At least 2,000 teachers in Central Visayas who served during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections are still yet to claim their cash cards from their respective Commission on Elections (Comelec) offices.
Comelec-7 Director Veronico Petalcorin said that the teachers need to claim their cash cards as soon as possible in order for them to finish their reports.
Petalcorin admitted that they were not able to release all the cash cards when the teachers turned over the election returns on May 15.
He said that the inconsistent changes in the requirements and the supposed deduction of the teachers’ honoraria due to the provisions of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law have been the main reasons why the teachers were not able to get the cash cards immediately.
The teachers’ honoraria were supposed to be taxed but as some teachers are enjoying tax exemption under the Train law, some of them need to have the full amount.
“Among gikaltasan (for taxes), so ingon sila (teachers) nga nganong gikaltasan sila so ingon ang Comelec Head Office nga okay atong i-uli pero kinahanglan nga moexecute silag sworn statement (of tax exemption),” said Petalcorin.
The sworn statement, according to Petalcorin, will also need to be forwarded to their head office.
Petalcorin said that there were teachers who were not covered by the tax exemption so they did not need to comply with the additional requirements and were able to immediately claim the cash cards.
He added that there were also teachers who waived their tax exemption to claim their honoraria immediately.
“We are really compelled to give them their cash cards. Our trouble now is that most of them are out of town already,” Petalcorin told Cebu Daily News in an interview.
Petalcorin said that they have been trying to contact the remaining teachers who are yet to claim their honoraria but some of the teachers are already on vacation while some were unable to claim the cash cards since they are also serving as coaches for the athletes of the Philippine National Games.
Teachers who served as Chairpersons of the Electoral Board are to receive P6,000 while the EB members are given P5,000.
Department of Education Supervisor Officials are also given P4,000 while the support staff are to receive P2,000 each.