Foreign observers statement: Philippine gov’t not committed to fair, honest and peaceful elections

(Statement by the People's International Observers Mission/Photos by Mona Bernardo, Kodao Productions) The first automated election in the Philippines was far from being fair, honest and peaceful, the biggest group of international observers concluded.

The People’s International Observers’ Mission (PIOM) composed of 86 delegates from Australia, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Hongkong, New Zealand, France, Germany, Denmark and Argentina drew this conclusion from their experiences in monitoring the elections in the country’s nine regions.

The People’s IOM delegates went to Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Western Visayas, Caraga, Davao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and monitored the pre-election preparations the day before, the voting process on May 10 and the initial canvassing on May 11.

Did the automated electoral system (AES) achieve its objectives? For the People’s IOM, the widespread intimidation, vote-buying, corruption and violence showed that automation could solve only part of the problem.

“In focusing on the machines, the Comelec [Commission on Elections] lost the people,” they said.

“The Philippine government is not committed to free and honest elections,” the People’s IOM delegates further said, noting that there was a sore lack in the preparations.

The People’s IOM delegates also noted that political dynasties and their armed militias still lord it over local politics. “The political and economic inequality creates vulnerability to intimidation and vote-buying,” the mission delegates said.

The People’s IOM has the following recommendations to the Comelec:

1. Adopt a system more attuned to the Filipino culture while complying with international human rights standards on the right to political participation.
2. Provide more voters’ education seminars to empower them to exercise their rights.
3. Install systematic voting procedures, to include ensuring access for the elderly and the differently-abled.
4. For the voting process, implement a more accessible and secure system of voters’ verification
5. Ensure secrecy of the ballot.
6. Institute a process where the voter could verify what was recorded by the machine
7. Ensure transparency in the transmission process. Each precinct’s election returns should be posted online.
8. Validate the results of the elections through completing the process of manual audit.
9. Provide more technicians and improve on-site technical support.
10. Implement the law on campaigning
11. Impose stricter rules for the conduct of poll watchers
12. Remove the clustering of precincts

The People’s IOM said the Arroyo government, the Comelec and Smartmatic must be held accountable for the problems encountered in the elections.

The People’s IOM also felt strongly against the heavy military and police presence in the communities, and within polling places. They observed that this has contributed to or has caused the climate of fear.  Soldiers even harassed members of the mission.

Another consistent finding is the systematic vilification campaign against Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza, and eight progressive party-list groups.

The People’s IOM also called on the Philippine government to dismantle private armies and to put a stop to the militarization of villages. The People’s IOM deemed that the security of the voting process should be ensured through a systematic and transparent process and not through the deployment of men with guns.

With the many serious problems in the whole election process, the People’s International Observers’ Mission deemed that it is the only through the efforts of the people – the sacrifices made by the public school teachers and the resilience of voters – that the elections was made possible. Click the images below for bigger versions: