7/30/2019 CER Press Release - Pre-Election Findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013

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CERCONSORTIUM ON ELECTORAL REFORMS54-CMAPAGAKAWANGGAWA ST,TEACHERS VILL,QUEZON CITY1101TELEFAX:(+632)4330764WEBSITE:www.cer.org.ph

BANTAY ELEKSYON 2013

PAYAPA MONITORING

PRESS RELEASE

May 10, 2013

INDICATIONS FOR

A PEACEFUL, FREE AND FAIR MAY 13, 2013 ELECTIONS

All indications so far point to peaceful, free and fair national and local elections

on May 13, 2013. This is the over-all assessment of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms

(CER) based on findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013, the CER domestic election

monitoring mission, and Payapang Bayan, Payapang Halalan (PAYAPA), the project

addressing peace in the major areas of election violence of Masbate, and ARMM,

particularly the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan.

CER Chairperson Ramon Casiple said, Election violence, though still a matter of

concern, has decreased by more than 50% compared to the levels of 2010 elections, has

remained localized to specific cities and towns, and has not yet necessitated the

placement of any area under Comelec control.

Regarding the preparations for the May 13 elections, Casiple said that the

Comelec has already completed the distribution of election paraphernalia, including the

PCOS machines, has successfully tested and finally sealed the machines for Mondays

elections, trained and deployed the Board of Election Inspectors, AFP and PNP security

forces, and finalized the project of precincts.Casiple said that the remaining issues concern the reliability of the PCOS

machines and the rest of the AES system, the possibilities of disruption of the election

process in warlord and rebel areas and violent rivalries in tightly-contested areas, vote-

buying, and the accuracy of election results.

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7/30/2019 CER Press Release - Pre-Election Findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013

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Casiple said, The reliability of the PCOS machines themselves have been proven

in the 2010 elections, with only 450 machines failing, out of 80,000 originally assigned to

clustered precincts. This is a 0.6% failure rate, far below the 2.75% failure rate foreseen

in the planning. However, the difficulty of transmission is expected to remain,

particularly in those places where the cellular services are weak or non-existent.

He said further, The prospect for election violence, occurring in rebel and

warlord areas, as well as in tightly-contested rivalries remains high. However, initiatives

coming from government security forces and civil society have resulted to the muting of

this violence.

Vote-buying, Casiple averred, is expected to remain the major violation ofthe

election process throughout the country. It is a disappointment that new initiatives in

curtailing this illegal practice, such as the Comelec money ban, is meeting stiff resistance.

Other Comelec initiatives on restrictions on campaign finance and tighter election

administration have already met with some success such as in the review of the party-list

accreditation, the anti-Epal campaign, the crackdown on illegal posters, and the creation

of a campaign finance unit.

Lastly, Casiple noted that the accuracy of the count is being put in doubt due to

the non-availability of the PCOS source code for review. The Comelec is duty-bound to

make available this to political parties and interested parties, in the interest of

transparency. The random manual audit procedures have also been changed to enable the

voters to see for themselves the veracity of the vote count at the precinct level.

Casiple concluded, In all, the indicators are there for the successful conduct of

peaceful, fair and free elections on Monday, May 13, 2013.

For verification, contact:

Ramon Casiple

Chairperson, Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER)

CP: 0916-3690182