ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD IN PHILIPPINE ELECTIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001694 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM RP SUBJECT: ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD IN PHILIPPINE ELECTIONS Ref: A. MANILA 1647 ¶B. MANILA 1613 ¶C. MANILA 1544 ¶D. MANILA 1521 ¶E. MANILA 1494 ¶F. MANILA 1467 ¶G. MANILA 1215 ¶H. MANILA 1073 ¶1. (U) Summary. New allegations of fraud in the 2007 Philippine mid-term elections have again weakened the credibility of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and led to renewed calls for automation in time for the 2010 elections. Common charges included vote buying, vote shaving, ballot box snatching, use of "flying voters," and disenfranchising voters. Some new measures, such as posting election returns at precincts and digital photographs on return lists, helped to lessen possible poll irregularities, along with the presence of vigilant poll watchers from the dominant and minority political parties, party-list organizations, and civil society watchdogs. It is difficult to assess the magnitude or impact of any alleged irregularities, and analysts are not questioning the elections overall, but rather conduct in certain localities. This report conveys anecdotal information on major allegations of irregularities. Septel will discuss problematic elections in Maguindanao province, as well as the May 26 make-up elections in other parts of Mindanao. End Summary. -------------- Vote Buying -------------- ¶2. (U) As in previous elections, there were persistent allegations of local vote buying in the May 14 elections. Newspapers reported that in the poor sections of Dagupan City, Pangasinan Province, a vote was worth only 20 pesos (.40 USD). In Palawan Province, Embassy observers heard that the price ranged from 250 - 500 pesos (5-10 USD),while in Albay Province, the alleged range was from 100 - 700 pesos (2-14 USD). In Tacloban City, Leyte Province, a government agency reportedly paid 1,000 pesos (20 USD) to each of its employees to vote for a non-leftist party-list organization. The highest amount reported was in Zamboanga del Norte Province, where votes allegedly sold for as much as 1,500 pesos (30 USD). -------------- Vote Shaving -------------- ¶3. (U) COMELEC's national canvassing center detected and corrected discrepancies in provincial returns, dismissing them as "clerical mistakes." The provincial certificate of canvass from Zambales province -- homeland of "Team Unity" senatorial candidate and current Governor Vicente Magsaysay - listed only 85,923 votes for Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Francis "Chiz" Escudero, while the actual statement of votes gave Escudero 185,923. Similarly, opposition senatorial candidate Alan Peter Cayetano was credited with only 29,198 votes, when the actual returns read 129,198. The opposition candidates were credited with the correct number of votes, but the discrepancies led to suspicions of attempts to "shave" votes. -------------- Ballot Box Snatching -------------- ¶4. (U) Against the backdrop of a tight three-way fight for the Pampanga gubernatorial seat involving the moneyed wife of an alleged drug lord, an absentee actor-governor busy making movies, and a dark horse from the clergy who eventually won by a slim margin of votes, unidentified armed men snatched 12 ballot boxes from election workers en route to the canvassing center to deliver the election returns. Authorities later found the boxes along the shore of a nearby river. In Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan, armed men barged into poll precincts and snatched ballot boxes while voting was in progress. In Batangas province, men later identified as police burned a local school holding some ballot boxes (inadvertently killing two election workers in the fire),allegedly at the behest of a local politician facing defeat. The Philippine National Police have identified and now filed charges against the policemen involved in the incident. ¶5. (U) In a separate incident, eight soldiers died in an encounter in Abra province with suspected New People's Army insurgents apparently seeking to seize ballot boxes on behalf of a local candidate (ref b). -------------- "Flying Voters" -------------- ¶6. (U) Another Philippine practice is to hire "flying voters" to vote for certain candidates under fictitious names in polling MANILA 00001694 002 OF 003 centers other than their own. In Lanao del Sur province, residents claim to have spotted a busload of 70 "flying voters" arriving in Marawi City from neighboring Iligan City to vote for a certain candidate in exchange for 1,000 pesos (20 USD). In Occidental Mindoro Province, truckloads of Mangyan (indigenous) voters, identified with name tags and precinct numbers, were reportedly ferried to polling places by Tagalog-speaking people. On a more positive note, a field election supervisor in Cagayan de Oro City won commendation for successfully cleansing the voters' list of as many as 20,000 apparent "flying voters" before Election