S. No.
2178
H. No. 5412
llfpubltc of ^IjtlTpptnes
Congress of f{|e^{|ilippines
(^ e frO j^ m la
(Congress
®lprb Jlfgular^easion
Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-sevenlh
day of July, two thousand fifteen.
[ R epublic A ct N o . 1075G ]
AN ACT RENDERING ELECTION SERVICE NON-COMPULSORY
FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS. AUTHORIZING THE
APPOINTMENT OF OTHER QUALIFIED CITIZENS,
PROVIDING FOR COMPENSATION AND OTHER BENEFITS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section l. Short Title. —This Act shall be known as
the “Election Service Reform Act”.
S ec . 2. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:
(a) Beneficiaries shall refer to the qualified compulsory
heirs of the deceased person rendering election service under
this Act;
(b) Commission shall refer to the Commission on
Elections;
I
L
(c) Compensation shall refer to per diem, honoraria, or
allowances granted to the Chairperson and members of the
Board of Election Inspectors (BEI), Special Board of Election
Inspectors (SBEI), Board of Election Tellers (BET), Special
Board of Election Tellers (SBET), hereinafter collectively
referred to as “Electoral Boards”, or Department of Education
Supervisor Official (DESO), and their respective support staff
under this Act;
(d) Department or DepED shall refer to the Department
of Education:
(e) Election-related risk shall refer to any death or injury
sustained by reason of or on the occasion of the performance
of election service or duties;
(0 Persons rendering election service shall refer to
persons appointed by the Commission to render election-related
service as Chairperson or member of the Electoral Boards and
DESO. and their respective support staff; and
(g) Other benefits shall refer to death and/or hospitalization
benefits granted to persons rendering election service or to their
beneficiaries under this Act, including the provision for legal
assistance and legal indemnification.
S ec . 3. Rendering of Election Service. - The Electoral
Boards to be constituted by the Commission shall be composed
of a Chairperson and two (2) members, all of whom shall be
public school teachers who are willing and available to render
election service.
Should there be a lack of public school teachers willing,
available or qualified to serve, the Commission may instead
appoint the following persons in this order of preference;
(a) Private school teachers;
(b) National government employees:
(1) DepED nonteaching personnel;
(2) Other national government ofTicials and employees
holding regular or permanent positions, excluding uniformed
personnel of the Department of National Defense and all its
attached agencies;
(c) Members of the Commission-accredited citizen arras
or other civil society organizations and nongovernmental
organizations duly accredited by the Commission: and
(d) Any registered voter of the city or municipality of
known integrity and competence who is not connected with
any candidate or political party.
In cases where the peace and order situation so requires
as determined by the Commission and where there are no
qualified voters willing to serve, uniformed personnel of the
Philippine National Police shall be deputized to render election
service as a. last resort.
S ec . 4. Honoraria and Allowances. - Persons rendering
election service shall be entitled to honoraria, travel allowance,
and such other benefits as may be granted by the Commission.
For the first implementation of this Act, the following
shall be entitled to the corresponding honoraria;
Chairperson of ElectoralBoards P6,000.00
Members of ElectoralBoards PS.OOO.OO
DESO P4.000,00
Support Staff P2,000.00
All of the foregoing shall be entitled to an additional
travel allowance of One thousand pesos (Pi,000.00) each.
Such honoraria and allowances shall be paid within fifteen
(15) days from the date of election.
Such amounts shall be reviewed by the Commission in
consultation with the DepED every three (3) years from the
effectivity of this Act. but in no case, shall the revised amounts
be lower than herein provided.
S ec . 5. Service Credit. - A minimum of five (5) days
service credit shall accrue to all government officials and
employees serving as members of the Electoral Boards and
DESO, and their respective support staff.
SEC. 6. Other Benefits. - Persons rendering election
service shall be entitled to death and/or medical assistance for
election-related risks to be drawn from the trust fund provided
in this Act.
(a) Death Benefits - The amount of Five hundred
thousand pesos (P500.000.00) shall be awarded to the
beneficiaries in accordance with the implementing rules and
regulations of this Act. Such amount shall be reviewed by the
Commission every three (3) years thereafter, but in no case
shall the revised amount be lower than herein provided.
