MANILA - Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) union are allowed to serve as election inspectors in the coming midterm elections.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio made the clarification in light of a petition seeking to exclude members of the group from serving in the May 13 polls on the basis that the teachers are part of a party-list group.

"There is no Comelec (Commission on Elections) ruling or order banning members of ACT from serving in the board of election inspectors," Tinio said in an interview on ANC's "Beyond Politics."

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Tinio noted that under the Election Service Reform Act, public school teachers are designated as election officers.

"The public school teachers are there as public school teachers, not as representatives of any party-list," he said.

The lawmaker also clarified that the ACT union is different from the party-list.

The union, he said, is "a militant, progressive, national organization of teachers" while the party-list is a "sectoral party organized under the party-list law."

Despite the absence of a ban, Tinio said the "non-issue" is being used to "discriminate" some of its members.

"Some officials have unfortunately been raising the issue to prevent some ACT members from serving (in the elections)," he said.