Security of Election Documents
The COMELEC failed to ensure the security of accountable forms such as Election Returns and Certificates of Canvass. Just before Election Day, ABS-CBN senior correspondent Ricky Carandang reported on what appeared to be genuine Election Returns that had all the proper security markings. The documents were said to be for sale. There are persistent reports from the media about fake ERs.
Early on in the campaign, Kontra Daya already warned that the presence of private printers producing ERs would compromise the security of these election documents. The situation with private printers operated by private employees leaves materials such as papers, plates and/or films vulnerable for illegal printing and the commission of wholesale fraud. In the face of such a warning, and in light of the ensuing theft of the forms, the COMELEC and the National Printing Office cannot claim they have secured said forms. In fact, the theft underscores COMELECs (willful or unintended) negligence and dereliction of duty over the security of vital election documents.
Implementation of RA 9369
In the issue of the non-implementation of crucial provisions of R.A. 9369, particularly Section 39 (projection of canvassing), the COMELEC merely pointed out its lack of funds. No other explanation was given and no other effort to fully implement the law was seen.
Partylist Issues
In the case of questionable party list groups, Kontra Daya issued a list of 22 groups it believes were either created by or had links with Malacaang and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Subsequently, a memorandum from the Office of the External Affairs (OEA), an office under the direct supervision of the Office of the President, surfaced. It revealed that one of OEAs officials, who also happens to be a nominee of an administration-backed party list group, had requested funding from the Office of the President. The Supreme Court has also issued a decision for the COMELEC to release all the names of the nominees of party list groups that it had refused to divulge to the public.
Despite these developments, the Commission has not investigated or taken action against any of the party list groups and their nominees who clearly do not qualify as marginalized groups in accord with the spirit and the letter of the relevant constitutional provision on party lists. Inaction appears to be the standard response of the COMELEC to all demands for reforms and rectification.
The Role of the Military
The elections in 2007 are far, far worse than that of 2004 with regard to the AFPs uncalled for and illegitimate involvement. The Peoples International Observers Mission (PIOM), Task Force Poll Watch and Kontra Dayas own election monitoring showed unacceptable patterns of intervention coming from military units and their officials. If in 2004 only some generals were involved in fraud (as revealed by the Garci tapes), in 2007 we can say that the entire chain of command was being used and manipulated for the purposes of fraud and violence.
The COMELEC has failed to stop the AFP from engaging in partisan political activities. Two of the most glaring examples are the AFPs vilification campaign against militant party list groups and the AFPs all-out support for administration bets and party list groups. The AFP in Metro Manila also attempted to clothe its smear campaign in the guise of a voters education program, a move immediately unmasked and opposed by various citizens groups.
There are persistent reports that high-ranking officials of the military are using the chain of command to force soldiers to vote for administration bets and party list groups. Fact-finding bodies like the PIOM noted that in Nueva Ecija, soldiers coerced people to vote for the Bantay partylist of Gen. Jovito Palparan. Media reports, on the other hand, also say that local absentee voting for soldiers were conducted under questionable conditions. Despite all these issues, the COMELEC has turned a blind eye to the blatant partisanship exhibited by the AFP and its officials.
2007 Elections
