MANILA, Philippines - Foreign observers in Abra revealed Thursday that they were harassed by both military forces and suspected private armed groups of local politicians during the May 10 elections.

David Crotty of Australia, a delegate from the Peoples International Observation Mission (PIOM), said he felt extreme fear when armed men in military uniforms interrogated them at a precinct, took pictures of their group and told them that taking footage at the polling center is prohibited.

"It was done without good humor, no sort of peace, I feel intimidated. We understand the tense situation here in Abra, but this is an exercise where soldiers must be aware of how much presence they should exert," he said.

Col. Essel Soriano, commander of the 503rd Brigade of the Armed Forces, denied that such an incident happened as no reports have yet been received by his office.

Soriano said the armed soldiers are in place to protect everybody inside and within the vicinity of the polling centers. "It is only for physical security to make sure there will be orderly elections without violating human rights at all," Soriano said.
 
Roseli Ilano, a foreign observer from the United States, said it was not only the military who were trying to harass them.

Ilano, who was in another town in Abra, said their group was always being followed by suspicious vehicles.

"Whenever we go around, a car was following us. That's a form of intimidation," she said.

She even recalled some men suspiciously following her around the polling centers.

Pamela Smith of Canada said she feared that this kind of harassment will continue even after Election Day. "If they are intimidating us, I can't imagine what they do to those who are not white, to those who don't have a voice," she said.

The PIOM sent 10 members of their group to Abra after learning that it was placed under the control of the Commission on Elections. Other members from 11 different countries were sent to different hotspots in Mindanao and in Metro Manila.

The group from Abra showed ABS-CBN several pictures of poll watchers directly hovering around a voter and pointing which circle the voter should shade. One of the pictures showed a man in white shirt wearing a "poll watcher" ID of a certain political party leaning at the back of a voter while his hands were pointing directly to a ballot.

The observers said they were stunned to see unauthorized personnel positioning themselves close enough to influence voters decision.

Valerie Anne Raoul of Canada said that some members of the board of election inspectors (BEI) disallowed their group from moving close to the voters but did not impose the same limitation to poll watchers.

"It did seem like they are influencing the voter. They are not actually speaking, but the presence is looming over you," she said.

Raoul said the same situation was evident in almost all precincts they observed during the election day in Abra.

"There was some amount of pressure on some people, up to what extent are people really free to vote," she said.

Abra Comelec Supervisor Atty. Vanessa Roncal said only the BEI in the precinct and close relatives of the voter are allowed to accompany a voter while casting a vote.

"Kung itong poll watcher na ito ay hindi pumapasok sa aking mga nabanggit definitely ito'y isang election offense," Roncal said.

The group also interviewed several residents who confirmed there was vote-buying a day before the opening of polls last Monday. The bribes ranged from P500 to P5,000 per voter, including packs of rice and goodies.

Ilano recalled one resident saying that most of the intimidation and  vote-buying happened the night before the actual voting. The observers refused to name the candidate concerned and the places in Abra where vote-buying happened.

The foreign observers are however amazed at how patient people in Abra lined up under the heat of the sun just to be able to cast their votes. 

"If this happened in Canada, there will be a riot," Raoul said.

The group said they are wary of the intimidating presence of armed soldiers in every polling center, something they admit they are not use to seeing anywhere else in the world. Sought for general assessment of the election Abra, Pamela Smith of Canada said: "The election was not democratic, there was a culture of fear." Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News