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CenPEG’s voters’ education, poll watch training
stepped up as election nears
To
build critical public awareness on the prospects and complexities
of the automated election system (AES), the Center for People Empowerment
(CenPEG) continues to make rounds in forums and discussions with
various religious groups, schools and other organizations nationwide.
On
February 16, CenPEG was the main resource in a forum organized by
Miriam College’s Institution Network for Social Action (INSA).
Entitled “Boto ko para sa pagbabago,” the forum, which
was also in cooperation with AES Watch Youth, was for adult education
students focusing on responsible voting and the automated election
system.
The
Miriam College forum was attended by over a hundred adult students.
CenPEG Researcher Coordinator and UP faculty member, Prof. Rosa
Castillo, was the main speaker.
A
separate forum entitled “Views and prospects on the Automated
Election System” was held at the University of the Cordilleras
(UC) in Baguio last February 17. The forum was sponsored by Kabataan
Party-list together with the UC Supreme Student Government (SSG)
and the College of Information and Computing Sciences. Judge Cleto
Villacorta III, CenPEG board member and Fellow, gave the talk.
Among
the religious sector, St.Jude Parish in Manila also invited CenPEG
in one of its monthly assemblies at the Divine Word Seminary in
Tagaytay City last February 22. The theme of the event was “Political
reflections in light of elections”. Joining the forum were
about 50 priests from Metro Manila, Bulacan, Mindoro, Pampanga,
and other church members from Cavite. CenPEG research associate
and trainer Nadja Castillo was the speaker.
Poll
watch volunteers
St.
Jude priests expressed their interest to participate as poll watchers
upon learning of the AES vulnerabilities, said one of the CenPEG
speakers.
The
Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (Eiler) launched
its Workers’ Election (We) Watch on February 22 in Manila,
with CenPEG’s Ayi dela Cruz giving the latest monitoring briefing
on Comelec’s election preparedness. Ms. Dela Cruz presented
the System Trustworthiness, Accountability, and Reliability (STAR)
Scorecard of AES Watch.
On
February 23, Manila Science High School (MSHS) through the Alliance
of Concerned Teachers (ACT), hosted a voters’ education attended
by more than 100 teachers. One of the organizers said that understanding
the AES is important to them as members of the Boards of Elections
Inspectors (BEIs) on election day. This also served as an information
drive for public school teachers especially now that they are facing
an imminent “disenfranchisement”.
CenPEG
research associate and IT systems consultant, Elsa Gines, was the
resource person. At the end of the forum, the discussion was well-received
by teachers who found the talk very informative, said one of the
ACT organizers.
The
audience also raised concerns regarding possible voters’ disenfranchisement,
fraud and failure of elections given the vulnerabilities of the
AES.
CenPEG
Fellows also served as resource persons for the three-day national
training on voters’ education organized by the National Secretariat
for Social Action (NASSA) on February 19-21 in Tagbilaran, Bohol.
Attending the training organized by NASSA, which is under the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), were social action
and election volunteers from various dioceses throughout the Philippines.
(Please see separate story.)
CenPEG’s
voters education and poll watch training modules are based on the
policy center’s ongoing studies and monitoring of the automated
election system (AES) that begun with the automated elections in
the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in August 2008.
Its studies on the AES have been conducted in cooperation with the
University of the Philippines’ College of Law and with the
European Union (EU) under the “Project 30-30.”
Held
since May 2009, CenPEG’s briefings, voters’ education,
poll watch training, and political education have been organized
for various political parties, presidential and senatorial candidates,
as well as ecumenical groups, advocacy organizations, NGOs, universities,
citizens’ poll watchdogs, lawyers groups, and the tri-media.
CenPEG News |
