Recollections of my Namfrel watch '86

The May 10 elections brought in a fervor that I have not witnessed in the past elections. Call it People Power-weary, the citizenry as a whole (who are so very fed up with the abuses of the past and present administrations) became vigilant in ensuring that the right leader is chosen this time in a clean, honest, and violence-free election.

Whatever color they sported, they were there in the polling centers as voters, helpers, or watchdog volunteers. The saga of Edsa Uno and Edsa Dos might happen again if the wrong leader gets elected. Well, we hope not.

In early February 1986, because of the pressure imposed on him by the US government, Ferdinand Marcos held a snap election pitting him against Cory Aquino, the bereaved widow of assassinated “presidentiable,” Liberal Party leader Ninoy Aquino. The country at that point wanted a change of leadership after two decades of dictatorial rule.

My friends and I served as volunteers in Namfrel (National Movement for Free Elections), an organization that was chaired and founded by Joe Concepcion. Our ID cards said it all: “I hereby commit to uphold the objectives of Namfrel to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process and of the ballot, and to strengthen the process of free, honest, and meaningful elections without fear or favor, in a non-partisan manner. I further commit to remain strong and constant in my vigilance to protect, preserve, and enhance democratic institutions and practice; and to actively promote honesty in government, in service of God, country and community. This I shall do by offering myself, my talent, and my time in pursuit of these goals. So help me God.”

I was posted at the Dasmariñas Village precinct together with two other fellow volunteers. Everything went smoothly without a glitch. We participated in the manual counting of the ballot and I felt sorry for one lady candidate who garnered only one vote. At around 3 p.m., we were boldly requested and picked up by a Namfrel representative to go to a barangay in Rembo or Pembo (can’t remember now) because there were incidents of “ballot-box snatching” at gunpoint by paid goons.

Upon hearing that, I became so emotional that I started to cry uncontrollably. Was I crying for fear of my life? Or was I too emotionally shaken because of intense hatred towards the evil minds who wanted to control our electoral process with the three GS? (guns, goons and gold). I feared for my life, I couldn’t deny that, because I could not imagine myself dramatically flinging my body over the ballot boxes to protect the sanctity of the ballot. But most of all, I cried because every fiber in my being hated the evil powers that were behind the violence and fraud that marred this particular election. That whole electoral process was a farce — a violation of our human rights, and a rape of our democracy. Thus ensued People Power 1 and the rest, as they say, is history.

This election, through pastor Ted A. Maulit, I volunteered my services again as a Namfrel-NAS-SA (National Secretariat for Social Action) volunteer together with my sister Marisa Carmona Chan, Nene Chan, and Michael Chan. My sister and I were posted in Urdaneta Village, while Nene and Michael were posted in Dasmariñas Village. With a lot of hope in our hearts that there would be no untoward incidents that characterized the snap elections of ‘86, we vigilantly guarded our posts.

The Dasmariñas polling place was shorthanded that Michael and Nene had to do the duties of the teachers in Cluster 61. They had to ensure that the ballots entered the PCOS machine, the voters finger printed and ink marked. There were a few ballots rejected by the PCOS in both villages.

In Urdaneta Village, PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) volunteers headed by Randy Limjoco and Noy/Mar watchers (headed by Monique Villongco) were on guard the whole day to ensure fraud-free elections.

We stayed till the end. We watched the teachers, headed by Percival Adao, tear the unused ballots and print the electoral returns from the PCOS machines, while authorized signatories validated them. Except for some incidences of violence and vote buying in some barangays that were reported to me by a fellow Namfrel volunteer, the elections were, as a whole, clean and worthy of a democratic country.