PHILIPPINES

The “Philippines Election Reform Project” is a USAID-funded IFES initiative to assist the COMELEC to become more transparent, professional and credible; increase civil society’s capacity to advocate for electoral reform; increase civil society’s involvement in the electoral process through election monitoring and collaboration with COMELEC; and improve the efficacy of election adjudication through training and reform. To fulfill these objectives, IFES will seek to strengthen COMELEC’s capacity to conduct credible elections through modernization and will engage civil society in developing effective advocacy programs to establish reforms for the long-term.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Assisting Comelec To Become More Transparent, Professional And Credible: Under this program, IFES will work with COMELEC to evaluate the current voter registration administrative structure. This assessment will produce: (1) an analysis comparing COMELEC’s system to relevant systems used elsewhere; (2) an internal review of the current voter registration system including a review of the proper use of biometric data capturing equipment; (3) an evaluation of the administrative structure that supports voter list maintenance; and (4) a plan of action the COMELEC can use to effectively prioritize their current voter registration technology needs. The assessment will help COMELEC to modify the current voter registration system to make it more reliable and accessible to voters.

IFES will provide training to the COMELEC committee tasked with receiving and auditing campaign finance reports submitted by candidates and political parties based on the Training in Detection and Enforcement (TIDE) program methodology. IFES’ TIDE program, successfully implemented in developing democracies around the world, covers: (1) public disclosure; (2) audit methodology; (3) evidence collection; (4) review of financial records; (5) investigating political finance irregularities; (6) compliance, standards and penalties; (7) strategic planning for enforcement; and (8) cooperation among enforcement agencies.

Following on IFES’ work with the COMELEC National Pool of Trainers for the May 2007 elections, IFES will work with COMELEC to introduce the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance, and Elections (BRIDGE) Program, an internationally-renowned training system, which will be utilized to provide expertise in election administration and management.

Finally, IFES will work with COMELEC and civil society to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current legal framework for conducting elections in 2010, including both the recently passed Automated Elections Systems (AES) Law and the Omnibus Election Code. This will provide a framework for COMELEC in their efforts to produce informed implementing rules and regulations that will underpin a modernized electoral process.

Increasing Citizens’ Capacity to Advocate for Electoral Reform: Under this activity, IFES will work closely with a variety of civil society organizations, including the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN), and others to support them in making their voices heard in the electoral reform debate.

Should the political party bill currently being debated by Congress pass, IFES will engage IPER to draft a primer on the political party bill that would outline the provisions of the new law as well as the existing campaign finance rules and regulations. The primer will be distributed to the main political parties in the Philippines to help ensure the smooth implementation of the political party law.

Increasing Citizens’ Involvement in the Electoral Process Through Election Monitoring and Collaboration With the COMELEC: IFES will continue to provide technical assistance to the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reform (Citizens CARE) in the training and development of educational materials to deliver a more effective voter education program to ARMM residents. Additionally, IFES will endeavor to incorporate gender issues into the voter education program, targeting 60% participation of women as both trainers and participants as well as drafting the voter education materials in such a way that they address the genders differently and effectively.

The Ugnayan Tayo (Local Democracy Meeting), which under the previous IFES project proved an effective means of bringing together key election stakeholders to address pressing electoral issues such as voter education and security, will continue. The Ugnayan Tayo will continue to target the participation of institutions such as the COMELEC, AFP, PNP, civil society and candidates, and will also target the participation of women and address issues of gender as both a part of the regular meetings as well as a potential stand-alone topic.

Finally, IFES will provide technical assistance to Citizens CARE to train barangay gurus and other volunteers as election monitors and provide them monitoring materials, such as checklists and monitoring forms, for the 2008 ARMM elections. Citizens CARE will endeavor to recruit approximately 3,000 monitors throughout the region for those elections.

Improving the Efficacy of Election Adjudication Through Training And Reform: Under this last activity, IFES is working with the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and the Lawyers League for Liberty (LIBERTAS).

In January 2008, PHILJA conducted a one-day seminar for judges and clerks of court of specially-designated Election Courts at the Municipal Trial Court level. Approximately 150 judges and clerks of court were trained on election laws and adjudicating election disputes.

LIBERTAS and the election adjudication reform network will hold a series of meetings with congressional representatives to seek out and cultivate a champion for election adjudication reform in both the House and the Senate of the Philippine Congress. Additionally, LIBERTAS will sponsor a series of workshops with members of Congress and other election practitioners to draft legislation on election adjudication reform that will be introduced to the 14th Congress.