Hiring prohibition leaves 900 Negros Occidental election workers unpaid

BACOLOD, Philippines – More than 900 people, mostly public school teachers, have gone unpaid for their roles in the 2023 barangay and youth elections in two Negros Occidental cities, despite a clear prohibition on their hiring. Local election offices overlooked the prohibition, leading to complications and a demand for payment nearly a year after the election.

Based on records of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Occidental, 257 poll workers in the cities of Himamaylan and 668 in Kabankalan have yet to be compensated, each entitled to P5,500, for their services during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on October 30, 2023.

Comelec Provincial Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Wednesday, August 7, that election officers Romeo Palma of Himamaylan and Jona Cabanilla of Kabankalan hired the 925 workers, despite the prohibition in Section 143 of Comelec Resolution No.10924, which barred the hiring of election support staff for the 2023 village and youth elections.

Ananoria called it an oversight on the part of Palma and Cabanilla that left the Comelec unable to provide assistance because there was a rule against the hiring.

He said the Himamaylan and Kabankalan cases should serve as a lesson for local election officers to strictly follow Comelec guidelines to avoid legal complications, especially with the upcoming 2025 midterm elections. 

Ananoria, however, stressed that the prohibition on hiring election workers applied only to the barangay and SK elections, and not to regular national and local elections.

Palma, an acting election officer at the time, said it was an “honest mistake,” which could cost him over P1.4 million. 

Cabanilla, who hired 668 workers, resigned from the Comelec in January, but before she stepped down, she shelled out more than P1.3 million of the P3.674 million to pay some of the people she hired. She still owes the workers P2.338 million.

Mayors Rogelio Raymund Tongson of Himamaylan and Benjie Miranda of Kabankalan have offered to help but has sought legal advice. 

Ananoria said newly installed Comelec-Negros Island Region Director Lionel Marco Castillano opined that they could be guided by quantum meruit, a legal principle that allows a person to receive reasonable payment for services rendered.

Tongson said the Himamaylan city budget office has referred the matter to the Department of Management (DBM) in Manila in hopes of resolving the issue legally to avoid further complications. 

“We are more than willing to help Comelec solve the problem, but we also want to ensure that everything will be done in a legal way so as not to cause another mess,” Tongson said.

Miranda has also said the Kabankalan City government could shoulder the outstanding P2.338 million, pending legal justification. – Rappler.com