Teachers unhappy with poll pay hike
Teachers’ groups on Saturday criticized the new honoraria rates for poll workers as it remained taxable, leaving the take-home pay for their election duties still “grossly insufficient.”
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) slammed the Marcos administration’s “continued refusal” to grant poll workers tax-free honoraria and said the approved hike was just an “empty political gesture” because it “fails to address teachers’ fundamental concerns.”
The group said tax deductions would significantly cut it by 15 to 20 percent.
The Department of Budget and Management announced on Friday that it green-lighted the across-the-board P2,000 increase in the honoraria of poll workers.
With the hike, the electoral board chairperson will get P12,000 from the previous P10,000; poll clerk and third member will now receive P11,000 from the P9,000; while support staff will be entitled to P8,000 from P6,000.
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition, for its part, challenged President Marcos to “go beyond the increase” and push for tax exemption, which he vetoed in his first year of office.
