Comelec doubts group's credibility and qualification

MANILA, Philippines--The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has junked the petition of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) as citizen's arm in the May elections. Namfrel filed for accreditation in partnership with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (CBCP-Nassa).

In a resolution dated January 25, the poll body rejected the petition for joint accrediation, saying that they "could not help but cast doubts on NAMFREL's credibility and qualification."

The resolution questioned the credibility of Jose Cuisia Jr., chairman of the board of Namfrel, in filing for the accreditation. It stated that Namfrel failed to present a proof that the organization has authorized Cuisia to file the petition for the joint accreditation on December 17.

"Absent such proof, the Commission presumes that signatories thereto acted on their own accord, without consultation with the organization," it said.

This resolution reflected the argument raised by election lawyer Sixto Brillantes in a January 15 hearing, where he questioned whether the signatories were authorized by the organization to file for the accreditation.

The resolution also questioned the alleged union made between Namfrel and CBCP-Nassa for the joint accreditation. It stated that the organization failed to submit any document that signifies the collaboration between the two groups.

"If there indeed is a tie-up, we would expect a greater contribution and collaboration of members of the CBCP-Nassa in this petition other than mere affixing of a Bishop's signature alongside that of Cuisia," it noted.

The resolution added that though Namfrel "has proven its credibility and capability to be the duly accredited citizen's arm" of Comelec in the past elections, it cast doubts on the partisanship of its officials.

The poll body noted the political leaning of the group's officials. Jose Concepcion, the founding chairman of Namfrel, is a known critic of presidential candidate Joseph Estrada. Cuisia, on the other hand, is known to be a critic of the administration of President Arroyo.

"The acts of the very officers of the group smear the reputation of the organization towards non-partisanship."

Brillantes has also doubted "the impartiality of the organization especially of the signatories of the petition."

In a separate concurring opinion, Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that petition is unlikely to be granted, as the poll body already accredited on October 26 the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) as the official citizen's arm for the  May elections.

Being an accredited citizen arm will entitle a group to get the 4th copy of the election returns (ERs), the certificates of votes to be generated by the automated machines, and the 7th copy of the manually prepared ERs, if any.

"There can only be one 4th copy of the certificate of canvas and to prevent this absurd situation from happening, this Commission has no other recourse but to deny petitioners' petition for accreditation," said Sarmiento.

In an earlier interview, Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said that they wouldn't be needing the quick count function of Namfrel due to the automated system of election. "As soon as the data is sent [from the election machines] to the server of Comelec, we will upload this on our secure website, so people can already see the results of the elections right then and there," he said.

Namfrel cannot be made to do the manual audit of ballots either, said Larrazabal, because the poll body has already created a committee that will do that. (Newsbreak)