Thirty foreign election observers are in the Philippines to keep a watch on Monday’s electoral process, particularly in six areas with a history of election-related violence.
 
“They are interested on how these local electoral contests will play out three years into the term of President [Benigno] Aquino [III], who himself won the 2010 elections under the banner of political reforms,” Arnold Tarrobago, national co-ordinator of Compact of Peaceful and Democratic Elections (Compact), said.
 
Quoted by ‘The Philippine Star’, Tarrobago said his group invited the foreigners to be part of the ‘International Team Bantay’, in line with Compact’s IOM, or International Observers’ Mission, for the elections.
 
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixtro Brilliantes Jr, meanwhile, said the opening of polling precincts across the country in Monday’s midterm elections (where elected officials take office at the middle of the term of another set of officials) have been smooth so far.
 
“Now we have 12 hours to vote and there are about 650 voters per cluster precinct,” he said, referring to when the precincts opened at 7am on Monday. He added that the Comelec has a National Support Centre manned by 800 people monitoring the polls.
 
About 52 million voters are expected to troop to their respective polling precincts on Monday to choose 12 senators, 229 district congressmen, 80 provincial governors, 80 provincial vice governors, 766 members of provincial legislatures, 138 city mayors, 138 city vice mayors, 1,532 members of city council, 1,496 municipal mayors, 1496 municipal vice mayors and 11,972 members of municipal council.
 
Established in 2004, Compact is a consortium of NGOs and civil society organisations that aims to address election-related violence committed by both state and non-state actors.
 
Tarrobago said the observers from 30 countries have divided themselves into six groups, with each of them monitoring Pampanga, Cagayan, Camarines Sur and Masbate, all provinces on the largest Philippine island of Luzon; Cebu, a province in central Philippines; and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), in the southern part of the country.
 
Led by the German lecturer Daniel Mann, eight of the visitors arrived last Saturday to observe Pampanga’s gubernatorial race between incumbent Governor Lilia Pineda and former governor and priest Ed Panlilio.
 
“We are also interested in the elections in the second district of Pampanga, where former President Arroyo is running for reelection for Congress despite her being under hospital arrest and not being able to campaign at all,” Mann said in a press conference on Sunday.
 
Tarrobago said the foreign observers would make a consolidated report, which will be made available to the public, government agencies and the diplomatic corps.
 
Besides having history of election-related violence, the six areas chosen for the observers to visit are also noted for their political clans and having active civil society movements and the capability to safeguard the security of foreigners.