MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is considering deploying around 35,000 armed personnel to serve as substitute electoral board members for the 2025 polls, Chairman George Garcia said on Thursday.
According to Garcia, the contingency plan will be implemented if teachers or the original electoral board members withdraw from their duties due to security concerns.
“Gusto namin magkaroon ng hanggang 30 to 35,000 na mga PNP personnel at ibang personnel from the military, halimbawa, para lang may naka-standby tayo,” Garcia said in an online interview with reporters.
(We want to have around 30,000 to 35,000 PNP personnel and other military personnel, for example, just to ensure we have standby support.)
READ: Sulu not yet an ‘area of concern’ or for ‘Comelec control’ – chief
Garcia clarified that they will not yet disclose the areas where they target to deploy the armed personnel.
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“Ayaw ko munang i-pinpoint yung partikular na lugar na plano natin silang ideploy o nakastandby basis sapagka’t ayaw nating magcreate ng scenario baka akala ng ibang kababayan natin lalo na sa mga lugar na yan na magulo sa area nila. Hindi naman po ganun ang katotohanan,” Garcia added.
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(I don’t want to pinpoint the specific areas where we plan to deploy or have them on standby because we don’t want to create a scenario where people in those areas might think their area is problematic. That is not the truth.)
He recalled an instance from the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in 2023 when more than 2,500 teachers backed out from their duties as poll watchers. Some of the teachers cited fear and intimidation as reasons for withdrawal.
READ: More than 2,500 teachers back out of election work
“Kinakailangang mayroon din tayong ganyang paghahanda sapagka’t mayroong posibilidad na maaaring related ‘yung guro sa isang kandidato o mayroon mga guro minsan, may nararamdaman sila na threat o takot doon sa pagsisilbi bilang myembro ng electoral board,” he noted.
(We also need to have such preparations because there is a possibility that a teacher could be related to a candidate or, at times, teachers may feel threatened or afraid about serving as members of the electoral board.)
Additionally, the Comelec chief said that around 300,000 teachers will be trained as electoral board members in February 2025.
He added that one million teachers, including school principals and support staff, will need to be trained.
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The Republic Act No. 10756, or An Act Rendering Election Service Non-Compulsory for Public School Teachers, states that the poll body may tap the assistance of the Department of Education’s non-teaching personnel and other government employees, as well as private school teachers to render election-related services.