Namfrel pull out not easy for Comelec, says spokesman

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will reach out to the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) after the latter declined its accreditation as the commission's citizens' arm in the May 13 elections.

At a news conference ten days before the polls, Namfrel announced that it was turning down its accreditation after the Comelec denied the group access to information and data.

Namfrel said that without open access to information and data, Namfrel would  be "unable to participate in the random manual audit (RMA) because of inaccessibility diminishes the verifiability of data separately provided during RMA.”

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, who also heads the Comelec’s Education and Information department, said the Comelec had yet to see the actual terms of the withdrawal of accreditation made by Namfrel.

“Obviously, it is not an easy matter for the Comelec to be in this position of a partner pulling out, but we will address the situation,” Jimenez told reporters.

“Marami na silang nagawang trabaho. This is not a case of kung ayaw mo, huwag mo. Both sides would have to reach out to each other,” he added.

Jimenez said that the poll body still had no official position on Namfrel’s move but added that having two sources of election results—Comelec and Namfrel—could be a concern.

“If you think about it, the main points of an automated election are that the results come out very quick and it is coming from a singular source," Jimenez said.

"Perhaps one of the concerns is that, what happens when you have two competing sources of information?” he added.

“This is not a justification of anything but if you look at the situation, it is what it is,” Jimenez said.

Namfrel is the pioneer in election monitoring in the country, tracing its roots to 1957.

Its crucial work, however, was highlighted in the 1986 presidential snap elections between then President Ferdinand Marcos and former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.’s widow Corazon Aquino.

The Comelec results showed Marcos winning while Namfrel’s showed Aquino ahead.

Weeks after the elections, Marcos was ousted from power amid massive allegations of electoral fraud and graft.

Since 1984, Namfrel has always been granted accreditation by the Comelec to conduct the Operation Quick Count. —NB, GMA News