US embassy cable - 05MANILA1529

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001529 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/PMBS, INR/EAP, DRL/CRA 
USAID FOR CDOWNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, EAID, SOCI, RP 
SUBJECT:  Preparations for August 8 ARMM elections 
 
REF:  A. MANILA 724 
B.  MANILA 646 
C.  04 MANILA 6032 
D.  04 MANILA 4416 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Over 1.1 million people are registered 
for the August 8 election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim 
Mindanao (ARMM).  Election officials hope for the first time 
to use automated counting machines, originally purchased for 
the May 2004 nationwide elections but subsequently impounded 
by order of the Supreme Court due to allegations of 
corruption.  The USG-funded Consortium for Political Process 
Strengthening (CEPPS) is working to help the GRP and civil 
society groups unite their efforts in the most effective 
manner.  Electoral reform advocates want the ARMM election 
to demonstrate improvements in the aftermath of the 
controversial 2004 elections.  End Summary. 
 
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COMELEC Preparations 
-------------------- 
 
2.  (U) According to Commission on Elections (COMELEC) 
officials, approximately 30,000 people registered during the 
recent registration drive (which closed on March 15) for the 
August 8 ARMM elections for governor, a vice-governor, and 
members of the regional legislative council based in 
Cotabato City.  COMELEC will add these new registrants to 
the current validated list, which contains some 1.1 million 
voters.  COMELEC officials noted that the ARMM -- consisting 
of the five provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, 
Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur -- had nearly 2.5 million 
inhabitants during the last census in 2000, of whom over 90 
percent were Muslim and only 68 percent were literate. 
COMELEC officials expressed satisfaction that over 85 
percent of the total voting age population had now 
registered. 
 
3.  (SBU) COMELEC is focusing on a voter education drive. 
Milagros Desamitos, COMELEC's Director of Voter Education 
for the ARMM, told poloff that his office is training a 
multi-sectoral group -- the Electoral Reform Association 
(ERA) -- in how to disseminate voter information and 
encourage wider civic participation in the coming election. 
ERA membership includes the editor of the leading Tawi-Tawi 
newspaper, several professors from Mindanao State 
University, other local NGOs, and faith-based community 
groups from both Muslim and Christian areas.  Desamitos 
reported that COMELEC provincial office directors from Sulu, 
Tawi-Tawi, and Maguindanao were actively encouraging local 
government officials to join in ERA's efforts.  Major voter 
education challenges include obtaining valuable media 
airtime on local radio and television, as well as providing 
information in the native dialects of the ARMM provinces. 
Desamitos reported that COMELEC was coordinating with the 
Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA), under the Office of the 
President, and had already obtained translators to assist 
with Tausug, Yakan, Maranaw, and Maguin -- the main dialects 
in the ARMM other than Visayan dialects, which are common 
throughout Mindanao. 
 
4.  (SBU) COMELEC is also trying to obtain automated 
counting machines to use in the election.  COMELEC 
Commissioners recently met with Supreme Court Chief Justice 
Hilario Davide, who indicated that the Court might be 
favorably inclined to allowing the limited use of a number 
of the currently embargoed counting machines this August. 
(Note:  The machines, originally intended for the May 2004 
national elections, were impounded when the Supreme Court 
ruled in early 2004 that the COMELEC contract to purchase 
them was illegal and probably corrupt. End note) 
Commissioners noted that the Solicitor General had filed 
comments with the Court indicating his approval of COMELEC's 
petition to use several hundred of the machines in the 
election.  COMELEC officials predicted that the use of 
machines would vastly improve the counting process and thus 
speed up reporting of the final poll results. 
 
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Civil Society Efforts 
--------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) In addition to the COMELEC-driven ERA effort, the 
Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER), a coalition of NGOs 
focused on advancing electoral reforms, is also planning to 
encourage active citizen participation in the August 8 
election.  CER plans to hold a summit of NGO, GRP, and 
business (primarily media) representatives in May or June 
2005 in Cotabato City in order to train participants as 
electoral observers and voter assistance volunteers. 
According to both COMELEC's Desamitos and CER's Chairman 
Ramon Casiple, the national Catholic group Parish Pastoral 
Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), which is also a CER 
member, is trying to mount an ARMM-focused educational 
campaign but has encountered some resistance on the ground 
in the ARMM from Muslim groups.  PPCRV's large staff of 
mostly young volunteers played a major stabilizing role as 
domestic observers and by manning thousands of voter 
assistance booths at the precinct level during the May 2004 
elections.  PPCRV's effort in the ARMM will continue, but 
CER's Casiple said that other NGOs in CER were also reaching 
out to the networks of both the Moro National Liberation 
Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). 
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Role of CEPPS 
------------- 
 
6.  (U) The USG-funded Consortium for Political Process 
Strengthening (CEPPS) is working to help the GRP and civil 
society groups unite their efforts in the most effective 
manner.  As part of CEPPS, a representative of the U.S.- 
based International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) 
is now in the Philippines working on electoral reform with 
the major players.  An important near-term priority for the 
IFES representative is arranging an information technology 
expert's review of COMELEC's IT strategy.  In addition, the 
IFES representative is working to provide phased funding and 
material preparation assistance for CER's voter education 
and information drive.  IFES also plans to bring in a 
campaign finance expert to assist Philippine congressional 
electoral reform committee members regarding possible 
legislation in this area. 
 
7.  (U) Beyond providing technical assistance to both 
COMELEC and CER, the CEPPS effort is targeting voter 
education opportunities, in which it can encourage the GRP 
and civil society to leverage each other's materials and 
training plans.  CEPPS has arranged meetings with COMELEC, 
CER, and other interested organizations, including the UNDP 
and Germany's Konrad Adenauer Institute, in order to foster 
and sustain lasting public-private partnerships of experts 
in the field.  CEPPS' aim is for these linkages to support 
real reform in time for the ARMM election, as well as to lay 
a sustainable foundation for reform building toward the mid- 
term 2007 national elections. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
8.  (SBU) Electoral reform advocates want the ARMM election 
to demonstrate improvements in the electoral system in the 
aftermath of the controversial May 2004 elections.  So far, 
COMELEC and civil society efforts seem to be effectively 
addressing some of the chronic problems that have afflicted 
Philippine elections, including patchy voter registration 
lists, antiquated election counting procedures, and 
inadequate public information campaigns.  Campaign-related 
violence and vote buying, however, likely will nonetheless 
plague these elections, despite procedural and technological 
improvements.  The CEPPS project underscores strong USG 
support for the overall reform effort. 
MUSSOMELI