MANILA, Philippines -- The poll monitoring body Bantay Eleksyon gave the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a failing grade in the last elections, citing "unacceptable delays" in canvassing, incidents of violence, and numerous proclamation protests in an assessment report released on Tuesday.
The watchdog group set up by the Consortium on Electoral Reform, a coalition of more than 40 nongovernment organizations, proposed a two-pronged approach to cleaning up future Philippine elections: the automation of polls and a "top-to-bottom revamp" of the country's election commission. The electoral reform coalition has a seat in the Comelec's Advisory Council.
Bantay Eleksyon said the current manual method of canvassing was "a demonstrated failure" in the May 2007 elections. The manual procedures "easily led to unacceptable delays at every stage of canvassing, up to the proclamation of candidates, and was readily susceptible to various manipulations by unscrupulous persons who have motives to cheat in the elections." The process, they added, was "vulnerable to threats of violence or disruption," particularly when the canvassing stretched to more than 24 hours.
On the performance of the Comelec, Bantay Eleksyon said it "performed adequately" only in the preparations for and supervision of canvassing processes. "However, its handling of the various controversies that attended the canvassing leaves much to be desired in terms of coherent and timely decisions, firm leadership in the field, and non-partisanship," the group added. Their verdict was that election automation alone would not work unless it was accompanied by a "top-to-bottom revamp" of Comelec.
The group referred to delays in the proclamation that were in turn caused by delayed canvassing, pre-proclamation protests, missing boards of election inspectors, missing or lost election documents, and accusations of cheating. Many proclamations were under protest. The group said: "This points not only to a certain subculture of non-acceptance of an electoral loss but also to the low credibility of the canvassing process itself."
Bantay Eleksyon also faulted Comelec for not having contingency plans regarding the intentional or forced absence of election officers or members of the boards of election inspectors. The group noted the slow pace of the national canvassing process that gave rise to suspicions of cheating. They pointed to the controversial Maguindanao certificates of canvass. They noted that inaccuracies in the canvassing that led to accusations of vote padding and shaving, also happened in Davao, Zambales, South Cotabato and other provinces.
It recalled that Comelec had projected the proclamation of national candidates within two weeks after the elections. More than a month and a half after the polls, the canvassing of the senatorial and party-list elections has not been finished. Only 11 out of 12 senatorial positions have been proclaimed. The last slot, a toss-up between Genuine Opposition candidate Aquilino Pimentel III and Team Unity's Juan Miguel Zubiri, will be decided by the highly controversial canvass in Maguindanao, where Comelec tally sheets were reportedly "stolen." No winning party-list group has been proclaimed although at least 15 groups have garnered more than the necessary two percent vote to win a seat in House of Representatives.
July 4, 2007
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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