Saturday, July 5, 2014

Contribution to modernizing elections in the Philippines

We have been at this since 1992.  My personal involvement dates back to 1995 when I served as the executive director of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (namfrel.com.ph).

Modernizing Philippine elections continues to be contentious even if the benefits to voters, polling officials, election administrators and candidates are obvious.  I believe this is generally the nature when introducing change.  But modernization alienates and restricts the participative space and threatens to make it exclusive to the techies.  The challenge to us is to widen that space to make way for transparency and accountability, a feature that technology should expedite rather than limit.

Allow me to share with you a short paper that I had the privilege to develop for Namfrel, of which I am a member of the volunteer board.  The board passed it en toto and the paper was shared with the Commission on Elections and members of the suffrage committees of the House of Representatives and of the Senate.

Links: short paper at http://bit.ly/1scvQq8 and cover letter at http://bit.ly/1kozoQP.

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