Representatives of pro-administration and opposition political parties and party-list groups forged yesterday a covenant committing themselves to the conduct of honest, orderly and peaceful elections (HOPE).
The accord was signed in the presence of President Arroyo who presided over a multisectoral meeting at Malacañang.
The President submitted a copy of the document to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Alfredo Benipayo, who also attended the meeting.
"As we aspire to show the world our common resolve to move this nation forward, we hereby manifest our unequivocal support and commitment to the holding of honest, orderly and peaceful elections on May 14, 2001," the covenant stated.
The signatories were Makati Rep. Aga-pito Aquino, representing the opposition coalition Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PnM-LDP); former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Lakas-NUCD-UMDP; former Vice President Salvador Laurel, Nacionalista Party; Eleazar Quinto, Liberal Party; Joel Allores, Partido ng Masang Pilipino; Lorna Kapunan, Ak-syon Demokratiko; Jose Marie Gerochi, Reporma; and Winston Garcia, Probinsiya Muna Development Initiatives.
Also present during the meeting were Cabinet members, Comelec officials, top brass of the military and police, industrialist Jose Concepcion of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and former Comelec commissioner Haydee Yorac representing the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.
The signatories said the elections "must serve to unite the country, fortify the people’s faith in government and democratic processes, articulate and defend the people’s will in the choice of their leaders, and renew people’s hope in their own capacity to build and sustain a peaceful and progressive society."
They also vowed to rise about selfish and partisan interests and renounce violence, intimidation, fraud, manipulation, vote-buying and other unlawful practices that undermine the integrity of the election results.
Considered pro-administration parties are the LP, Reporma, Aksyon Demokratiko, Lakas-NUCD, Promdi and the NP, while those on the opposition camp are the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, the Nationalist People’s Coalition and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino.
In his briefing at the HOPE conference, Philippine National Police operations chief Deputy Director Edgar Aglipay disclosed that communist and Muslim separatist rebels have mustered some P20 million from the issuance of "campaign permits" to local candidates.
"A paramount security concern (now) is the threat posed by the supporters and allies of former President Estrada. Over the past days since Estrada’s April 25 arrest and detention, his allies and supporters had displayed a scenario of massive protests and acts of lawlessness and anarchy in Metro Manila leading to the May 1 attempt to take over Malacañang," Aglipay said.
He said despite the neutralization of key instigators of the failed attempt to take over the Palace, the pro-Estrada forces are still expected to come up with some violent incidents intended to disrupt the elections.
Aglipay pointed out that it would be to the advantage of the Estrada camp if the polls were canceled or postponed.
Aquino charged, however, that the police was being "overly cautious" in ensuring that no untoward incidents take place on election day.
He shrugged off the police’s warning as only a figment of its imagination. "We are a threat to them politically because they know more people are supporting Puwersa ng Masa," he said.
He claimed that in case trouble erupted, it would not come from the opposition.
"We are also interested in the results (of the elections), knowing right now we have the support of the majority of the people in Metro Manila," he added.
Other "threat groups" identified by Aglipay are the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) , the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) , the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group and private armies of political warlords.
Aglipay said the communist rebels eye the polls as an opportunity to intensify their fund-raising drive through the imposition of campaign permit fees within their so-called "guerrilla fronts."
Aglipay said the CPP-NPA has collected some P5.4 million in campaign permit fees from candidates in the regions of Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Central and Eastern Visayas.
In return, the rebels endorsed the candidacies of some 220 people, Aglipay added.
He also said the NPA guerrillas planned to assassinate some candidates branded as "anti-revolutionary."
For its part, the MILF has reportedly offered security, or harassing rival candidates for a fee.