Acronyms

AES Automated Elections System

COMELEC Commission on Elections
EAPP Emergency Accessible Polling Place
EB Electoral Board
ER Election Return
FTS Final Testing and Sealing
IPP Isolation Polling Place
JCOC-AES Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated
Elections System
LSCR Local Source Code Review
NAMFREL National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections
NLE National and Local Elections
QR Code Quick Response Code
RMA Random Manual Audit
RMAC Random Manual Audit Committee
SBAC Special Bids and Awards Committee
TMS Transparency Media Server
VCM Vote Counting Machine
VVPAT Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 3

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

6 | Executive Summary
- Pre-Election AES Monitoring
- Public Information and Voter Education
- Observation Reports
- Post-Election Monitoring

8 | Chapter 1: Introduction

15 | Chapter 2: Pre-Election AES Monitoring

- Hybrid System
- The Five Standards
- COMELEC Advisory Council
- COMELEC AES Steering Committee Meetings
- AES Procurement
- Observation of Comelec Pre-Election Activities

27 | Chapter 3: Public Information and Voter Education

- Open Election Data Website
- Social Media
- Educational Videos

29 | Chapter 4: Pre-Election Local Monitoring

- Electoral Exercises in 2021
- Campaign Activities
- Delivery of VCMs and Election Materials
- Final Testing and Sealing
- AES Calendar Monitoring
- Early Votings and Other Modes of Voting

4 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

35 | Chapter 5: Election Day Monitoring
- Opening, Voting, Closing, Counting, Transmission, and Canvassing
- Pull-out of VCMs for RMA
- Voter Assistance
- Violence and Intimidation
- ER Transmission and Unofficial Count
- Submission through NAMFREL App
- Digital Signatures Implementation
- Reception to Results
- Transparency and Credibility in the Election System

61 | Chapter 6: Post-Election Monitoring

- Random Manual Audit
- Campaign Finance

69 | Chapter 7: Vote-Buying

71 | Chapter 8: Assessment and Recommendations

- Assessment
- Recommendations

78 | Annexes
- 24 March 2022 Certification on the Correct VCM System Hash with 23 March 2022 Pro V&V
email referencing NAMFREL's letter on the VCM System Hash discrepancy
- 1 April 2022 COMELEC Law Department Document No. 22-4651 on En Banc decision regarding
NAMFREL's requested datasets
- Election Results Transmissions 2022 vs. 2019 NLE.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 5

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Pursuant to its core advocacy of promoting free and sought an explanation from COMELEC for its occurrence
fair elections, NAMFREL applied and was duly granted and requested that the COMELEC make public the
COMELEC accreditation as citizens’ arm for the 2022 NLE. process of generating such code.
NAMFREL was tasked to:
(1) Provide assistance to voters on election day; Public Information and Voter Education
(2) Assist in providing informational assistance;
(3) Assist in implementing campaign finance rules and Anchored on transparency and open data principles,
regulations; NAMFREL launched Vote For Us (www.voteforus.org.
(4) Assist in conducting the RMA; and ph), that provided data sets on Location of COMELEC
(5) Assist in all other activities, as the Commission may offices and contact details, COMELEC distribution
deem necessary. hubs of election equipment and supplies, Links to lists
of candidates, Links to videos candidates’ debates,
Furthermore, NAMFREL had the function and duty under Links to COMELEC resolutions organized by category,
the Omnibus Election Code to nominate one watcher Election calendar, Information on overseas voting, AES
for accreditation in each polling place and each place of procurement, and NAMFREL’s short and long videos.
canvass. NAMFREL also had the right to a printed copy of
the ER under the Election Automation Law. NAMFREL also posted announcements, photos,
statements and press releases on social media,
Pre-Election AES Monitoring conducted press briefings and a Twitter Spaces
conversation called “NAMFREL Huddle”, all relating to the
For the 2022 NLE, NAMFREL proposed the adoption 2022 NLE.
of a hybrid system, or at the very least, five standards
to improve the transparency of the existing AES. It also Observation Reports
participated in the COMELEC Advisory Council, COMELEC
AES Steering Committee, and hearings in Congress; NAMFREL volunteers observed and submitted reports
monitored procurement of AES equipment and materials; on the following: (1) pre-election activities: campaign
and observed AES activities such as the LSCR, trusted activities, public demo of VCMs, delivery of VCMs and
build, end-to-end demonstration, printing of official election materials; (2) AES monitoring: during FTS and on
ballots, and random testing of printed ballots. NAMFREL election day, from opening, voting, closing and counting,
made suggestions on the pilot implementation of digital transmission, canvassing, and pull-out of VCMs and
signatures. After the End-to-End Demo, NAMFREL was ballot boxes in polling places selected for the RMA; and
the only observer that discovered a discrepancy in the (3) post-election activities: campaign finance.
VCM system hash code. Cognizant of the significance
and ramifications of such discrepancy occurring, NAMFEL Generally, the polls went smoothly, although there were

6 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

pockets of violence and intimidation. The high voter
turnout (84.1%) seemed to have overwhelmed many
voting centers, hence COVID-19 protocols were not
properly enforced and observed, most especially physical
distancing. NAMFREL volunteers reported confusion
over queueing procedures outside voting centers, and
crowding outside polling places.

Some VCMs that broke took too long to be replaced.

There were many lapses in maintaining the secrecy of
the ballot, namely: (a) voters not using the ballot secrecy
folders in voting and feeding their ballots into the VCM;
(b) EBs inserted the ballots instead of the voters; (c)
ballots were exposed during technical issues like paper
jams; (d) people could see or saw the ballots; (e) voters
talked about who they voted for; (f) there were more
voters than folders; and (g) some polling places had no
folders. A few cases of the VVPAT or the voter’s receipt
not matching the votes on the ballot were reported.
Some EBs seemed to have not been trained properly
on handling technical issues, on how to apply personal
digital signatures where available, on how many ERs to
print, to whom printed ERs should be distributed, and on
the posting of the ER conspicuously on a wall within the
premises of the polling place. Some EBs also were not
informed of NAMFREL’s accreditation as citizens’ arm,
leading to denial of entry of volunteers and/or copies of
the ERs. Difficulties in transmission took place in a few
polling places because of weak mobile connection.

Augmenting the observation reports from NAMFREL

volunteers were the results of bandwidth tests, as well as
photos of ERs, submitted by the general public, using the
NAMFREL app.

NAMFREL chapters noted that vote-buying became

more rampant as compared to previous elections,
with witnesses hesitant to file complaints and law
enforcement officers hesitant to act on incidents done in
their presence in the absence of formal complaints.

Details of the observations made are included in this

Report.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 7

1 INTRODUCTION

Founded in October 1983, the National Citizens’

Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) is the first
citizens-led election monitoring organization in the
country and in the world. Its leaders and ground support,
spanning all sectors of society, are all volunteers.
NAMFREL has accumulated a wealth of experience,
having participated in 21 electoral exercises in the
Philippines and in election missions in 42 other countries.

