The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) has officially submitted a list of 10,512 teachers who have signified willingness to serve in the May 2025 national and local Elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal said the number represents 53 percent of the total teaching workforce in the region.
Iqbal said submission of the list to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday, March 21, signified the commitment of BARMM educators to support the democratic process amid professional, socio-political and economic challenges.
But the MBHTE has taken proactive steps to address the concerns, including provision of an administrative support system to ensure voluntary participation to such extended service is secured.
Moby Pandi, MBHTE regional information head, said the teachers’ decision has its own share of complexities. Reports have indicated that the low number of teachers on poll duties in previous elections was due, in part, to concerns about security.
Reports said the teachers in BARMM have long faced threats and intimidation while doing election duties, thereby contributing to their hesitance to participate.
Coordination between elections officers and MBHTE officials concerned was also wanting and had to be improved. This further raised apprehension among teachers in terms of safety and overall efficiency in serving the balloting transmission processes, Iqbal said quoting field reports.
Iqbal said the MBHTE also has to ensure that its teaching personnel deployed to serve elections duties are properly supported and secured.
Efforts to mitigate these concerns include promulgation and adoption of MBHTE guidelines for the 2025 polls in order to encourage more number of teachers to serve in electoral processes.
Pandi said such guidelines included honing volunteerism directly through the MBHTE Administrative Support System.
The names of teachers interested in serving were then certified by school heads, verified by the MBHTE main office, and endorsed directly to the Regional Director,
Copies of such documents are furnished to provincial, municipal, and city election officers. This thorough process ensures both the confidentiality of the teachers’ information and their safety, Iqbal said.
The MBHTE said these measures were necessary amid lack of sufficient assurance from the Comelec regarding the safety of teachers serving as poll workers.
By doing so, Iqbal said, the MBHTE “not only strengthens the region’s commitment to free, fair, and transparent elections but also highlights the critical role educators play in maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.”