With the May 2019 elections coming closer, the Filipinos have yet another opportunity to exercise their right to vote with high hopes that their chosen candidates may spark positive change and impact in the current political and social landscape of the country. Last 2016, voter turnout was at a record high of 81.7 percent. Although the election season is an opportunity for reform and development, it also comes with responsible, active participation from both the government and the people to ensure transparent elections.
With the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law finished, Comelec can focus on the national and local elections to prevent any delays. Pursuant to Republic Act No. 9369, the 2019 National and Local Elections will again be implementing the Automated Election System (AES) as how it was in the 2016 elections. Over the last three elections, incidences of traditional cheating methods, such as dagdag-bawas and fake ballots have decreased since the introduction of Automated Election System (AES). It is essential to ensure transparency and trust for credible elections, and Democracy Watch believes this is best achieved through AES. When the voting was done, the Comelec was able to proclaim an astounding near-perfect 99.96 percent of all 18,000 or so elective positions ten days after the elections. Faster results provide less chances for tampering and inspire greater confidence.
Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement, and several suggestions were given regarding points of improvement after concerns on the unresolved electoral issues from the previous elections. Voters education on voting procedure should be prioritized, particularly for new voters. In October 2018, Comelec reported that there are approximately 60 million registered voters, 2.5 million of which are newly registered. Democracy Watch has been partnering with various universities and civil society organizations to host Voters’ Education Forums, particularly for the benefit of first-time voters. The participation of neutral parties such as civil society organizations and non-governmental bodies to monitor the conduct of the elections should be highly encouraged. Public participation and involvement must go beyond voting and to the actual process of the elections.
Even though campaign period has not yet officially started, Pulse Asia reported that 43% of these registered voters already have their preferred candidates in mind. Voters can expect to be bombarded by political advertisements on the streets, radio, and TV. A fairly recent phenomenon is the use of social media to campaign. Although Comelec has released specific guidelines when it comes to online campaigning by social media influencers, these guidelines are limited to paid advertisements and official accounts. Given that the Philippines is one of the leading social media users in the world, we urge proper information dissemination on voter’s education and on the senatorial candidate profiles. Social media users are encouraged to use the online platform as a means of transparent and truthful information giving tool given its accessibility especially to the youth. We also encourage the use of social media to open discourse on issues and concerns and relate it to specific advocacies of the 2019 candidates. However, everyone must be critical when it comes to information from the internet. “Fake news” has yet to be fully addressed, so Democracy Watch encourages every voter to be careful and attentive.
Let us all use this time to prepare for elections so that we may elect those that will truly address corruption and encourage development.