With a nationwide scope, the movement is made up of

local chapters. For the 2022 NLE, NAMFREL observed
election processes through these chapters and their
Election Code. The COMELEC En Banc granted the
petition through its 2 May 2022 resolution on SPP No.
21-296, with the following specifics as to NAMFREL’s
duties:

“1. Provide assistance to voters on election day, most

especially to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant
women, detainees, indigenous peoples and other members of
the vulnerable sectors;

2. Assist the Commission in providing informational

assistance to local and overseas voters in exercising their right
volunteers. NAMFREL also entered into partnerships with to an informed vote;
local organizations to further observation in the country,
and to observe voting on Philippine posts abroad. 3. Assist the Commission in implementing campaign finance
rules and regulations;
NAMFREL’s National Council is headed by a Chairperson.
The National Secretariat is the operational arm, and is 4. Assist the Commission in conducting the Random Manual
headed by the Secretary General supported by staff Audit (RMA); and
members. The Council members set the policies for
operations, and take the lead in implementing projects, 5. Assist in all other activities, as the Commission may deem
such as those related to the 2022 NLE. Volunteers necessary.”
were likewise recruited to support the operations at
the NAMFREL HQ, located at DMG Center, Domingo The COMELEC En Banc also ruled to “provide
M. Guevara St., Brgy. Mauway, Mandaluyong City, NAMFREL with the necessary information or data, in
Philippines. Volunteers were also deployed on election hardcopy or electronic form, in order to perform the
week, at the Operations Center set up in the same above-mentioned functions, subject to reasonable
building. procedures or limitations as may be promulgated by the
Commission:
Through the support of local business and individuals,
and of Project Participate led by the Ateneo School of 1. To furnish NAMFREL with the electronic copies of the
Government, NAMFREL was able to provide chapters following: (a) the Computerized Voters’ List; and the
with financial, material, communications and logistics (b) Project of Precincts for the effective discharge of its
support. responsibilities;

On 1 October 2021, NAMFREL filed a petition for 2. To allow NAMFREL to witness the examination and
accreditation with the Commission on Elections testing of the equipment or device to be used in the
(COMELEC) to serve as a citizens’ arm in the 2022 voting before voting starts as provided by Section 10 of
elections, pursuant to Section 52(k) of the Omnibus Republic Act No. (R.A. No.) 8436 as amended by Section
12 of R.A. No. 9369;

8 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

3. Other data which the Commission may deem The 9 May 2022 NLE were the first elections held under
necessary.” a pandemic. Health and safety protocols were put in
place to avoid a surge of COVID-19 cases. The pandemic
As citizens’ arm, NAMFREL had the function and duty notwithstanding, some 55.29 million, or 84.10 percent,
under Section 52(k) of the Omnibus Election Code to “[n] of the 65.75 million registered voters turned up to vote.
ominate one watcher for accreditation in each polling 3
This was the highest turnout in the automated election
place and each place of canvass who shall have the history of the Philippines.4
same duties, functions and rights as the other watchers
of political parties and candidates.”1 NAMFREL also had In the past, NAMFREL recommended that availing of
the right to a printed copy of the ER under the Election the automated systems, COMELEC should capture and
Automation Law. 2 publicize demographics on age, gender, educational
attainment, etc. of the voting population as may be
allowed by law. Said information would be useful in the
planning and administration of elections.5 According to
the COMELEC’s statistics in February 2022, 37.02 million
registered voters were within the 18-41 age bracket.

COMELEC provided a breakdown of registered voters

locally by age range, gender, and region. 6

Voters nationwide and overseas elected the president,

vice-president, 12 senators and party-list members of
the House of Representatives (lower house). Under the
*INSERT PICTURES OF VOTERS LINING UP, CASTING synchronized election system, local voters also elected
THEIR BALLOTS, AND INDELIBLE INK MARKING* district representatives to the lower house, provincial
governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan (provincial council), municipal/city mayors,
vice-mayors, and members of the Sangguniang Bayan/
Panglungsod (city/municipal councils). The first elections
for the Bangsamoro Parliament, originally scheduled at
the same time, was reset to coincide with the 2025 NLE.7

A total of 173 party-list groups ran for the 20 percent slot

allocated for the party-list representatives in the Lower
House.8

3 COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/
Statistics/2022RVVAVmcocfinal
4
Hana Bordey, “Eleksyon 2022 voter turnout at 83%, highest
in PH history”, GMA News Online, 18 May 2022, https://www.
gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/832115/eleksyon-
1 https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/ 2022-voter-turnout-at-83-highest-in-ph-history/story/, quoting
RelatedLaws/OmnibusElectionCode/OECArt7 tweet by COMELEC Education and Information Division
2 “13) The twenty-seventh to the thirtieth copies, to the Director James Jimenez, https://twitter.com/jabjimenez/
major citizen’s arms, including the accredited citizen’s arm, status/1526842449976786945
and other non-partisan groups or organizations enlisted by 5
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
the Commission pursuant to Section 52(k) of Batas Pambansa 6 Melissa Luz Lopez, “56% of May 2022 voters part of the
Blg. 881. Such citizens’ arm, groups and organization may youth – Comelec”, CNN Philippines, 8 February 2022, https://
use the four certified copies of election returns for the www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/2/8/youth-vote-56-
conduct of citizens’ quick counts at the local or national percent-2022.html
levels;” (Section 22, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended 7 R.A. 11593, https://mirror.officialgazette.gov.ph/
by Section 19, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov. downloads/2021/10oct/20211028-RA-11593-RRD.pdf
ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/ 8 COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
AutomatedElection/RA9369) ListsofCandidates/FinalListingPartyList

