By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
April 15, 2010

The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Philippines and a local NGO recently launched a comprehensive program to highlight the importance of issues concerning women in the upcoming elections, as well as to educate voters about the intricacies of the first automated elections.

Dubbed WOWW VOTE—or Watch Out When Women Vote—the EU-funded project to be implemented by the UP Center for Women’s Studies (UPCWS) Foundation, UP College of Law, and other partner organizations, will incorporate a number of initiatives revolving around the May 2010 polls.

This will include voter’s education on issues and the automated election process, identification of citizen issues critical to the elections, and the development of a manual for Voter’s Education.

Central to the 2-year initiative, however, is the development of a citizen’s election monitoring system to be deployed through the Web, which will enable voters to report election-related violence in their respective locales, highlight good practices during elections, and inform the citizenry about the positions of candidates on issues concerning women and society in general.

“The site will contain news from our umbrella project, which hopefully will get people to vote and vote wisely,” explained Dr. Sylvia Estrada-Claudio, director of the UPCWS and project leader of WOWW VOTE.

Interested parties may access the site at http://wowwvote.upcws.net.

Utilizing resources from partner organizations in Iloilo, Cebu, Baguio, and Davao, the proponents of WOWW VOTE conducted consultations with women and their families belonging to local communities, and extracted a set of issues that directly affect them.

The WOWW VOTE team threshed out at least six national issues from the consultations, which include national debt servicing, reproductive health policy, social services, budget for gender programs, environment, and rights of LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals).

“This portion of the site will track the candidates stands on these issues, based on their statements, campaigns, and platforms,” Estrada-Claudio said.

Voters’ Ed
Another component of the site, according to Estrada-Claudio, hopes to orient voters about the automation of the counting of ballots, which she said many deem as “frightening” for its faulty implementation. “We want to help avoid a scenario of failure of elections by helping people learn how to use the system,” she added.

Just recently, Estrada-Claudio said, the team went to Mindoro to train a group of Mangyans, carrying sample ballots with them and ensuring they learn the proper way to locate their precincts, or even shade their ballots.

The project, whose modest initial audience include 450 people the group has trained, doesn’t see a huge impact on the elections, but Estrada-Claudio said: “We need to start contributing to the national discourse, to update our customs and change the way we do things.”

The project is also a great opportunity to shift the debate from personality-based politics to pressing issues that concern citizens as a whole. “The are of, for example, social reproduction should have the same value as the area of production in the country,” Estrada-Claudio explained. “Today, because of multiple messages in the media, there is a failure in focusing on important issues.”

EU’s role
In the first half of 2009, the EU called for proposals from non-government organizations hoping to ensure the automated elections pushes through in accordance with the law. Alistair MacDonald, EU’s ambassador to the Philippines, said a “large number”—around 20-25—of entries were received by the office, with projects ranging from voter’s education, empowerment, and election monitoring, among others.

From the list, EU selected eight projects to provide funding for, part of the over P80 million grant given for the entire endeavor. WOWW VOTE received P6.5 million from the budget, MacDonald noted.

“Elections in the Philippines come only every six years, that is such a long time,” MacDonald said. “It is therefore very important for voters to be empowered and have informed decisions about the leaders they are electing.”

The ambassador said the EU is monitoring the coming elections closely, especially the threat of election-related violence and the implementation of the automated elections.

“Automation has the potential to make the election simpler, faster, more effective and more transparent,” he shared. “To get that kind of immediacy is important.”

MacDonald, on the other hand, highlighted the recent case of massive killings in the southern province of Maguindanao, which he said tainted the image of the Philippines globally. “The case of the killings in Maguindanao is quite special. It is entirely barbaric and reprehensible,” he said.

In the end, MacDonald pointed out, it is up to the citizens to express their right to vote. “The voters’ choices are important, because they will help determine the future of the country,” he said. “It is very important for citizens to exercise their rights freely and effectively, so everyone should go out there and vote.”

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