THE ASIAN Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) on Thursday called on the Philippines to tackle gaps in the electoral process, including banning political dynasties, curbing disinformation in social media, and promoting transparency.
In its final report, the election watchdog called on Congress to enact laws that will respond to long-standing gaps in the Philippines’ electoral process.
“While the elections were marked by high voter turnout, improved transparency, and better engagement with stakeholders, serious challenges remain,” the watchdog group said in their report.
Among its key recommendations is for lawmakers to operationalize the ban on political dynasties.
“Enact enabling legislation to enforce a constitutional ban with clear definitions and enforcement mechanisms to curb dynasty control, and to reform the party-list to address the same problems,” ANFREL Executive Director Brizza Rosales said during the report’s launch event.
The May election was pivotal to two of the country’s most powerful political families, the Marcoses and the Dutertes, whose feud has worsened since the impeachment of the Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio in February and the arrest of her father upon order of the International Criminal Court in March.
The watchdog group also said that the government must reform the party-list system to protect it from “political capture of traditional political families,” which could ensure better sector-based representation.
The Philippine party-list system was introduced in the 1987 constitution to give marginalized groups representation at the House of Representatives.
It also called for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disclose the criteria for party-list accreditation and disqualify “co-opted or dynastic groups.”
The election watchdog also suggested an institutionalized social media monitoring mechanism within Comelec to track and address election-related disinformation.
“Hopefully they would institutionalize their own social media monitoring unit as amplified by civil society organizations, and to strengthen the engagement with platforms and civil society organization,” Ms. Rosales said, pushing for strengthened programs against vote buying and abuse of state resources for election use.
ANFREL called on the Philippine Congress to enact laws that would plug loopholes that enable premature campaigning and early vote buying, and overhaul of the Omnibus Election Code to update and eliminate outdated provisions.
Moreover, it recommends the promotion of better transparency and confidence in the election results through the timely publishing of precinct results and machine transmission logs, while also ensuring independent monitoring of the random manual audit
The Philippines should also improve polling place logistics and crowd management by enforcing a queue system of expanding the use of mall-based voting, ANFREL said.
The group further called for the institutionalization of vulnerable sector offices by dedicating proper funding, personnel, and mechanisms for marginalized sector participation in reform efforts.
Comelec should expand Local Absentee Voting, increase the number of automated counting machines, and additional electoral board personnel in high-turnout areas, it added. — Adrian H. Halili