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 9

A total of 845 positions were uncontested,9 a recurring NAMFREL suggested in the past that candidates in the
problem in Philippine elections that NAMFREL observed presidential and vice- presidential contests be elected
in its 2016 NLE report. NAMFREL had urged the public to by majority vote (50% + 1 of vote count).18 While the
run for public office a week before the schedule of filing winners in the 2022 NLE received more than 50 percent
of certificates of candidacy.10 of the vote, they were the first, and so far, only to do
In this election, 107,345 VCMs were deployed in polling so in an election under the present Constitution. An
stations (or clustered precincts) in 36,244 voting centers amendment to the Constitution would be required.19
throughout the country and in Philippine posts abroad.
An additional 1,100 VCMs were assigned as contingency At a glance: 2022 National and Local Elections
or backup units.11 During election day, a total of 1,310
VCMs and 618 SD cards had to be replaced.12 Of the Total no. of registered
65,745,526
1,310 VCMs, a total of 1,295 were in-country while 15 voters20
were used in overseas absentee voting (OAV). Of the 618 Total no. of voters who
55,290,821 / 84.10%
SD cards, 611 were in-country while 7 were for OAV.13 voted / voter turnout21
No. of voting centers22 36,244
The COMELEC proclaimed all twelve winners of the
Total no. of clustered
senatorial contest on 18 May, nine days after election 107,785
precincts23
day.14 Two days after the special elections in Tubaran,
Lanao del Sur,15 55 party-list groups were proclaimed No. of voters per clustered
maximum of 800
on 26 May.16 Earlier, the local canvassing boards had precinct24
proclaimed various winners in the local contests. Also
faster than in all other past elections, Congress (with
the Senate and House of Representatives sitting jointly No. of clustered precincts
as National Board of Canvassers) proclaimed Ferdinand intended to undergo 757
R. Marcos, Jr. and Sarah Z. Duterte president and vice- RMA25
president, respectively, on 25 May.17 Actual no. of clustered
precincts subjected to 748 (as of 29 June 2022)
9
Joviland Rita, “845 positions nationwide unopposed in 2022 RMA26
polls —Comelec”, GMA News, 24 March 2022, https://www.
gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/826152/845-
positions-nationwide-unopposed-in-2022-polls-comelec/story/ Total no. of VCMs27 107,345
10
NAMFREL, 28 September 2021 press briefing, https:// Total no. of contingency
1,100
www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVG4f9YX0s; Joviland Rita, VCMs28
“NAMFREL urges public to run in Eleksyon 2022, says many No. of VCMs replaced on
positions uncontested”, GMA News Online, 28 September Election Day
2021, https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/
nation/804938/namfrel-urges-public-to-run-in-eleksyon-2022- 18
House of Representatives, “Joint Session of Congress (
says-many-positions-uncontested/story/ Presidential and Vice - Presidential Canvass 2022 ) Part 3”,
11
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB_NgFiE9dk
12
Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s 19
(not available)
Participation (31 May 2022), https://www.youtube.com/ 20
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/
watch?v=7viMoha-enY Statistics/2022RVVAVmcocfinal
13
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting 21
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/
14
Ferdinand Patinio, “Comelec proclaims 12 new senators”, Statistics/2022RVVAVmcocfinal
Philippine News Agency, 18 May 2022, https://www.pna.gov. 22
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
ph/articles/1174805 ProjectOfPrecincts
15
Ferdinand Patinio, “Comelec to proclaim winning party-list 23
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
groups Thursday”, Philippine News Agency, 25 May 2022, ProjectOfPrecincts
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1175218 24
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
16
Franco Jose C. Baroña, “Comelec proclaims party-list ProjectOfPrecincts
winners”, Manila Times, 26 May 2022, https://www. 25
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-
manilatimes.net/2022/05/26/news/comelec-proclaims-party- attachments/2022NLE/RMA/2022RMAMain.pdf
list-winners/1845087 26
COMELEC, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=40375
17
ouse of Representatives, “Joint Session of Congress ( 8701789968&set=a.224420859723754
Presidential and Vice - Presidential Canvass 2022 ) Part 3”, 27
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB_NgFiE9dk 28
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting

10 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

 In-country29 1,295 Number of Elective Positions and Candidates
Overseas: absentee Elective Number of Number of
15
voting (OAV)30 Position Seats35 Unopposed
Total31 1,310 Positions36
No. of SD cards replaced President 1 0
on Election Day Vice-President 1 0
In-country 32
611 Senators 12 0
Overseas: absentee Member, House of 63 0
7 Representatives
voting (OAV)33
(Party - List
Total34 618 Representatives)
Member, House of 253 39
More than 320,000 Representatives
Total no. of Electoral (Legislative District
(number of polling places
Board members Representatives)
multiplied by 3)
Governor 81 9
No. of positions voted for 30 (in municipalities) / 34 Vice - Governor 81 11
in the ballot (in cities) Members, 782 45
Sangguniang
President 1
Panlalawigan
Vice-President 1
Senators 12 City Mayor 146 20337
Party-List 1 City Vice - Mayor 146 25438
Member, House of Members, 1,650 28439
Representatives 1 Sangguniang
Provincial Governor 1 Panlungsod
Provincial Vice-Governor 1 Municipal Mayor 1,488 20340
Member, Sangguniang
Panlalawigan 2
Municipal Vice - 1,488 25441
Mayor
Municipal / City Mayor 1
Municipal / City Vice- 1 Members, 11,908 28442
Sangguniang
Mayor 8
Bayan
Member, Sangguniang
Source: COMELEC
Bayan 12
Member, Sangguniang
Panglungsod 35
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
Resolutions/res10713 (excluding positions for the Bangsamoro
Source: COMELEC
Parliament, elections for which were reset to 2025)
36
Joviland Rita, “845 positions nationwide unopposed in
2022 polls —Comelec”, GMA News, 24 March 2022, https://
www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/826152/845-
positions-nationwide-unopposed-in-2022-polls-comelec/story/
29
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting 37
Figures released by the COMELEC combined city and
30
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting municipal officials.
31
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting; 38
Figures released by the COMELEC combined city and
Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s municipal officials.
Participation (31 May 2022), https://www.youtube.com/ 39
Figures released by the COMELEC combined city and
watch?v=7viMoha-enY municipal officials.
32
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting 40
Figures released by the COMELEC combined city and
33
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting municipal officials.
34
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting; 41
Figures released by the COMELEC combined city and
Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s municipal officials.
Participation (31 May 2022), https://www.youtube.com/ 42
Figures released by the COMELEC combined city and
watch?v=7viMoha-enY` municipal officials.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 11

Political and Electoral Context It conducted hearings on the voting simulation and
mock elections, allegations of breach on the data
Between the 2019 and 2022 NLEs, a new COMELEC Chair servers of COMELEC, the COMELEC calendar, updates,
and five new Commissioners (out of six) were appointed, and submitted documents, among others. But it
after the terms of their predecessors ended. The Chair did not conduct a comprehensive assessment and
and two Commissioners were appointed on 9 March, two evaluation of the performance of the different AES
months before the 2022 NLE. 43 technologies implemented for previous NLEs, nor make
a recommendation whether to adopt a new technology
The JCOC is mandated to conduct a comprehensive for the 2022 NLE or to continue using already-adopted
assessment and evaluation of the performance of the technologies. It appears that the JCOC overlooked its
different AES technologies implemented and shall mandated task to recommend the best technology for
make appropriate recommendations to Congress.44 the country’s AES.
43
NAMFREL, “PRESS STATEMENT - NAMFREL welcomes
the new COMELEC Chairman and Commissioners as it urges The Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s
more transparency in the 2022 elections”, 10 March 2022, Participation and the House Committee on Suffrage
https://namfrel.org.ph/2022/files/Namfrel%20Press%20 and Electoral Reforms conducted hearings on election
Statement-%20NAMFREL%20welcomes%20the%20new%20 issues such as extending voter registration, the use of the
COMELEC%20Chairman%20and%20Commissioners%20as%20 transmission server for the 2022 NLE, the alleged breach
it%20urges%20more%20transparency%20in%20the%20 of the COMELEC server, opening up the regional and
2022%20elections.pdf provincial technical hubs to observers in order to prevent
44
“SECTION 33. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. SD card switching, partial implementation of digital
- An Oversight Committee is hereby created composed of signatures, postponement of ballot printing observation
seven members each from the Senate and the House of at the National Printing Office, disallowing observation
Representatives, four of whom shall come from the majority of SD cards configuration at the COMELEC Sta. Rosa
and three from the minority, to monitor and evaluate the warehouse, and pre-shaded ballots allegedly distributed
implementation of this Act. A written report to the Senate to overseas voters.
and the House of Representatives shall be submitted by the
Advisory Council within six months from the date of election. The committee hearings led the COMELEC to reopen
The oversight committee shall conduct a mandatory review voter registration after the filing of certificates of
of this Act every twelve (12) months from the date of the last candidacy, to open ballot printing for observers, and to
regular national or local elections. hold a walkthrough at the Sta. Rosa warehouse.

