The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started to release the honoraria for thousands of teachers, supervisors and support staff who served during the elections in Negros Oriental.

At the provincial level, a total of 3,867 teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd) who served in the electoral boards (EBs) in 1,289 clustered voting precincts will receive their honorarium, according to what was stipulated by the Comelec.

Dr. Juditha Mapue, chief of the curriculum implementation department of the DepEd City Schools Division in Dumaguete City, said the payout for the teachers is being done at the office of the election officer.

Mapue said the number of teaching personnel deployed during the election in this capital city alone totaled 498, with 60 non-teaching and other personnel also on the list.

The EB chair receives P12,000; EB member, P11,000; support staff, P8,000; DESO (DepEd supervisory official), P11,000; and DESO technical support staff, P9,000.

However, a 15-percent tax is deducted from the honoraria.

Mapue said they are “hopeful that the government will follow through with its promise of an additional P2,000 honorarium for the teachers and other personnel who served in the elections.”

Provincial election supervisor Eddie Aba said the Comelec released the honoraria as originally stipulated, with no official announcement yet on the additional amount. (PNA)