POLLS OBSERVER. Healing democracy spokesman Adelaida Ditucalan (right) briefs Canadian journalist Tania Natscheff during her recent ocular visit to Lanao del Sur as part of the preparation for the Observers’ Mission to the conduct of the May 10, automated national elections in the Maranao province.
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—An international observers’ mission will monitor the conduct of the first-ever automated presidential elections in Lanao del Sur, the spokesperson of a Maranao grassroots project funded by the European Union said yesterday.
Healing Democracy spokesperson Adelaida Ditucalan said the Observers’ Mission, dubbed as Kapamagompong 2010 will be participated by select personalities from interfaith communities locally and abroad particularly from Canada, Australia, Malaysia and the US.
Local participants will be coming from various faith-based groups such as the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Sisters Association in Mindanao (SAMIN), Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Ethnic Groups Development Resource Center (EGDRC), Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA), Ecumenical Bishop’s Forum (EBF) and others.
”They will be visiting polling places and interview election stakeholders in a 5-day monitoring that will start on May 8 and will end on May 13,’’ she said.
Ditucalan said Kapamagompong is a Maranao term for ’’convergence.’’
She said the objective of the observers’ mission is to bring to the attention of the interfaith communities, both locally and internationally, the extent of election-related fraud and violence in the province.
“It will also muster pressures on the candidates against committing fraud and violence and support people’s efforts to protect their votes,” she added.
As a part of the preparation, journalist Tania Natscheff, a producer of a Canada-based broadcasting corporation and participant to the Kapamagompong 2010 has visited the Province on March 28 to 31 for an ocular visit and exposure to the pre-election day political landscape of Lanao del Sur.
Natscheff visited communities in Taraka and Ditsaan Ramain towns and interviewed members of the Voters’ Collectives—a community-based electoral watchdog—and visited the offices of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) in Lanao del Sur to intensify networking and preparations for the mission.
Her documentation of experiences and first-hand interviews will be shared to the Canadian delegates who are coming to the mission.
Ditucalan said Healing Democracy initiated the Kapamagompong 2010 to gauge the conduct of the May 10 elections according to international standards that apply to the conduct of genuine democratic elections such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Kapamagompong 2010 will release a mission report and will popularize this to the international community.
Healing Democracy is a European Union-funded project that seeks to contribute for the promotion of democractic electoral process in Lanao del Sur.
Healing Democracy, which is a Maranao grassroots electoral undertaking supported by interfaith communities, has initially been granted a P7.2 million grant from the Euopean Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) program, for the various undertakings such as voters’ education and election monitoring in its areas of coverage.
Healing Democracy is spearheaded by the Consortium of Christian Organizations for Rural-Urban Development (CONCORD), Inc. and includes as partners the Liga ng Kabataang Moro (LKM) Lanao; Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM); Ethnic Groups Development Resource Center (EGDRC); Rural Missionaries of the Philippines; Community-Based Health Services (CBHS) Northern Mindanao; Suara Bangsamoro Northern Mindanao; Kawagib Alliance for the Advancement of Moro Rights; Samahan ng mga Lingkod na Artista sa Mindanao (SALAMIN); and Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA) Lanao. (Bong D. Fabe)
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