The oversight committee shall conduct a comprehensive

assessment and evaluation of the performance of the different
AES technologies implemented and shall make appropriate or
recommendations to Congress, in session assembled, c. A full implementation of the AES.
specifically including the following:
4. As to the kind of AES technology, provide for proposals as to
1. An assessment and comparison of each of the AES whether:
technologies utilized, including their strengths, weakness,
applicability or inapplicability in specific areas and situations; a) A particular AES technology should no longer be utilized for
being obsolete, inapplicable, inaccurate or with a defect which
2. An evaluation of their accuracy through a comparison of cannot be remedied;
a random sample of the AES election results with a manual b) An enhancement or improvement is needed to an AES
tabulation, and the conduct of similar tests; technology which was used in the 2007 elections to make it
more functional, appropriate and accurate;
3. As to the scope of AES implementation in the subsequent c) A particular AES technology is already appropriate and
elections, provide for recommendations as to whether any of should be utilized fully for subsequent elections; or
the following should be adopted: d) The testing or adoption of new technologies which may
a. Further test application of the AES or a particular AES have emerged after the 2007 elections is needed.” (Section 33,
technology used in the 2007 elections, whether in the same or Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by Section 27, Republic Act
others areas; No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/
b. An increase or enlargement of areas for implementation of RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/AutomatedElection/RA9369).
the AES or an AES technology and not a full implementation;

12 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

NAMFREL submitted recommendations to COMELEC the location of VCMs due to the shift from 3G to 4G,
on the AES (discussed in a later report chapter), on the were also shared.50 COMELEC denied these and other
voting simulation and mock elections. claims through interviews,51 in press conferences,52 and
sometimes on its social media pages. 53
NAMFREL noted the spread of disinformation on the
electoral process during the 2022 NLE period. Ballots As partial and unofficial results arrived, several analysts
were a target. A video claimed that 5.2 million defective said that the consistency of the vote ratio between
ballots were discovered45. An image of a ballot sent to the two leading presidential candidates had a very
overseas voters residing in New Zealand that did not high r-squared value, which the analysts claimed was
contain the name of a presidential candidate turned characteristic of manipulated data. These computations
out to be manipulated.46 Posts on social media claimed have since been debunked by IT experts.54
that shading the back page of the ballot would affect Noting the numerous incidents of disinformation, many
votes on the front page.47 AES rumors on the hacking of NAMFREL chapters recommended that voter education
COMELEC’s servers, 48 programming of election results be included in the school curriculum.
in favor of a specific candidate,49 and inability to trace
45
VERA Files, VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Comelec ‘admission’ The above examples would be avoided if the COMELEC
of fraud scheme vs Marcos NOT TRUE, 11 Apr. 2022, available adopted technologies that can be easily understood by
at https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-comelec- any voter, without the need of any technical knowledge
admission-fraud-scheme-vs-marc (last visited 19 Aug. 2022) in source codes and hardware. If the counting process,
46
VERA Files, Ballot in New Zealand missing Robredo’s for example, is more transparent and visible, then people
name is FAKE, 28 Apr. 2022, available at https://verafiles.org/ will not have to wonder how the results were arrived at.
articles/vera-files-fact-check-ballot-in-new-zealand-missing- People have questions because they could not see the
robredos-name-is-fake (last visited 19 Aug. 2022); VERA Files, entire process. Even if there are checks like the RMA, and
VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Video about ballot in New Zealand even if these checks turn out positive, it is possible that
without Robredo’s name NEEDS CONTEXT, 28 Apr. 2022, people will always have questions or will have something
available at https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact- to say if they feel that they are not involved enough
check-video-about-ballot-in-new-zealand-without-robredos- in the process, or if there is something in it that they
name-needs-context (last visited 19 Aug. 2022); COMELEC, feel is hidden from them. Ultimately, COMELEC and the
READ: Statement of the COMELEC Office for Overseas Aug. 2022)
Voting, Twitter, 25 Apr. 2022, https://twitter.com/COMELEC/ 50
Rochel Ellen Bernido, HINDI TOTOO: Dahil sa ‘3G to 4G’
status/1518495133179998208 (last visited 19 Aug. 2022) upgrade, hindi na matutukoy ang lokasyon ng vote-counting
47
VERA Files, VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Shade in ballot’s back machines, Rappler, 29 Apr. 2022, available at https://www.
page will NOT affect front page votes, 10 May 2022, available rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/vote-counting-machine-
at https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-shade-in- location-cannot-be-identified-3g-4g-upgrade/ (last visited 19
ballots-back-page-will-not-affect-front-page-votes (last visited Aug. 2022)
19 Aug. 2022) 51
Josette Saguiped, HINDI TOTOO: Nakaprograma na ang
48
MB Technews, Comelec servers hacked; Downloaded data magiging resulta ng botohan sa Mayo 2022, Rappler, 1 Apr.
may include information that could affect 2022 elections, 2022, available at https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-
MANILA BULLETIN (PHILS.), 10 Jan. 2022, available at check/pre-programmed-results-polls-may-2022 (last visited 19
https://mb.com.ph/2022/01/10/comelec-servers-hacked- Aug. 2022)
downloaded-data-may-include-information-that-could- 52
See COMELEC This Week videos at COMELEC’s YpuTube
affect-2022-elections/ (last visited 19 Aug. 2022); COMELEC, channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/COMELEC, and
COMELEC Statement on Alleged Hacking Incident, Twitter, Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/comelecph
10 Jan. 2022, available at https://twitter.com/COMELEC/ 53
COMELEC, COMELEC Statement on Alleged Hacking
status/1480520296222191618 (last visited 19 Aug. 2022); Incident, Twitter, 10 Jan. 2022, available at https://twitter.
Sofia Guanzon, HINDI TOTOO: Na-hack ang Comelec database com/COMELEC/status/1480520296222191618 (last visited
na may pribadong impormasyon ng mga botante, Rappler, 16 19 Aug. 2022); COMELEC, READ: Statement of the COMELEC
Mar. 2022, available at https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/ Office for Overseas Voting, Twitter, 25 Apr. 2022, https://
fact-check/comelec-database-containining-private-voter- twitter.com/COMELEC/status/1518495133179998208 (last
information-hacked/ (last visited 19 Aug. 2022) visited 19 Aug. 2022)
49
Josette Saguiped, HINDI TOTOO: Nakaprograma na ang 54
Dylan Salcedo, The ‘constant 47% ratio’ explained, Rappler,
magiging resulta ng botohan sa Mayo 2022, Rappler, 1 Apr. 11 May 2022, available at https://www.rappler.com/nation/
2022, available at https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact- elections/forty-seven-percent-ratio-law-large-numbers-polls/
check/pre-programmed-results-polls-may-2022 (last visited 19 (last visited 19 Aug. 2022)

