COTABATO CITY—An election watchdog operating in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has raised with the Commission on elections “three major electoral reform agenda” to improve the electoral system in ARMM, the so-called cheating capital in the country.
Automation of elections, delisting of double and multiple registrants, and a non-partisan military are the “three major electoral reform agenda” that the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reform Inc. (C-CARE) submitted to the Provincial Election Office of Maguindanao today.
This developed as the Senate voted to synchronize the national and ARMM elections, a development which was welcomed by the C-CARE which at the same time called on the Comelec to “make use of the suspension of election as an opportunity to implement the badly needed electoral reforms.”
C-CARE, which earlier favored the synchronization of the ARMM and national elections citing the “immediate need” for electoral reform, said that “the move to synchronize the elections will be meaningless if the Comelec will not maximize it as an opportunity to work on the long overdue improvements and modifications in the electoral system.”
Jumda Sabaani, chair of C-CARE, said that “two years is more than enough for government to work on the needed changes in the electoral system. After two years, the hitches in the last automated elections should already be addressed.” With the synchronization of elections, the Comelec has until 2013 to prepare for the next elections.
“In the spirit of partnership and cooperation, C-CARE humbly submits to your good office the hereunder electoral reform agenda that the electorates have ventilated during the continuing voters’ education that we have been doing in all provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. We are aware that these legitimate suggestions from the voters themselves would remain meaningless unless forwarded to your office, which is in the position to act on many, if not all of the herein enumerated concerns,” said the letter that Sabaani’s group sent to the Provincial Election Supervisor of Maguindanao yesterday.
The letter also sought for a dialogue between officials of C-CARE and the Comelec so the election watchdog could relay electoral reform agenda suggested by the electorates during their continuing voters’ education.
Aside from the automation of elections, C-CARE also called on the government to call for a general registration of voters using “Biometrics, which has to be online to really get rid of multiple registrants.” Under the system, C-CARE said that the machine will automatically prompt up a denial of registration to a person who has already registered.
C-CARE also appealed to the Comelec to appreciate the importance of continuing voters’ education and complement their efforts.
“Defective as some PCOS machines may be, the electorates are one in saying that the automated election last year has significantly curbed election cheating in this so-called cheating capital in the Philippines. Most pronounced among the justifications that were raised is the fact that the automated voting was able to eliminate fabrication of election returns which they said was “rampant and common way of cheating” in ARMM. Dagdag-bawas and voting under the trees are sure not to happen in an automated election,” said Sabaani in her letter to the Comelec.
She also noted that “despite an existing order from the Comelec to delist double and multiple registrants, the same has yet to be done. Unless the delisting process is started immediately, electorates are not assured of a clean election.”
The C-CARE also relayed to the Comelec an observation of the voters in Maguindanao province who said that the last ARMM election “was relatively peaceful, orderly and credible because the military stayed neutral—they did not favour any candidate.”
“There has to be a strong directive from the government that the military should stay non-partisan,” Sabaani who relayed that during the reign of the Ampatuans, “the voters claimed that the military was observed to be partisan.” She declined to name who the candidates that were favoured by the military.
“The last presidential election showed and proved to the electorates that the military can actually stay neutral and, in fact, its neutrality could contribute a lot in making a fair, honest and orderly election. Hence, the electorates express willingness to actively support any effort of the Comelec towards sustaining the neutrality that the military has displayed in ARMM in the last election,” said the C-CARE letter submitted to the Comelec.
“To manifest our strong support and desire to help the Comelec address these concerns of our constituents, we will appreciate a dialogue meeting with you to thresh out how we could possibly complement our efforts in addressing these delinquencies if we may call them such. Let our dialogue meeting also serve to confirm some of these concerns that were all raised by the grassroots people in our meetings and voters education sessions with them,” said the letter to the Comelec that was signed by Sabaani. ###
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