Poll workers who are serving as Electoral Boards (EBs) during electoral exercises in the country are set to receive higher honoraria in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Thursday.

According to Comelec Chairperson George Garcia, the teachers who will be part of the October 2023 polls are set to receive a minimum of PHP8,000 to as high as PHP10,000.

“We will make it PHP10,000; PHP9,000 and PHP8,000. We will match it to what teachers receive in automate elections,” he said in a press conference Thursday.

“We will make it effective in the Barangay and SK elections,” the poll body chief added.

But, Garcia noted that the payment for teachers is not exempted from the Value Added Tax (VAT) deduction as the teachers’ honoraria would still be subjected to 20 percent VAT.

The new payment is higher than what the teachers received in the last BSKE, which was at PHP6,000, PHP5,000, and PHP4,000.

In the May 2022 polls, over 75,000 teachers served as Electoral Boards.

An EB is composed of a chairperson, two members, Department of Education Supervisor Official (DESO) and support staff. (PNA)