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Don’t curse the darkness. Light
a candle. That motto inspired Jose Concepcion Jr. to spearhead the
National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) in the
umbra of the Marcos dictatorship in 1984. Rather than helplessly
lamenting Ferdinand Marcos’s stranglehold on military, citizenry,
bureaucracy and media, Joe Con sought to mobilize fellow believers
in the power of a democracy-loving nation. Two years later,
Namfrel’s poll-watchers unmasked Marcos fraud and ignited People
Power.
Today, Joe Con
continues to pursue his vision of millions of vigilant citizens
making a difference by fearlessly standing up against election
fraud, terrorism and money politics. He chairs the Philippine
Election Forum (PEF) plenary meeting today at the Philippine Trade
Training Center on Roxas Boulevard corner Gil Puyat Avenue.
Along with
Namfrel, the forum conveners include the Commission on Elections (Comelec),
Department of Education (DepEd), Philippine National Police (PNP),
Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) and Far East
Broadcasting Co. (FEBC). With some 200 organizations invited, the
PEF plenary will deliberate resolutions drafted at the PEF clusters
meeting on March 1, and finalize a comprehensive action plan for
more honest, orderly, peaceful, credible and democratic elections in
May.
Will the PEF
succeed, with its motto of “working together for democracy”? One
thing is sure: it will not end all cheating, killing, threats,
confusion, vote buying, and election violations on and in the weeks
before and after May 14. But if they actually implement a good
number of the forum resolutions, the organizations meeting at the
PTTC today can definitely make a difference in the polls.
Consider just
a few of the resolutions to be presented at the PEF plenary. The
Election Process Cluster headed by the Comelec, proposes to
disseminate the list of voters and their precincts at least a week
before the polls. This would avoid a repeat of the widespread
disenfranchisement of voters in 2004, when millions of them could
not find their names at the precincts where they had previously
voted or registered.
The Comelec
cluster and the Security and Freedom Cluster under the PNP have also
proposed that officials must keep a daily log of people who call,
text or see them about candidates’ concerns. Not everyone of them
would be religious about their phone logs, but the mere announcement
of this new procedure would likely discourage many who may wish to
contact insiders at the Comelec or the PNP for improper requests.
The
Transparency and Justice Cluster convened by Namfrel includes the
Catholic Church’s Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)
and the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER) of Ramon
Casiple. The group called for a seventh Comelec commissioner to be
appointed soon, so that he or she could take part of the work now
shared by six commissioners. A complete Comelec board would also
speed up the resolution of election disputes and cases elevated to
the panel.
Two clusters,
Voter Awareness and Values headed by PCEC and Media Coverage under
FEBC, suggests that the Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP)
to enjoin top-rated entertainment shows to include election
messages, including practical and simple pointers for voters, in
their star performers’ spiels and dialogue. Thus, Wowowee and Eat
Bulaga hosts, for instance, could alert viewers to check voters’
lists, reject bribes, and be on the lookout for flying voters and
canvassing fraud. Such prime-time exposure would reach many millions
more people in addition to announcements and election information
shows that KBP has committed to provide. There are also appeals to
newspapers and magazines to give similar support, through the United
Print Media Group.
Two more
must-do resolutions involve the mobilization of organizations and
citizens nationwide to fight two longtime banes of Philippine
elections: campaign garbage and canvassing fraud. The Namfrel and
PCEC clusters propose to sign up business, labor and civic groups,
government agencies and corporations, university students taking the
National Service Training Program, Boy and Girl Scouts, and other
nationwide groups to take turns every week in removing illegally
posted campaign propaganda.
The Namfrel
and Comelec clusters also propose to launch a texting service where
anonymous tips on canvassing fraud or dagdag-bawas, along with other
election violations, could be sent. To avoid unduly publicizing
unfounded or malicious reports, access to tips website would be
limited to Comelec, Namfrel and other entities which can investigate
allegations. Like the phone call log, anonymous text tips would
deter many dagdag-bawas attempts, since anyone, including fellow
election insiders, could expose manipulated certificates of canvass
and prompt remedial and punitive action.
Back in 1984,
naysayers dismissed Joe Con’s Namfrel as a hopeless crusade
against the Marcos juggernaut. Today they will again scoff cynically
at the PEF resolutions and the organizations and people backing
them. To be sure, not all the action plans would be successfully and
effectively implemented, and there would be much work, if not
frustration, for the PEF monitoring committee proposed to follow up
recommendations. Still, as Joe Con knows from vast experience, even
one the above resolutions done resolutely, like one bright candle in
the dark, can do much good.
Working
together for democracy, the Philippine Election Forum can make a
difference.
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