Republic Act No. 10756

This Act shall be known as the Election Service Reform Act.

As used in this Act:

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:

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 Electoral Boards | P6,000.00 | | --- | --- | | Members of Electoral Boards | P5.000.00 | | 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 (P1,000.00) 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.

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.

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.

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 lawyers fee shall be part of the indemnification package under this Act, subject to the provisions of the immediately succeeding section.

The Commission shall establish an equitable legal indemnification package for persons rendering election service which shall be in the form of legal assistance and other 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.

The claimants shall file their 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 agencys annual appropriation and from the trust fund provided under this Act.

Any person who makes or causes the delay in the payment 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.

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 not be used for proposes other than what are provided for by this Act.

The initial funding of this Act shall be charged against the current years 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This Act shall take effect immediately after its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

| (Sgd.) FELICIANO BELMONTE JR. Speaker of the House of Representatives | (Sgd.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON President of the Senate |

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.