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 13

Philippine government as a whole should adhere to the v. On voting: [...]
idea of being more open and transparent.
11. Any person who, for the purpose of disrupting or obstructing the
NAMFREL was not spared from disinformation during the election process or causing confusion among the voters, propagates
2022 NLE. In June 2021, a major newspaper published a false and alarming reports or information or transmits or circulates
malicious article linking NAMFREL to an opposition political false orders, directives or messages regarding any matter relating to
movement. The article was then shared on Facebook by the printing of official ballots, the postponement of the election, the
a pro-government mouthpiece with millions of followers. transfer of polling place or the general conduct of the election.”
Hundreds of the page’s supporters descended upon
NAMFREL’s Facebook page, leaving false, and at the least Important and unresolved issues in past elections
unpleasant comments, including death threats, and posting that persisted during the 2022 elections included
of screenshots of names of NAMFREL’s staff and officers political dynasties, unrealistic campaign spending
in the comments section. On the night of the same day, limits, ineffectual campaign finance laws, weak political
NAMFREL’s official website suffered a denial of service party system (which allows and rewards turncoatism),
attack, reminiscent of a similar online attack on NAMFREL uncontested posts (as earlier mentioned), and slow
on the week of the 2016 NLE. While reviewing the logs, it resolution of protest cases.
appeared that most of the attack was coming from overseas,
specifically China. In the past, NAMFREL recommended that the impact
of the so-called command votes (religious, political
NAMFREL released one statement to address the article, dynasties, tribes, etc.) to electoral integrity be considered
and posted it on social media, which the trolls also and studied.57 It remains to be seen whether this would
feasted on.55 After that, NAMFREL decided not to engage be done for the 2022 NLE.
anymore. The Facebook page kept on talking about this
for days, and the comments on NAMFREL’s Facebook Despite the deadline for filing of certificates of candidacy
page seem to be wanting NAMFREL and its supporters having lapsed, aspirants from the same political party
to make a reaction or to engage them in the comments could still substitute candidates before the deadline for
section. But NAMFREL did not. After several days, the substitution under the law.58 NAMFREL said in October
trolls left as fast as they appeared. 2021 that substitutions should only be allowed in case of
the death or mental/physical incapacity of the candidate
While these attacks prompted meetings and discussion to be substituted.59
within the organization, they also prompted quick action
and shift in strategies almost on the fly due to a fast-
57
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
developing situation. One of NAMFREL’s first decisions
58
“Sec. 77. Candidates in case of death, disqualification or
was to delay the launch of the second website, to beef up
withdrawal of another. - If after the last day for the filing of
its security to increase its chance to withstand a similar
certificates of candidacy, an official candidate of a registered
attack as the elections drew near.
or accredited political party dies, withdraws or is disqualified
for any cause, only a person belonging to, and certified by,
In March 2022, NAMFREL warned against statements
the same political party may file a certificate of candidacy to
circulating on social media alleging its involvement in
replace the candidate who died, withdrew or was disqualified.
discussions of allegations of massive cheating in the
The substitute candidate nominated by the political party
elections.56
concerned may file his certificate of candidacy for the office
affected in accordance with the preceding sections not
The spread of election-related disinformation was not
later than mid-day of the day of the election. If the death,
deterred by the fact that such disinformation is an
withdrawal or disqualification should occur between the
election offense under Section 261(v) of the Omnibus
day before the election and mid-day of election day, said
Election Code: “Prohibited Acts. - The following shall be
certificate may be filed with any board of election inspectors
guilty of an election offense: [...]
in the political subdivision where he is a candidate, or, in the
case of candidates to be voted for by the entire electorate
55
NAMFREL, https://www.facebook.com/Namfrel/photos
of the country, with the Commission.” [Omnibus Election
/a.10152858421243173/10158653335563173/
56
https://namfrel.org.ph/2022/files/NAMFREL%20Press%20 Code, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/
Statement%20-%20March%2021,%202022%20(PDF).pdf; see also RelatedLaws/OmnibusElectionCode/OECArt9]
NAMFREL Huddle, “NAMFREL Huddle Ep. 6: Was there cheating in
59
Melissa Luz Lopez, “Time to scrap 'deceptive' substitution
the 2022 National and Local Elections? (Audio only)”, https://www. scheme for aspiring candidates – analysts”, CNN Philippines,
youtube.com/watch?v=clQqgyTOVlc 5 October 2021, available at https://www.cnnphilippines.

14 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

PRE-ELECTION AES MONITORING

As with previous elections, NAMFREL monitored the

COMELEC’s implementation of the Automated Election
System (AES) for the 2022 NLE.

A. Hybrid System

In the lead-up to the 2022 NLE, NAMFREL called for the

adoption of a hybrid system: the votes in the polling
places/clustered precincts would be manually counted,
but the transmission would be automated. Congress did
not pass a law adopting such a system, and COMELEC
following:
2
in June 2021. The five standards proposed were the

1. Shift to Open Source Licensing of All AES Software

The Election Automation Law provides that once an AES

technology is selected for implementation, the COMELEC
shall promptly make the source code of that technology
available and open to any interested political party or
groups which may conduct their own review thereof.61
However, the LSCR has been limited to certain groups
exercised its authority under the Election Automation which have undergone a screening process, contrary to
Law to use the existing AES for the elections.60 the legal requirement of being open to any interested
political party or groups. In addition, no electronic
B. Five Standards devices of any kind, including but not limited to laptops,
mobile phones, cameras, USB drives and other storage
With the non-adoption of the hybrid system, NAMFREL devices were permitted inside the secured location/
focused its attention to explore possible areas of facility, unless expressly authorized by the COMELEC. No
improvement in the AES, and proposed several copy of the source code, documentation, any material
measures to enhance its transparency. The result was a supplied by the COMELEC or any part thereof could be
paper entitled "Enhancing the AES with the Adoption taken out from the secured location/facility, whether
and Implementation of Technical Standards," which physically or electronically, unless expressly authorized by
NAMFREL's Systems Group submitted to the COMELEC the Commissioner-in-Charge of the LSCR Committee.62
Moreover, the license that covers the AES software is
com/news/2021/10/5/time-to-scrap-deceptive-substitution- proprietary, which is the most restrictive type of software
scheme.html (last visited 30 August 2022) licensing, protecting the owner from unauthorized use
“To carry out the above-stated policy, the Commission of the software. Any modification to the AES software
60

on Elections, herein referred to as the Commission, is hereby may be covered by a Licensing Agreement and such
authorized to use an automated election system or systems in modification may be performed only by the developer/
the same election in different provinces, whether paper-based owner of the software. However, the developer/owner of
or a direct recording electronic election system as it may deem
appropriate and practical for the process of voting, counting of 61
Section 14, last paragraph, Republic Act No. 8436, as
votes and canvassing/consolidation and transmittal of results amended by Section 12, Republic Act No. 9369, https://
of electoral exercises” (Section 6, Republic Act No. 8436, as comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/
amended by Section 6, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec. ElectionLaws/AutomatedElection/RA9369
gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/ 62
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
AutomatedElection/RA9369) Resolutions/res10712

