30 international observers from 16 countries to monitor elections in 6 'iconic' areas

Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com

MANILA – Barely a week before the May 13 polls, a consortium of non-government and civil society groups has deployed 30 international election observers from 16 countries to six “iconic” local electoral contests.

This year’s international election observers are interested in the fight between those who fight for reforms and those who want to perpetuate patronage politics, said Arnold Tarrobago, national coordinator for Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections (Compact). 

He said the observers specifically wanted to monitor local electoral battles between Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda and former Governor Ed Panlilio, Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and former Pampanga provincial administrator Vivian Dabu, Atty. Leni Robredo and Nelly Villafuerte for the 3rd District of Camarines Sur, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman and Pax Mangudadatu.

The observers are also interested in the three-way fight between Fr. Leo Casas against the powerful Kho and Lanete clans for the governorship of Masbate.

“They are very interested on how these local electoral contests will play out three years into the term of President Aquino, who himself won the 2010 election under the banner of political reforms,” Tarrobago said.

Dubbed as “International Team Bantay,” Tarrobago said its 2013 International Observers Mission (IOM) is comprised of parliamentarians, academics, youth, and student leaders, as well as respected leaders from foreign political parties, media organizations, and NGOs.

Tarrobago said Compact, which has fielded successive IOMs during the 2004, 2007, and 2010 elections, has election observers for the midterm election hailing from Sweden, Denmark, USA, Japan, Australia, Germany, Spain, Burma, The Netherlands, Thailand, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

He said the observers will be grouped according to their expertise and experience in election monitoring.

Six IOM teams, along with representatives of their local host organizations, will be deployed to Cagayan, Pampanga, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Cebu, and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

According to Tarrobago, these areas were chosen for monitoring due to various important factors.
“Aside from iconic electoral battles, we consciously chose these areas because they had the following factors: history of election-related violence, fraud and political clans; presence of capable local civil society organizations doing election monitoring; and security and safety of the foreign election observers. In other words, these areas displayed a wide gamut of issues and conditions which we often see in Philippine elections,” Tarrobago explained.

Compact said the observers’ mission, which will last for 10 days, will include a general orientation, press briefing, and planning for local monitoring.

“They will stay for five days, including Election Day, in the local areas. Prior to the elections, the international observers are given an in-depth orientation on the local political situation, and are accompanied by local host organizations in conducting interviews with different political players and election stakeholders,” Tarrobago said.

Local press briefings will also be conducted to announce the mission and later on present the preliminary observations and recommendations. After the elections, the international observers return to Manila for “experience sharing” and collective crafting of the monitoring report. The observers’ mission report is presented to the public in general, and to concerned government agencies, as well as the diplomatic corps.

The International Observers Mission is a component of Compact.

First convened in 2004, Compact is a consortium of non-government and civil society organizations to address the growing incidence of election-related violence, allegedly committed by both state and non-state actors. It did so by undertaking numerous election-related programs including voters’ education sessions, capability and machinery-building trainings, violence documentation, media campaigns and public events, as well as response and redress mechanisms implemented in partnership with local civil society organizations, media, and faith-based groups.

Its 2013 National Convenors include: Ramon Casiple (Institute of Political and Electoral Reform/Iper); Joy Aceron (Team Democracy, Ateneo School of Government/Asog); Gladstone Cuarteros (La Salle Justice and Peace Commission/LSJPC); Pastor Al Senturias (Cosmopolitan Church/UCCP); Robert Francis Garcia (Peace Advocates for Truth, Justice and Healing/Path); Earl Parreno (Seed); Atty. Zainuddin Malang (Mindanao Human Rights Action Center/MinHRAC); Roberto Verzola (SRI-Pilipinas Network); Geline Avila (Compact IOM 2010); and Rueben Serrano (Student Council Alliance of the Philippines/Scap).