Mindanao watch group wants massive info campaign vs poll violence

COTABATO CITY — A non-partisan election monitoring group covering Moro areas has recommended an education campaign on the criminal and civil liabilities of voters and candidates who misbehave during elections, as part of efforts to ensure safe and orderly polls in politically volatile areas.

The Independent Election Monitoring Center (IEMC) in this city, launched a week before the May 12 elections, is being operated jointly by the non-government Institute for Autonomy and Governance, National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, Climate and Conflict Action Asia and the Coalition for Social Accountability and Transparency.

The IEMC documented dozens of election-related incidents, including deadly clashes among partisans, in parts of the Bangsamoro region, particularly in Maguindanao del Sur and Basilan, during the May 12 polls.

A retired Army officer, Dickson Hermoso, an adviser to the IEMC, told reporters, during a dialogue at the center’s conference room on Tuesday afternoon, May 13, that there is an urgent need to warn the public that scheming voters and politicians could be prosecuted in court for electoral offenses.

“Those employed by shrewd politicians to do bad things to boost their winning chances are virtually unaware of the legal consequences of their doings,” Hermoso, who had served as an officer in different Army units in areas in Central Mindanao that have election hotspots, said.

He said a “show of force” by the police and the military can also prevent saboteurs from getting close to polling centers during an election day.

“When potentially harmful voters and politicians see polling centers being guarded tightly by men in uniform, they move away and behave,” Hermoso said.

A commissioner in the National Amnesty Commission, Jamar Kulayan, who is a lawyer who had served as a regional education official of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said there is a need for sustained proactive efforts to prevent electoral irregularities, including violent incidents, during elections, particularly during the upcoming first ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections in October. 

Kulayan, also an adviser to the IEMC, said educating voters and politicians in the Bangsamoro region on the importance of safe and clean elections in relation to the Mindanao peace process, which is aimed at fostering peace and sustainable development via governance in the now five-year-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is something that the Comelec, state security forces and agencies in BARMM should focus attention on.

“We also need to teach voters on their responsibilities and rights as voters, like privileges for senior citizens and persons with disabilities when they are in polling centers,” Kulayan said.