Metro Manila teachers demand release of unpaid election honoraria

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May 20, 2025 | 4:15pm

MANILA, Philippines — More than a week after the elections, a Metro Manila teachers' union has urged the Commission on Elections to immediately release the unpaid election honoraria of "thousands" of poll workers, calling the delay unjust after a grueling election day.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers - NCR Union (ACT-NCR) said in a statement that several teachers who served as electoral board members on May 12 have yet to receive their compensation.

The Comelec earlier announced it would release all election allowances within 10 days of the elections.  

Philstar.com has reached out to the Comelec for comment and will update this article with their response.

"It has been a week since the elections, yet thousands of teachers who served as members of the electoral board have not received their long-overdue compensation," said Ruby Bernardo, president of the ACT-NCR Union. "It is unacceptable that teachers endure heat, exhaustion, and danger for elections, yet when it comes to compensation and benefits, they are always left waiting."

Some teachers had to use personal funds for food and transportation, expecting that their allowances would be released promptly, the group said. Others reportedly borrowed money just to be able to perform their duties on election day.

"This should not be the situation for those who uphold our democracy," Bernardo said.

The union also highlighted the harsh conditions and challenges faced by teacher-poll workers last week. Several had to deal with, malfunctioning vote-counting machines, health and safety risks, and working for over 24 consecutive hours.

Tax exemption urged. In addition to demanding the immediate release of unpaid honoraria, ACT-NCR renewed its long-standing call to exempt teachers’ election pay from taxation.

"Election service is already a major sacrifice. Taxing their meager honoraria only adds insult to injury," Bernardo said. 

While the Comelec recently approved a P1,000 increase in compensation, the union pointed out that a 15% tax deduction significantly offsets the raise.

“The additional P1,000 is almost rendered useless because of the 15% tax deduction,” Bernardo said. “Teachers' honoraria should rightfully be tax-exempt, and they should receive overtime pay if they worked more than 24 hours.”

New rates. Earlier this month, the Comelec announced an additional P1,000 honoraria for all 758,549 electoral board members, after the Department of Budget and Management approved a P758.5-million allocation for the increase.

Under the revised rates, electoral board members are entitled to the following honoraria: P13,000 for the chairperson, P12,000 each for the poll clerk and third member, and P9,000 for support staff.

Public school teachers as poll workers

Serving as an electoral board member in the Philippines has been voluntary for public school teachers since the signing of Republic Act 10756 or the Election Service Reform Act in 2016.

Prior to this law, election service was compulsory for teachers.  

Under current law, electoral boards must have two members who are public school teachers willing and available to serve during elections. If there aren’t enough teachers, the Comelec can appoint others in this order: private school teachers, government employees, members of accredited citizen groups, and then any registered voter known for their integrity.  

The law was created to protect teachers from political pressure and to ensure their safety, as some teacher-poll workers in election hotspots have had to carry out their duties in difficult and risky conditions.