Day. -------------- Disenfranchised Voters -------------- ¶7. (U) Perhaps the most common complaint among voters was not finding their names in the master list of voters in their polling centers and thus not being able to cast their ballots. In some cases, the voters themselves may have failed to re-register in time, while in other cases new procedures to organize voters by date of registration or address rather than in alphabetical order complicated the search for the right precinct list. However, many alleged that precinct officials sometimes eliminated the names of voters whose votes might go to a rival candidate (usually for local office rather than national). It is difficult to assess how extensive this problem was. -------------- Military Campaigning -------------- ¶8. (U) The Department of National Defense and the COMELEC in 2006 signed a memorandum of agreement limiting the military's participation in election work to securing polling places in election hotspots. (Note: The Constitution prohibits members of the military from engaging "directly or indirectly in any partisan political activity, except to vote." End Note.) However, there were numerous but unsubstantiated reports that some local military commanders actively campaigned against leftist party-list organizations and/or "ordered" troops to vote only in favor of "Team Unity" Senate candidates. -------------- New Measures Helped Lessen Possible Fraud -------------- ¶9. (U) COMELEC instituted some additional measures to prevent election fraud, notably, publicly posting election returns at polling precincts for 48 hours after counting of votes. The poll body also agreed to give accredited poll watchdog organizations and the official minority Liberal party a copy of the election returns and the certificates of canvass. However, there were complaints in some areas that accredited poll watchers did not always receive these copies, as well as complaints from the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) that its officials had detected in some places bogus NAMFREL officials trying to obtain these copies. -------------- Poll Watchers Also Deterred Election Fraud -------------- ¶10. (U) The presence of poll watchers from the dominant LAKAS and minority Liberal parties, party-list organizations, and civil society watchdog organizations -- such as the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and NAMFREL -- contributed to lessening possible poll irregularities. In Pampanga, followers of governor-elect Father Ed Panlilio lit candles, sang religious hymns, and kept a vigilant watch during the canvassing of votes. In some precincts, these observers were allowed in the room during the actual counting of ballots, while in most precincts they had to monitor through open windows or doors. -------------- Delayed Canvassing -------------- ¶11. (U) Nine days after the elections, election officials have proclaimed only approximately 50% of the municipal, city, provincial, and Congressional winners. Losing candidates have already begun to complain and/or file charges of fraud or other irregularities. In Isabela province, gubernatorial candidate and former Governor Benjamin Dy, who trails behind incumbent Governor Grace Padaca by some 5,000 votes, has sought the exclusion of votes in 182 precincts due to alleged irregularities. Abra Province has temporarily suspended canvassing due to allegations of irregularities by Congressional candidate and outgoing Governor Vicente Valera against winning opponent Cecilia Luna, who lost six relatives to election-related violence allegedly perpetrated by the Valera camp. Accusations of irregularities between gubernatorial candidates Gerry Salapuddin and Wahab Akbar have also delayed the MANILA 00001694 003 OF 003 final canvassing in Basilan Province. ¶12. (U) COMELEC's National Canvassing Board estimates it can complete the canvassing of votes for the Senate and party-list race by the first week of June, when special make-up elections and canvassing for certain areas -- Lanao del Sur, Sulu, and Basilan as well as parts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao -- will be complete following COMELEC's decisions to declare local elections as failed or to delay them due to the absence of election workers, poll irregularities, and/or violence. NAMFREL hopes to finish its parallel "quick" count (apart from Maguindanao and the above mentioned sites) on May 24. -------------- --- Automated Elections for 2010 - Really and Truly? -------------- --- ¶13. (U) Presidential Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye announced on May 21 that the Arroyo Administration was determined to automate the electoral process in time for the 2010 presidential elections. He stated that, with "political will," three years would be sufficient to implement the needed reforms. Earlier this year, Congress passed the Automated Electoral System Act, but COMELEC successfully protested that it did not have sufficient time to implement even on a trial or partial basis for the May 14 polls. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/ KENNEY