By Cielito M. Reganit
The House of Representatives had approved on final reading a bill instituting a compulsory insurance for election officials and workers during national and local elections.
The compulsory insurance will be for members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI), Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI), the Board of Election Tellers (BET) and their support staff for every national and local election.
Authors of House Bill 8528 said the compulsory insurance was one of the way the government could concretely express its recognition of the crucial role of the members of the BEI, SBEI, the BET and their support staff and the dangers that attend every election.
The bill mandates that the death benefits shall include the awarding of P200,000 to the beneficiaries on the first year of implementation of the proposed law and the insurance coverage shall also include hospitalization and medical expenses of the injured beneficiary until his/her recovery notwithstanding benefits provided for by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) or any institution granting the same to the insured.
The bill provides that the insurance coverage shall commence from the time the insured is exposed to any election-related risk.
The coverage starts from, but not limited to, the acquisition of election paraphernalia and it shall be terminated upon proper turn-over of the same to the appropriate receiving officer or until any election-related risk is no longer present, the bill states.
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