Sandigan justice Ong named to SC
The Commission on Elections is unprepared for its tasks, so states the initial assessment of the International Observers Mission on the May 14 elections, which was announced yesterday morning.
Aside from this, Fr. Diony Cabillas who served as Secretariat of the IOM, said that having visited
He cited that the delay in canvassing only shows how Comelec is “obviously unprepared for its tasks on hand.” In a press statement, he said that precincts and canvassing centers in the outlying towns were so cramped and disorganized that it is no wonder counting takes a snail pace.
In such inhumane situation of high humidity and congestion, the tedious and complicated process of manual voting, subject to human error, becomes vulnerable to manipulation and maneuvers.
A more shocking observation made by foreign observers involves the systematic and rampant practice of open vote buying, especially in places where political clans are well entrenched and the apparent resignation to such act by electoral watchdogs, according to Minerva Gutierrez, a member of Quebec Solidaire which is a political party in Canada.
Cabillas recounted their experience in
The IOM also observed that in areas where military presence is heavy, like in Asturias and Tuburan, schools used as polling places were vandalized with partisan slogans against progressive parties critical of the government.
The group was organized to observe Philippine electoral exercises and be able to draft a report on how elections here reflect the Filipino’s sentiments. The IOM is expected to be back for the presidential elections in 2010. — Mary Gold C. Sagarino and Cristina V. Roso/MEEV
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