VP Sara visits Comelec, DepEd operations center for 2023 BSKE

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday visited the main office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to check on the poll body and the Department of Education’s command center for the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

At a press conference, Comelec chairman George Garcia said they allotted a space for DepEd personnel at the Comelec building so they would no longer have to build their own operations center for the BSKE on October 30.

“She actually requested the Commission na baka pwedeng maasikaso namin ang mga DepEd personnel na magma-man ng command center and operations center ng DepEd dito sa Comelec,” Garcia said.

(She actually requested the Commission to take care of the DepEd personnel who will man the command center and operations center of DepEd here at the Comelec.)

“Likewise, pinakita ng Comelec kanina kung paano imomonitor lahat ng activities patungkol sa eleksyon simula sa delivery, hanggang sa pagpapasweldo o pagbibigay ng honoraria ng ating mga guro sa darating na eleksyon,” he added.

(Likewise, the Comelec showed her how it will monitor all activities related to the election starting from delivery of election paraphernalia, to the provision of salary or honoraria for our teachers.)

Garcia said they also explained to Duterte how the Comelec will deploy all the election paraphernalia starting early Friday up to Monday before the election begins.

In March, Duterte appealed to the Comelec to provide in advance the honoraria for teachers who will render services for the 2023 BSKE.

Garcia, in response, said that while this is possible, the decision would still be up to the Commission on Audit (COA).

Teachers who will serve as poll workers for the upcoming BSKE will receive P9,000 to P10,000 in honoraria, which is higher than the previous P5,000 to P6,000.—AOL, GMA Integrated News