A few days ago Comelec has officially denied the petition of NAMFREL to be part of the election. The reason? There seems to be a vested interested based on the background of the election watch dog. Jose Cuisia Jr. and Jose Concepcion have been doubted because of their "political leanings". Fortunately, PPCRV is still on the loop in the upcoming elections.
Based on the latest news (resources in the end of the article), NAMFREL is trying to get acreddited through tie-up with CBCP-Nassa which naturally creates PPCRV (Parish Pastroral Council for Responsible Voting). But the Comelec questioned the authority of Cuisia to make such bold decisions such as establishing a tie-up with PPCRV. Hence their application for accreditation is not approved.
This is a sad and bad news for election watch dogs. Back in the days, NAMFREL is regarded is often the basis on who will win in the upcoming election. Think of them as the spoilers - since they don't have to go through strict regulations of the COMELEC, they can conduct a quick count and reveal the results weeks before the proclamation.
So now that the NAMFREL is gone the burden is on PPCRV to ensure an honest and clean elections. But this is a tall order for the church based-group. I have been a volunteer of PPCRV once and it's a grueling task to ensure that the election doesn't stall. You're practically the right arm of the poor teachers who are having trouble controlling the elections. And it's set to get worst because poll automation requires a lot of mumbo-jumbo in technology.
The pressure is now on PPCRV. We just hope they would provide concrete actions and inform the public in advance on what they will do on the upcoming elections. The void left by NAMFREL is not an easy to fill.
Source 1: It's final: No Namfrel role in polls
Source 2: No more Namfrel quick count in 2010
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