“Successful” dry run
In addition to the peace talks between the Arroyo administration and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the resurgent Mindanao conflict, the press also reported the first fully automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) last Aug. 11.
The “successful” ARMM election was significant since it was a dry-run for the first automated presidential elections in 2010, how it might be conducted and the problems that may arise from it.
The PJR Reports reviewed the coverage of the ARMM elections by three Manila-based newspapers (the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star); the primetime news programs TV Patrol World and 24 Oras; and some online news sites from July 21 – Aug. 20.
Most of the reports did explain the procedures for the automated elections, and pointed out its importance not only for the 2010 presidential elections, but for all future elections. As in the 2007 barangay elections, the press provided enough information on the ARMM elections. What were lacking, however, were the explanatory reports that could have deepened the public’s appreciation of the event.
Automated machines
Most of the reports focused the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) using two kinds of automated counting machines—the Optical Media Reader (OMR) and the Direct Recording Electronic system (DRE)—for the 2008 local elections in ARMM.
Abscbnnews.com/Newsbreak, for instance, explained the new voting system through an infographic last Aug. 10. The infographic compared the two devices, and plotted in a map the location where each would be used. The DRE was used in Maguindanao, while the four other ARMM provinces used the OMR. Although published after the elections, the Inquirer also provided a diagram on how to use the two kinds of voting machines (Aug. 13, p. A19).
Other reports explained that this is the third and most successful attempt in computerizing the elections. The Inquirer’s “In the know” sidebar explained that the Comelec had previously employed automated counting machines in the ARMM elections—the first time in 1996, and the second in May 1998. It noted the problems the Comelec experienced in both efforts.
Most news media mentioned the technical problems encountered by voters and elections officers. Last Aug. 11, TV Patrol and 24 Oras reported how some machines failed to work or overheated, but were easily replaced.
The Aug. 20 Abscbnnews.com/Newsbreak special report noted that the machines “prevented cheating in the counting and canvassing of votes” but failed to stop vote-buying and other forms of cheating. This was based on the report of the foreign observers of Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel).
It also provided last Aug. 10 a timeline for the elections from the creation of the ARMM in 1989, as well as previous data from the Comelec and the pre-election report by Anfrel. Its Aug. 7 election primer “Lesson for the ARMM polls: New problems accompany election automation” was also helpful in putting the ARMM elections from the perspective of the automation experiences of other countries.
GMANews.TV discussed in its sidebar section the significance of the ARMM elections. It also provided a timeline of the poll automation attempts since 1992.
Postponing the ARMM elections
The news media also reported the attempt by the Arroyo administration to postpone the ARMM elections. The reports explained that Malacañang wanted to accommodate the request of the MILF to postpone the elections in view of the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity under the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) aspect of the 2001 Tripoli peace agreement.
A July 23 report by 24 Oras for example said that the reason behind the request was that if the signing of the MOA pushed through, the MILF and the GRP would have to wait for the end of the terms of the new ARMM officials before they can elect BJE officials.
‘Generally peaceful’
The press reported how the ongoing hostilities between the MILF and government troops were affecting the conduct of the ARMM elections. The firefights between the members of the MILF and the military heightened in August after the aborted signing of the MOA-AD between the MILF and the Philippine government.
Despite the Comelec’s claim that elections was “generally peaceful” amid the ongoing hostilities, the press almost uniformly pointed out that voting in some of the provinces was affected by the hostilities. In an exclusive report, 24 Oras showed how troops delivering ballots to the town of Tipo-tipo, Basilan were attacked by alleged MILF and Abu Sayyaf forces.
Others reported on the failure of elections and incidents of ballot snatching and cheating during the Aug. 11 poll. Most reports compared it to past elections saying there was less violence and cheating.
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