arnolfo Teves to the massacre.
Many suspects, however, recanted their confessions after they were provided with lawyers.
Teves, who was expelled by the House of Representatives last year due to his alleged involvement in the crime, repeatedly denied the accusations.
He was arrested by authorities while playing golf in Timor-Leste on March 21 this year based on a red alert notice by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
As a precaution, Comelec commissioner Garcia has directed Castillano to hold office in Dumaguete City to monitor the political situation in the area ahead of next year’s polls.
Castillano said they would be able to determine if there would be intense political rivalry in Negros Oriental after Certificates of Candidacy are filed in October.
READ: Unified Negros Island Region: What’s next?