Probes sought on election irregularities; Catholic Church, opposition call for calm vigilance
A GLOBAL human rights watchdog has called on international observers to probe reports of irregularities and violence during Monday’s elections.
“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) urges the international community to examine the integrity of the process and the widespread irregularities when assessing the outcomes, which at this point is an unofficial decisive win by the Marcos-Duterte campaign,” ICHRP said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to the tandem of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The tandem for the country’s top positions is currently leading by wide margins in unofficial and partial results.
The group earlier said the International Observer Mission would provide independent monitoring of the May 9 elections, starting in February up to June when elected candidates are confirmed.
The watchdog’s campaign seeks to record instances of election-related violence, red-tagging, and vote-buying.
It noted that multiple instances of malfunctioning vote-counting machines, vote-buying, and violence were reported to the group on election day.
“The International Observer Mission continues to monitor post-election, and is calling on the peace and democracy-loving international community to do the same,” the group said.
The group added that widespread fake news and instances of illegal campaigning may also affect the integrity of the elections’ outcome.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Rufus B. Rodriguez also called for an investigation on the failure of voting equipment in several polling centers to identify possible legislative measures that will deter a repeat of the problems in future elections.
“We owe it to our voters to investigate these reports and recommend remedial measures, either via legislation or administrative sanctions or penalties to be imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on responsible personnel and or its automation service provider, Smartmatic,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Rodriguez, who won another term for the 2nd District of Cagayan de Oro City, said the malfunctioning vote-counting machines and secure digital (SD) or memory cards had caused disenfranchisement among thousands of voters.
He said the election body and the contractor failed to address what were supposedly anticipated problems.
“There has to be a solution,” Mr. Rodriguez said, noting the need for transparency on the number of failed counting machines, polling areas with defective equipment, actions taken and the number of voters affected.
“Our voters should not go through this sad, unfortunate, and totally avoidable experience again in future elections,” he said.
Election Commissioner George Erwin Garcia told reporters in a Viber message that common issues encountered on election day were paper jams, rejected ballots and vote-counting machines not printing returns properly.
“Our vote-counting machines are a bit old and every machine has a life-span,” he said. “We will change these machines in 2025.”
As of 12 p.m. Tuesday, the number of defective vote-counting machines replaced was 915, while 469 SD cards were regenerated during the conduct of Monday’s elections, Election Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo told a news briefing.
He pointed out that this is just 0.8% of total machines deployed on election day.
PROTESTS
Various groups trooped to the Comelec office in Manila on Tuesday to express their rejection of a Marcos-Duterte victory and alleged election fraud.
Among those who rallied, members of human rights group Karapatan, said on Twitter: “Karapatan joins hundreds of groups today in Intramuros to assert the people’s rejection of the Marcos-Duterte tandem and the fraudulent 2022 elections.”
Leaders of the Catholic Church and the opposition group 1Sambayanan have called for calm, especially among supporters of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo who is at a far second in the unofficial presidential tally.
“Let’s respect the rule of the majority from a relatively peaceful, clean and credible election. That’s appreciation of the democratic ideals of the foundation of sovereign popular will and rule of law,” said priest Anton CT Pascual, head of Radio Veritas owned by the Archdiocese of Manila.
He also noted that other Catholic leaders have earlier called for faith and respect in the electoral exercise. The Philippines is a Catholic-majority country.
The group 1Sambayanan, which endorsed Ms. Robredo and her running mate Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, appealed for “calm and sobriety” while the results are being validated.
“We extoll our members and the Filipino people to remain vigilant and go through the process, no matter how long or tedious it may be,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Now is not the time to foment confusion but to pool our resources and talents… to ascertain the true will and voice of the people.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez and Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
