The Himamaylan City Commission on Elections office has also been investigated for hiring support staff during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on October 30, Comelec Western Visayas Regional Director Dennis Ausan said Thursday, Nov. 23.
Earlier it was also disclosed that the Kabankalan Comelec had hired 660 support staff and that their honoraria totaling close to P3.7 million had not been paid.
Himamaylan Acting Election Officer Romeo Palma said 221 support staff were also hired in Himamaylan and have not been paid their P1.2 million in honoraria.
The support staff were supposed to be paid P5,500 each.
Palma said they overlooked the last paragraph of Section 143 of Comelec Resolution 10924 that states that for purposes of the Oct. 30, 2023 BSKE the hiring of support staff shall not apply.
The hiring of support staff in previous elections was allowed.
Himamaylan Mayor Raymund Tongson said the city government is willing to assist in paying the Comelec support staff but needs to have the legal basis to do so.
Ausan said the Comelec regional office investigation report on the hiring of the support staff in Kabankalan and Himamaylan has been forwarded to the Commission’s central office and they are waiting for the action it will take.
The Comelec pledges to cover the honoraria of the 660 support staff who served in the BSKE in Kabankalan City, its central office spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said on Nov. 16.
“Due to this unprecedented incident, the COMELEC has taken the proactive step of paying the honoraria of all 660 BSKE 2023 support staff in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental. Each support staff is entitled to receive P 5,500 as an honorarium for the election services they rendered,” Laudiangco said.
On the other hand, an investigation is underway to determine the administrative and or criminal liability of the COMELEC field officers involved in this incident, he added.
It is not known when the payment in Kabankalan will take place and if the Himamaylan support staff will also be paid by the Comelec.*