CER

CONSORTIUM ON ELECTORAL REFORMS

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BANTAY ELEKSYON 2013 PAYAPA MONITORING PRESS RELEASE May 10, 2013

INDICATIONS FOR A PEACEFUL, FREE AND FAIR MAY 13, 2013 ELECTIONS
All indications so far point to peaceful, free and fair national and local elections on May 13, 2013. This is the over-all assessment of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER) based on findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013, the CER domestic election monitoring mission, and Payapang Bayan, Payapang Halalan (PAYAPA), the project addressing peace in the major areas of election violence of Masbate, and ARMM, particularly the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan. CER Chairperson Ramon Casiple said, Election violence, though still a matter of concern, has decreased by more than 50% compared to the levels of 2010 elections, has remained localized to specific cities and towns, and has not yet necessitated the placement of any area under Comelec control. Regarding the preparations for the May 13 elections, Casiple said that the Comelec has already completed the distribution of election paraphernalia, including the PCOS machines, has successfully tested and finally sealed the machines for Mondays elections, trained and deployed the Board of Election Inspectors, AFP and PNP security forces, and finalized the project of precincts. Casiple said that the remaining issues concern the reliability of the PCOS machines and the rest of the AES system, the possibilities of disruption of the election process in warlord and rebel areas and violent rivalries in tightly-contested areas, votebuying, and the accuracy of election results.

Casiple said, The reliability of the PCOS machines themselves have been proven in the 2010 elections, with only 450 machines failing, out of 80,000 originally assigned to clustered precincts. This is a 0.6% failure rate, far below the 2.75% failure rate foreseen in the planning. However, the difficulty of transmission is expected to remain, particularly in those places where the cellular services are weak or non-existent. He said further, The prospect for election violence, occurring in rebel and warlord areas, as well as in tightly-contested rivalries remains high. However, initiatives coming from government security forces and civil society have resulted to the muting of this violence. Vote-buying, Casiple averred, is expected to remain the major violation of the election process throughout the country. It is a disappointment that new initiatives in curtailing this illegal practice, such as the Comelec money ban, is meeting stiff resistance. Other Comelec initiatives on restrictions on campaign finance and tighter election administration have already met with some success such as in the review of the party-list accreditation, the anti-Epal campaign, the crackdown on illegal posters, and the creation of a campaign finance unit. Lastly, Casiple noted that the accuracy of the count is being put in doubt due to the non-availability of the PCOS source code for review. The Comelec is duty-bound to make available this to political parties and interested parties, in the interest of transparency. The random manual audit procedures have also been changed to enable the voters to see for themselves the veracity of the vote count at the precinct level. Casiple concluded, In all, the indicators are there for the successful conduct of peaceful, fair and free elections on Monday, May 13, 2013.

For verification, contact:

Ramon Casiple Chairperson, Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER) CP: 0916-3690182