• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A public school teacher, who is assigned as chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors for the May 12 polls in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, will be provided with legal assistance after she was accused of electioneering.
Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division-Negros Occidental spokesperson Ian Arnold Arnaez said yesterday he has yet to see a copy of the complaint, but added that the allegations will be thoroughly investigated.
During election time, wherever there are cases or issues against a teacher, the DepEd always provides legal assistance to them, he said.
He also said the DepEd has created an Election Task Force to monitor the situation in all schools being used as polling centers and to help teachers facing legal issues.
In his affidavit-complaint, Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Adrian Villaflor alleged that the respondent teacher, whose identity he withheld, accompanied reelectionist Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo in her campaign trail and caucuses in the different barangays.
Villaflor said that aside from lodging it the Commission on Elections (Comelec), similar complaints were also filed against the respondent before the Civil Service Commission and the DepEd.
Moreover, Arnaez said it will be the Comelec that will decide and act on the alleged electioneering.
The DepEd is not remiss in its duty of reminding teachers not to show any political inclination during election period otherwise, they are susceptible to electioneering cases, he added.
“They have to stick with the rules and guidelines of the Comelec. If they are compliant, nothing will go wrong,” Arnaez said. | GB
