PPCRV, 14 Muslim groups sign
pact for clean polls in ARMM

IN a bid to ensure clean and peaceful elections, a Catholic Church-based poll watchdog has signed a memorandum of agreement with 14 Muslim civil society organizations in connection with the conduct of elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Min-danao (ARMM) on Aug. 11.

In a statement, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chairperson Henrietta de Villa said it is important that civil society groups join hands to ensure fraud-free polls in the region that has been the center of election controversies in the past.

"This is a good example of how we, as a nation, can move past our differences and focus on what we have in common: the interest of our country," de Villa said.

Signatories to the agreement are required to share resources and establish a single network of volunteers that will monitor the whole election process. The agreement was drawn up in the face of a Social Weather Stations study showing that 69 percent of Mindanaoans have already accepted violence in their region as a "way of life."

The provinces in the ARMM are also known to be areas where electoral fraud and violence are rampant.

De Villa underscored the importance of the coming ARMM polls, being the first to be automated in the country. Atty. Laisa Alamia of the Bangsamoro Lawyers Network said vigilance is very important against any attempts to manipulate these particular poll's results.

The other signatories to the MOA, aside from the PPCRV, were Al-Mujadilah Development Foundation, Basilan Women's Initiative Foundation, the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms, Concerned Alliance of Professors and Students, Consortium of Bangsa-moro Civil Society, Electoral Reform Advocates and Maranao People Development Center;