• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A total of 660 support staff hired by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental to serve during the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) last Oct. 30 are still waiting to be paid.
Mayor Benjie Miranda said yesterday the local Comelec office asked for his assistance in paying the personnel, involving an amount of P3.7 million.
Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia earlier announced that the honoraria for teachers and poll workers who served during the 2023 BSKE shall be paid 15 days after the election.
Miranda said the Comelec admitted an “honest mistake” in hiring the services of support staff.
Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said the case is now being investigated, but he did not elaborate.
“We are trying to look for a legal basis for them to get paid,” Miranda said.
The mayor noted that the case of unpaid election support staff is not only happening in Kabankalan, but also in two other local government units in Negros Occidental.
Each support staff is entitled to receive P5,500 each as an honorarium for the services they rendered.
“We are not saying that we are not going to help them, but the city government has no budget for it,” Miranda said.
Based on the updated honoraria rates, the Comelec raised the compensation from P6,000 and P5,000 to P10,000 and P9,000 for electoral chairpersons and board members, respectively. | GB
