Extra pay for teachers on poll duty pushed

Teachers serving as board of election inspectors spend an extra day on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, wrapping up their task at North Fairview Elementary School in Quezon City after vote-counting machines and secure digital (SD) cards malfunctioned in many precincts on Election Day. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Some teachers’ groups have joined the Department of Education (DepEd) in pressing the Commission on Elections for an across-the-board additional pay for teachers who rendered extra hours of service during the elections.

Teachers’ Dignity Coalition chair Benjo Basas cited a provision of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, Republic Act No. 4670, which stated that teachers who have worked beyond 24 hours are entitled to overtime pay.

Under Section 14 of RA 4670, teachers must be given additional compensation of at least 25 percent of their regular remuneration for “any work performed in excess of eight hours a day.”

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers also urged the poll body to provide additional compensation as the group submitted an initial list of more than 1,000 electoral board members eligible for the extended service pay.

Based on the DepEd’s data, more than 600,000 teaching and nonteaching personnel took part in the May elections.

—JANE BAUTISTA

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