PPCRV hurt over non-inclusion in election preparation

MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on Tuesday said it is hurt over the non-inclusion in "key milestone events” in the preparation for May 9 polls.

In a press conference, Communications Director Ana De Villa-Singson said PPCRV, as the citizen's arm of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), is hurt deeply in the non-inclusion in the election preparations citing that even its volunteers were affected by which.

"For the past 27 elections, the PPCRV has seen the ballots and other election paraphernalia... But that was a challenge in these particular elections. Schedules of campaign paraphernalia disbursement and delivery were not shared with us. We begged for it, and we are begging for it still," PPCRV said in a statement read by Singson.

"And in the hubs of Bataan and in other places nationwide, our volunteers were not allowed to enter to check on the machines. This is a major concern for us who take our role to guard this elections literally and seriously,” it added.

The PPCRV recounted its experience in the 2013 elections and enumerated the challenges encountered leading toward the the 2016 polls.

"So many changes with so little time—a very deadly combination when thinking of the surgical precision needed in orchestrating the many moving parts in national and local elections," PPCRV said.

It raised six concerns, namely multiple revisions for general instructions for the upcoming elections; late plug-ins such as the replacement of ballot; transmission of votes a carried over concern from 2013; hacking of Comelec website exposing 70 million registered voters to security issues; and reports on vote buying in Zamboanga where there are voters allegedly receiving P6,000 monthly from group who secure votes of unnamed candidates.

The PPCRV also cited the last-minute changes made after the Supreme Court's March 8 order to issue voting receipts. It said this can "can lead to overlapping communications, confusion in the field, and difficulty in briefing on the final system of voting" the poll watchers as well as the teachers who will serve as board of election inspectors.

Singson said stressed that instead of complaining about these challenges, the PPCRV chose to provide solutions.

"We can choose to be indifferent and we can choose to be uncaring, we can choose to be belligerent and angry and complain without offering solutions, making things even worse, or we can choose to buckle down for solutions. We can choose to be resolutions ourselves, that is a path that we in PPCRV are choosing. We prefer to provide solutions," she said.

"We prefer not to complain. We prefer not to bewail what is already there… because this election is not just a Comelec election. It is our election and everybody in it is a stakeholder," Singson added.

Singson said the PPCRV is ready to participate in the coming elections with 700,000 volunteers with only two as their employees.

The PPCRV, in cooperation with the Comelec, also conducted a mock voting to demonstrate the vote counting machine process and inform the public of the proper way to vote and showed the members of the media its modernized command center.

Meanwhile, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the PPCRV should have raised its concern to Comelec Chair Juan Andres Bautista, who will then lead the discussion at en banc.