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 15

the software may not be inclined to allow a modification 3. New Ballot Format where candidates per position is
that would allow the software to work on hardware not randomly assigned a unique number and the names of
developed by it, effectively requiring that the hardware the candidates are arranged following their randomly
and software come from the same provider. assigned unique numbers

NAMFREL proposed open source licensing of the AES The manner of sequencing the candidates’ names in the
software, which would allow any person or group to different contests is mixed. Names of candidates in all
review the source code, at their own time and pace. national and local contests are sequenced alphabetically
Open source licensing would also lead to a separation according to surnames but in the party list contest, the
of hardware and software vendors. It would open up party list candidates are arranged numerically based on
opportunities to Filipino developers. their randomly assigned numbers.

2. Use of the Election Markup Language (EML) In the alphabetic sequencing, candidates with surnames
throughout the election process, without conversion to starting with the latter part of the alphabet are put at a
another format disadvantage. Conversely, the candidates with surnames
starting with the first letters of the alphabet enjoy an
From the VCMs in the polling places throughout the advantage.
country, the election results are transmitted to the
Central Server, the Backup Server, and the Transparency NAMFREL proposed the assignment of a number unique
Media Server (TMS). As the results are transmitted, these to a candidate, drawn in random before preparing
would be converted to files in comma separated values the ballot face but announcement withheld until
(CSV) format using programming scripts. This results in immediately before the campaign period. The names
a loss of metadata, meaning information as to where of the candidates would then be arranged in numerical
the election results came from (polling place/clustered sequence. The number may be drawn randomly by the
precinct, voting center, location, time transmitted, digital candidates or their representatives. For example, if there
signatures of Electoral Board members). are five candidates for the position of president, the
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 would be randomly assigned
NAMFREL proposed the use of the election markup to each candidate. The succeeding position, the vice
language (EML) in the transmission of election results president, would start with number 6, and if there are
from the vote counting machines, without conversion three candidates for the vice president position, then
to another format. EML was first used in the 2010 NLE, they will randomly be assigned the numbers 6, 7 and
but was dropped in favor of Google’s protocol buffers or 8. For local positions, a prefix based on their region
protobuf in succeeding elections. or district could be used to distinguish them from the
national candidates.
[INSERT DIAGRAM: HOW RESULTS ARE TRANSMITTED
FROM VCM. ARIADNE/JEF ALREADY MADE ONE FOR THE This new ballot format would have had the following
AES VIDEO. JUST NEED TO INCLUDE THE TRANSMISSION benefits:
ROUTER IN BETWEEN VCM AND CENTRAL SERVER/
BACKUP SERVER/TRANSPARENCY SERVER. ALSO, a) It would make it easier for voters who cannot read or
RENAME “TRANSPARENCY SERVER” TO “TRANSPARENCY with poor eyesight to be able to vote as they would just
MEDIA SERVER”, THE NAME COMELEC USED IN THE have to search for the numbers assigned to their chosen
2022 NLE] candidates.

b) Sequencing would just be numerical and not

alphabetical. This would also do away with the practice of
certain candidates having an alias just to be at the top or
near the top of the list when sequencing is alphabetical.

c) This would minimize the importance of name recall

and the advantage of having well-known surnames
during the campaign.

16 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

d) As the candidates would be using their assigned The proper digital signatures would have the following
numbers for the campaign, pre-election campaigning advantages:
can be minimized as numbers assigned to the candidates
could only be released by COMELEC just before the start a) It would resolve the issues raised against the
of the campaign period. implementation of digital signing in the AES by critics:
using machine signatures would render it impossible to
e) Possible solution to having no votes, or undervotes, for validate the origin of ERs.
vice president and party-list, as voters will make sure that
they would have the numbers of their chosen candidates
on hand just before voting. b) Credibility of the ERs would be strengthened.

4. Proper Implementation of Personal Digital Signatures c) The digital signatures affixed to the ERs
transmitted via SD card or physically transmitted could
The ER containing the results for each polling place/ be independently verified through the PNPKI.
clustered precinct are electronically signed by the VCM,
not by the unique digital signature of the specific EB d) Security of the ERs would be ensured even if
members. This makes validation of the origin of ERs electronic transmission is delayed.
impossible, since they do not contain the identifiers of
the assigned EB members. e) Accuracy and integrity of the electronically
transmitted ERs could be verified through the digital
The Supreme Court ruled that the machine signature of signatures affixed to them.
the VCM complies with the requirement in the Election
Automation Law that “[t]he election returns transmitted 5. QR codes on the VVPAT and ER
electronically and digitally signed shall be considered
as official election results and shall be used as the basis The Election Automation Law requires a voter verifiable
for the canvassing of votes and the proclamation of a paper audit trail (VVPAT)64 which allows voters to check
candidate.”63 whether the VCM correctly read the ballot, and credited
the votes to the candidates selected by them.
NAMFREL proposed that the requirement in the law be
properly implemented. Digital signing could be done NAMFREL proposed the inclusion of quick response (QR)
with the use of a Public Key Infrastructure which is the codes on the VVPAT and the ER, which would lead to the
methodology or procedure referred to in the definition following benefits:
of an electronic signature. For example, the Philippine
National Public Key Infrastructure (PNPKI) was built a) Inherent audit check on the VVPAT and ER by providing two
and operated by the Department of Information and sources of results. The output should always be the same.
Communications Technology.
b) This could provide a more participative and democratic
process at the precinct level. Watcher groups could scan the QR
code and verify that the count or the person voted for are the
63
Section 22, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by
same.
Section 19, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.
ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/ c) Crowd-source recording of the ER. Results could be quickly
AutomatedElection/RA9369. The Supreme Court relied on read and verified by anyone interested in aggregating the results.
its definition of Rules of Electronic Evidence in its April 2019
ruling, “As gleamed from the wording of the law, the signature d) This could be a quick solution to a hybrid election system
may be any distinctive mark or characteristic that represents being clamored by several groups if used on the ballot/VVPAT
level.
the identity of a person. Thus, a machine signature of a PCOS
machine may validly be considered the functional equivalent e) This could improve the RMA process conducted after election
of the aforementioned "digital signature," as it represents day in selected random precincts.
the identity of the individual, said signature naturally being
created specifically for the person him or herself inputting the 64
Section 6, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by
details.” (Bagumbayan-VNP Movement, Inc. vs. Commission Section 7, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.
on Elections, G.R. No. 206719, April 10, 2019, https://elibrary. ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/
judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/65166) AutomatedElection/RA9369.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 17

