MANILA, 7 May 2004 — The National Movement for Free Elections’ (Namfrel) yesterday said its “quick count” on the results of the Philippine national elections will run simultaneously with the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) count of
A veteran in exposing poll rigging in the past two decades, the poll watchdog said it had mobilized 300,000 volunteers for next week’s vote.
Namfrel chairman Guillermo Luz said he expected about 90 percent of the 43 million registered voters to cast their ballots on Monday.
Namfrel has also fielded volunteers in major voting centers abroad for absentee voters, including the three voting centers in Saudi Arabia — Jeddah, Riyadh and Alkhobar.
Luz said Namfrel volunteers will monitor manual counting in 216,000 polling booths nationwide, and conduct their own “parallel quick count” using official election returns.
Volunteers will be relaying early results through encrypted cellular phones to Namfrel headquarters in Manila after voting closes at 3 p.m. on voting day.
“Namfrel’s is a 100 percent parallel count. We will be counting what exactly the Comelec (Commission on Elections) will be counting,” Luz told reporters.
Luz said the public was “looking for an independent verification of the numbers” and remained uncomfortable with government figures, 18 years after dictator Marcos was proclaimed the winner of fraudulent 1986 elections.
Namfrel played a key role in exposing poll rigging in that election, which eventually led to a “people power” revolution that sent Marcos into exile in Hawaii.
Namfrel’s count at the time had opposition candidate Corazon Aquino winning the race by a wide margin.
“It is a huge undertaking, an investment we see that is worthwhile as an assurance that elections are honest and credible,” Luz said. “As far as we are concerned, it’s well worth the price.”
Meanwhile, the DFA and the Comelec are launching this weekend a monitoring and action center to handle all the initial copies of the counting and canvassing forms from the different embassies and consulates worldwide.
The center, to be housed at the DFA Auditorium, in suburban Pasay, will serve as a monitoring facility for the submission of election returns from the Special Board of Election Inspectors and the Special Board of Canvassers from voting precincts worldwide.
A total of 577 counting precincts worldwide will be submitting Certificates of Votes to the Center.
The Overseas Absentee Voting Act mandates that counting and canvassing of votes be done immediately on site. This provision of Republic Act 9189 is the result of the various consultations conducted by legislators with overseas Filipino communities.
Catherine Maceda, vice chair of the DFA’s Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat, said the center will remain operational from May 9 to 17 or until after the counting and canvassing of overseas absentee votes shall have been completed.
