MANILA: Twenty-five foreign observers from eight countries will observe the conduct of the country’s second automated elections on May 13.
During the launch yesterday of the International Observers Mission 2013, the Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections (COMPACT) said the observers from the United States, Germany, Spain, Burma, Thailand, Australia, Mongolia, and Uganda would be coming to watch the upcoming polls.
COMPACT co-convenor Ramon Casiple said the observers would be divided into five teams and deployed to various areas like the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Nueva Ecjia, Pampanga, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Samar, Dinagat Island, and Manila.
Casiple noted these areas were chosen because of their political history, particularly on election-related violence and fraud, and have a local and formal organisation that would be willing to host the foreign observers.
The group that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has accredited will also take into consideration the security situation in the areas to ensure the safety of the foreign observers.
The international observers will be deployed in certain areas “based on their election monitoring experience, expertise, and interests,” he added.
The Philippine star