Further actions COMELEC give due consideration to the findings and
recommendations of the CAC.66
NAMFREL also furnished a copy of its AES standards
to the JCOC, mandated under the Election Automation On 1 March 2022, the COMELEC informed the CAC
Law to conduct a comprehensive assessment and that it would use only in certain areas the I-Buttons for
evaluation of the performance of the different AES digital signature, because it could not procure the cable
technologies implemented, and to make appropriate assembly necessary. This fact was made public during the
recommendations to Congress, in session assembled. A Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s
copy was likewise forwarded to the COMELEC Advisory Participation hearing on 9 March 2022.
Council, which subsequently submitted Resolutions
Nos. 2021-003 and 2021-004 recommending these five As a result of this information, the CAC recommended a
proposals to the COMELEC. set of measures, including NAMFREL's suggestion that
the COMELEC obtain the protocol buffer (“protobuf”)
COMELEC adopted the use of a QR code in the VVPAT. file from the VCMs, without any changes to the system,
However, whether it contained the candidates voted for and make it available in the TMS after the decryption.
could not be verified, since COMELEC denied NAMFREL’s This recommendation was also in NAMFREL’s press
request for the data dictionary of the QR code in statement dated 10 March 2022: “A last resort, NAMFREL
order to complete NAMFREL’s QR code scanner app recommends making the election results transmission
(discussed further under the report chapter on “Post- package -- which shall include the electronically
Election Monitoring,” under the item “Random Manual transmitted election returns -- in protobuf format, which
Audit”). The QR code on the ER contained only the hash shall include the xml sig and public key certificates for
code. (The definition of hash code is discussed later in validation available through the transparency server.”
this report chapter, under the item “Local Source Code The protobuf file from the VCM contains important meta
Review End-to-End Demonstration (22 March 2022) and data that could be independently examined and verified.
VCM System Hash Code”). Making the Protobuf file available through the TMS after
decryption would avoid any configuration or emulation
The proper implementation of digital signatures will be of VCMs.67
discussed later in this Chapter under “COMELEC Advisory
Council”. In the last CAC meeting prior to the elections, on 28 April
2022, the CAC decided to write a letter to the COMELEC
The remaining standards were not adopted. about the topics below. NAMFREL was asked to draft
the letter for the CAC. This letter covered the following
C. COMELEC Advisory Council topics:

Even prior to accreditation, NAMFREL had been working (a) Follow up on the request for access to the protobuf,
with the COMELEC in preparation for the 2022 elections in lieu of the incomplete implementation of digital
through its participation in the COMELEC Advisory signatures. This request was contained in a 2 March 2022
Council (CAC), AES Steering Committee, and the Random CAC letter to the COMELEC.
Manual Audit Committee (RMAC) meetings.
(b) Urgent request to do public system build of the VCM
The CAC for the 2022 NLE was convened in 14 December System Hash to address the issue about the hash code,
2020, with the holding of its first meeting after the new since the public system build of the VCM System Hash
members had taken their oaths. NAMFREL National Section 9, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.
Council Members Mr. Angel Averia, Jr. and Mr. Fernando ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/
Contreras, Jr. served as its representatives. AutomatedElection/RA9369.
66
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
Pursuant to the Automated Election Law, the CAC 67
NAMFREL, https://namfrel.org.ph/2022/files/
recommends the most appropriate, secure, applicable, Namfrel%20Press%20Statement-%20NAMFREL%20
and cost-effective technology to be applied in the welcomes%20the%20new%20COMELEC%20Chairman%20
AES.65 In the past, NAMFREL recommended that the and%20Commissioners%20as%20it%20urges%20more%20
65
Section 9, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by transparency%20in%20the%202022%20elections.pdf

18 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

has never been shown publicly. (Discussed further in this NAMFREL reiterated is proposal not to convert the ERs
report chapter, under “Local Source Code Review End- generated by the VCM into another format when the ER is
to-End Demonstration (22 March 2022) and VCM System received by the TMS. NAMFREL underscored the need for
Hash Code”). various parties connected to the TMS to receive the ER as
originally generated by the VCM to ensure integrity of the
D. COMELEC AES Steering Committee meetings election results.

NAMFREL, as part of the CAC, attended meetings of the During the 21 September 2021 meeting, NAMFREL
COMELEC AES Steering Committee. followed up on the adoption of its five standards
proposals for the 2022 NLE. The chair advised NAMFREL
The Committee is overall in charge of the management to course its proposal through the CAC which it already
and monitoring of the various AES Project related did. NAMFREL informed the body that the appropriate
activities under the Project Management Office (PMO). resolution/s is/are being prepared. The chair also advised
The PMO was divided into several groups including, but NAMFREL to file its petition for accreditation. NAMFREL
not limited to, the Special Bids and Awards Committee filed its petition on 1 October 2022.
on AES which is in charge of all procurement activities
for the AES Project, the Technology Group which is in The implementation of the digital signature was again
charge of the preparations and operations of the AES, raised. NAMFREL participated in the discussion as this is
the Training Group which in charge of training various one of its proposals.
stakeholders including, but not limited to, the Electoral
One significant matter discussed in the 9 March 2022
Boards, the Boards of Canvassers, the Philippine National
meeting was the limited implementation of digital signing
Police, and others.
by the members of the EBs in the National Capital Region,
Cebu City, and Davao City only. NAMFREL representatives
For the 2022 NLE, the Committee headed by
to CAC earlier received information during the CAC
Commissioner Marlon Casquejo.
meeting of 1 March 2022 on the limited implementation
of digital signing arising from COMELEC’s difficulty in
Discussed and presented during the meetings of the
procuring cable assemblies to be used for the deployment
COMELEC AES Steering Committee were updates on the
and implementation of digital signing certificates.
status of the various AES related activities.
NAMFREL recommended during the meeting with the
On the 14 July 2021 meeting, the Chair of the CAC, Steering Committee that the protocol buffer (“protobuf”)
responding to the request of Commissioner Casquejo, file from the VCM be made available in the TMS after the
informed the Committee that the CAC was studying decryption. The protobuf file refers to the ER originally
and working on a few recommendations, including generated by the VCM in protobuf format which would
NAMFREL’s five standards. As earlier stated, the CAC have included the machine digital signatures.
submitted resolutions recommending these five
proposals to the COMELEC. The presence of the digital signatures of the EB members
on the ERs would have given the recipients of copies
It was also announced in the meeting that NAMFREL of the electronically transmitted ERs the assurance
would be part of the RMA Committee. NAMFREL that integrity of the ERs had been preserved, free from
reiterated its proposal for the proper implementation tampering, and transmitted from a legitimate source.
of the digital signature of EBs. An action item was to
set a meeting with NAMFREL, PPCRV, and Smartmatic The presence of the machine digital signatures, while
regarding the implementation of digital signatures. challenged in the past on the ground that ERs should be
personally signed by the EB members, would have given
During the 19 August 2021 meeting, NAMFREL the same assurance. However, these machine signatures
participated in the discussion of the implementation of were not the unique mark of the EBs from the specific
digital signatures. COMELEC confirmed that a QR code polling place where the ER was transmitted from.
with the encoded voter’s choices would be printed on the
VVPAT. With this, NAMFREL followed up on the printing of The protobuf file was ultimately not made available in the
QR codes with encoded election results on the ERs. TMS.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 19

