8 Int’l poll observers pick Pampanga

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Eight of 30 international election observers have picked Pampanga as the place to monitor Monday’s elections, seeing the province as a ground for “iconic electoral battles” such as that between Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and lawyer Vivian Dabu, and Gov. Lilia Pineda and former Gov. Ed Panlilio, a former Catholic priest.

The eight monitors intend to focus on the conduct of the candidates and voters during the balloting, as well as on the issues of dynasties, vote-buying, denial of voting and election-related violence, their team’s spokesperson, Daniel Mann, told reporters here on Sunday.

Pampanga is one of 15 election areas of concern identified by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Mann’s group is part of the Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections-International Observers Mission 2013 (Compact-IOM 2013).

Aung Myo Htwe of Myanmar wondered how Arroyo, a former president who has been under hospital arrest since October 2012, could run in the election.

“If she wins, how can she perform under arrest?” he asked. He expressed interest at how democracy worked at the local level, having come from a country where democracy is in transition.

“It’s an interesting battleground,” said Mann, referring to Pampanga.

Aside from Pampanga, other international observers are heading to Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Cebu and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said Ruevin Serrano, Compact local coordinator.

“Team Bantay” was how the observers called themselves.

“[The observers have shown] great interest in monitoring iconic electoral contests between those that proclaim to be on the side of reforms and those that are widely associated with traditional and patronage politics,” said Arnold Tarrobago, Compact national coordinator.

The observers, he said, were also interested in the following races: The one in the third district of Camarines Sur between Leni Robredo and Nelly Villafuerte; in the ARMM between Officer in Charge Mujiv Hataman and Pax Mangudadatu; and the one in Masbate between Fr. Leo Casas and the Kho and Lanete clans for the gubernatorial post.

The international observers, aged 27 to 32, are lecturers, students and workers for peace and development in their home countries. They are first-time visitors to the Philippines.