Fil-Am group worried of poll failure

WASHINGTON DC – Filipino-American leaders have urged the US government to send top-level election monitors to the May 10 Philippine elections amid concerns that the nation's first automated elections are being rigged to fail.

Loida Nicolas Lewis, National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NAFFAA) Chair Emeritus, said a "worrying mix of events" prompted their group to ask the State Department and Capitol Hill to send observers to the May 10 Philippines elections, similar to what happened in the 1986 snap elections.

She said the events endangering the elections include power outages, delays in the printing of ballots and President Arroyo's decision to surround herself with generals loyal to her.

“Everything, if you count all of this together, seems to be an effort to disenfranchise the voters," Lewis said.
 
Lewis, a known supporter of Liberal Party presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, personally handed a letter detailing the Fil-Ams' concerns to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

She also met with Clinton's deputy chief-of-staff for almost an hour.
 
Lewis said she was encouraged by the reception she got from Clinton. “Once she had the paper in her hand, her face changed and she said: 'I will take this seriously.' She said it 3 times'," she said.

(Read letter here: Request for Philippine Election Observers Group)

Some NAFFAA officers said Filipinos all over the world should be extra vigilant about plots to rig the May 10 elections.
 
“The United States will never condone and never accept a president that is not expressive of the will of the Filipino people. Let us be reminded that the whole world will be watching this,” said Marlon Pecson, vice chair of NAFFAA’s national election commission.

Smartmatic probe in US
 
A meeting with New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney only fueled more fears about the optical scanners to be used in the elections.

The machines are manufactured by Smartmatic, the same company investigated by Maloney's committee in 2006.

“We had all kinds of problem with the election in Chicago. We proved that the ownership was not American but Venezuela and we know the technology is not fool-proof and can be tampered with. You can't have a fair and honest elections unless you have a paper trail," said Rep. Maloney.

US officials acknowledged the group's concerns but said they are careful to strike a balance, lest America be accused of interfering in a domestic political exercise.

They admitted, however, that any fall-out from a possible electoral debacle in the Philippines will be felt all the way to Washington DC.

Palace open to election monitors

Meanwhile, Malacañang is open to the idea of American election monitors for the May 10 polls.

According to deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar, the "more monitors there are, the more helpful it will be for the credibility of the outcome of the election."

Olivar said election monitoring by independent groups has been a "time honored practice," but they have to abide by guidelines that will be set by the Philippine government.

He said that while a group of Filipino-Americans has asked for election monitors, it is up to the US government to decide whether to send them for the May 10 polls.

"It is within the prerogative of the US government, and there is a process of accreditation and oversight procedures by the Philippine government," Olivar said.

"It is within the prerogative of the US government, and there is a process of accreditation and oversight procedures by the Philippine government," Olivar said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it has also sent out invitations to foreign embassies and different electoral organizations to observe the May 10 elections.

Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said among the groups that the Comelec has approached are the Carter Foundation, the Korean Election Commission, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

"They are coming here because the elections in the Philippines will be one of the most comprehensive automated elections in the world today," he told ANC. -- with a report from Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News; ANC