(b) Medical Assistance - Persons rendering election service
shall be entitled to medical assistance in such amount as may
be determined by the Commission, sufficient to answer for
medical and hospitalization expenses, until recovery.
Sec . 7. Legal Assistance. - Persons rendering election
service are hereby authorized to engage the services of
government or private lawyers immediately upon receipt of
notice that a civil or criminal action, suit or administrative
proceeding is filed against them in connection with their
election service. The lawyer’s fee shall be p art of the
indemnification package under this Act, subject to the
provisions of the immediately succeeding section.
SEC. 8. Indem nification. ~ The Commission shall
establish an equitable legal indemnification package for persons
rendering election service which shall be in the form of legal
assistan ce and o th er forms of legal protection and
indemnification for all legal costs and expenses reasonably
incurred by such persons in any administrative, civil, or
criminal action, suit or proceeding to which they have been
made a party by reason of the performance of their functions
or duties, unless they are finally adjudged in such action or
proceeding to be guilty of an election offense.
The legal assistance and indemnification shall not cover
any action or suit initiated by a' person rendering election
service in his or her personal capacity or on' behalf of the
Commission, unless such action, proceeding, or claim was
authorized by the Commission.
Sec . 9. Procedure. - The claim ants shall file th eir
respective claims for legal assistance and indemnification with
their respective agencies and shall secure the approval of their
respective heads of agencies on the terms and conditions of
the engagement of counsel. Private individuals rendering
election service shall file their claims with the Commission.
If the claimant is found not guilty of an election offense,
he or she shall liquidate his or her cash advances or be
allowed reimbursement for reasonable expenses, as the case
may be. However, if the claimant is found to be guilty of an
election offense, he or she shall be denied reimbursement or if
cash advances have been made, he or she shall return the cash
advance made through salary deduction or reimbursement, as
may be applicable.
The funds to be used for the grant of legal assistance
and indemnification shall be drawn from the agency’s annual
appropriation and from the trust fund provided under this
Act.
Sec . 10. Election Offense. - Any person who makes or
causes the delay in the paym ent of the honoraria and
allowances due persons rendering election service beyond the
prescribed period of fifteen (15) days from the date of election
shall be liable for an election offense.
Sec . 11. Establishment and Administration of a Trust
Fund„ - ‘The Commission shall establish a special trust fund
for medical assistance, death benefits, legal assistance and
indemnification as provided under this Act The trust fund shall
hot be used for purposes other than what are provided for by
this Act.
SEC. 12. Appropriation Clause. - The initial funding of
th is Act shall be charged against the cu rren t y e a r’s
appropriations of the Commission. Thereafter, such amount as
may be necessary for the continued implementation of this Act
shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
S ec . 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within
ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act. the
Commission with the assistance of the DepED, Office of the
Solicitor General. Department of Justice, National Teacher
Organizations, Election Monitoring Organizations and such
other civil society organizations as may be determined by the
Commission shall formulate the implementing rules and
regulations of this Act.
S ec . 14. Transitory Clause. - Within thirty (30) days
after the effectivity of this Act, the Commission shall determine
if it still has material time to implement Section 3 hereof on
the non-compulsory election service of public school teachers
in the 2016 national and local elections, otherwise the same
shall be implemented in subsequent elections.
S ec . 15. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders,
and issuances, or portions thereof, which are inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act. are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly.
S ec . 16. Separability Clause. - Should any provision of
this Act or part hereof be declared unconstitutional, the other
provisions or parts not affected thereby shall remain valid and
effective.
S ec . 17. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect
immediately after its publication in two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.
Approved.
F E U C iA N O B E L M O N T E JR. U N K U rC 'M . D R fEO N
Speaker of the House siJent of the Senate
of Representatives
Senate Bill No. 2178, which was approved by the Senate on
January 25, 2016, was adopted as an amendment to House Bill
No. 5412 by the House of Representatives on January 26,2016.
M a r il y n B C ^ iA R ii^ A P O scar
Secretary General Secretary pfihe Senate
House of Representatives
A P R 0 8 2016
Approved:
' BENIG^O S. /IQUINO III
President of the Philippines
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PNOY020502
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