E. AES Procurement Philippines was placed in the State of Calamity,72 most
government offices implemented skeleton workforces
NAMFREL monitored the procurement of goods and and work from home setup. All procurement processes
services related to the AES for the 2022 NLE, since it were therefore held online.
officially started in December 2020. NAMFREL is regularly
invited by the COMELEC Special Bids and Awards Observers from civil society organizations were invited
Committee (SBAC) to help in observing the proper public by the COMELEC SBAC to attend and observe its bidding
bidding process, in compliance with Republic Act No. process, held online through Microsoft Teams. In the first
9184 and its Revised IRR.68 rounds of public bidding from December 2020 to March
2021, the CSO observers were limited to having two (2)
The COMELEC SBAC was the procurement body that representatives per organization attend the proceedings.
governed the procurement of all AES-related items for The pre-bid conferences were held online. Looser
the 2022 elections. It was composed of five (5) members restrictions allowed physical observation of the Opening
(with chairperson and vice-chairperson) and functioned of Bids provided watchers submitted a negative RT-PCR
equally as the regular Bids and Awards Committee. Non- COVID-19 test taken three days before.
AES items related to the 2022 NLE, such as the ballot
secrecy folders, manuals, and other forms, were procured As of March 2022, the COMELEC procured twenty-one
by the COMELEC regular Bids and Awards Committee (21) projects of goods and services with about 95%
(BAC). The majority of COMELEC procurement as a whole (20 projects) confirmed awarded. NAMFREL observed
is held and implemented by the regular BAC. a total of thirty-four (34) bidding cycles. Some items
were delayed due to the change in quarantine/alert
In the past, NAMFREL recommended that COMELEC level status and repeated failure of biddings on certain
should minimize the legal complications in the procurements. On the procurement of I-Buttons for
procurement of goods and services by preparing the Digital Signature, the COMELEC confirmed that the
groundwork for the next elections as early as the end of bidding failed during the 9 March 2022 hearing of the
the previous elections.69 Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s
Participation.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected all the existing
government acquisition projects and had many setbacks One of the main challenges for the observers during
in procurement. The Government Procurement Policy online procurement was access to the documents.
Board (GPPB)70 published a Resolution71 authorizing Although some documents were shown online page by
the BAC to conduct an online procurement. Since the page, there were instances when observers were unable
68
“To enhance the transparency of the process, the BAC to evaluate what they were being shown due to some
shall, during the eligibility checking, shortlisting, pre-bid technical issues:
conference, preliminary examination of bids, bid evaluation,
and post-qualification, invite, in addition to the representative (a) Weak internet connection – This was a major issue
of the COA, at least two (2) observers, who shall not have the in online monitoring. There were times one could not
right to vote, to sit in its proceedings where [xxx] 2. The other understand what was being said during the conference.
observer shall come from a non-government organization
(NGO).” (Section 13, The 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and (b) No access to the chatbox – The links on the sub-
Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184 (updated as of March 31, group for TWG evaluation were posted on the chatbox so
2021), https://www.gppb.gov.ph/assets/pdfs/Updated%20 that the observers could observe the evaluation process.
2016%20IRR_31%20March%202021.pdf) However, in many instances the observers did not have
69
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections access to the chatbox to go to the sub-group.
70
The Government Procurement Policy Board is the principal
body responsible for procurement policy formulation and (c) Many times, the presenters’ slides were shown too
the implementation and monitoring of effective public fast – Although this did not happen all the time, there
procurement reform, thereby promoting and achieving good were instances when it became an issue when evaluating
governance, in general, and transparency, accountability, documents online because observers were unable to go
equity, effectiveness, efficiency, and economy in Government, back to previously shown information.
in particular (https://www.gppb.gov.ph/about_us/gppb.html). 72
State of Calamity refers to “a condition involving mass
71
GPPB Resolution 09-2020 Approving Measures for casualty and/or major damages to property, disruption of
Efficient Conduct of Procurement Activities during the State means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people
of Calamity, or Implementation of Community Quarantine in the affected areas as a result of the occurrence of natural
or Similar Restriction, https://www.gppb.gov.ph/issuances/ or human-induced hazard”. (Section 3(LL), Republic Act No.
Resolutions/GPPB%20Resolution%20No.%2009-2020%20 10121, https://mirror.officialgazette.gov.ph/2010/05/27/
with%20SGD.pdf republic-act-no-10121/)

20 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

 One of the most challenging processes was the
For those with weak internet connection, organizations completion of the procurement cycle for some items.
were allowed to have multiple observers in case one Based on the COMELEC project brief documents and
of them could not connect properly. If observers could supplemental bulletin for the rebid items, delays in the
not access the chatbox, they could view the documents procurement were usually caused by the following:
presented by the secretariat in the main room. This
allowed people in the main room to examine the (a) No bids were received, leading to a declaration
documents. However, if there were many documents of failure of bidding. It happened several times. Even
due to multiple bidders, the time for viewing could be negotiated procurement, which could be resorted to
cut short to give way to the reporting of the technical after two failed biddings, failed.73 Prospective bidders
working group. When presenters were too fast and claimed that their non-participation or non-submission
observers needed to extensively evaluate the documents, of the bid was due to the low approved budget for the
the observers were allowed to email the BAC to request contract (ABC) or too tight a schedule of deliveries. The
for a copy of the documents. However, this method SBAC after the mandatory review of the procurement
was not possible all the time due to the confidentiality at hand revises and/or maintains either the ABC or the
agreement between the procuring entity and the schedule of deliveries.
observing organizations.
(b) All eligible bidders were declared non-compliant
In addition, the COMELEC website, the major source of during the opening of the financial bid or post-
information for the procurement/bidding activity updates qualification stage due to:
and supplemental/bid bulletins, would be inaccessible
during certain times. (i) Failure to breakdown the cost as specified in the
Price Schedule Form for Goods Offered from Abroad
In addition, the COMELEC website, the major source of (Annex G-1)
information for the procurement/bidding activity updates
and supplemental/bid bulletins, would be inaccessible (ii) Failure to provide cost for the sales and other
during certain times. taxes payable as specified in Price Schedule for Goods
Offered from Within the Philippines (Annex G-2)
The BAC through the BAC Secretariat took time to
present and explain in full detail the legal, technical, (iii) Failure to provide/submit detailed, complete, and
and financial requirements. However, deficiencies, accurate information required for the post-qualification
mistakes, and non-compliance with the technical and stage (required samples, original documents, and/
financial requirements were still the main causes of or complete list of items as indicated in the eligibility
disqualifications. This occurred even if the participating documents)
bidders were the regular and almost the same suppliers,
dealers, and contractors of the COMELEC for election- In general, the procurement of AES was orderly,
related requirements. The usual deficiencies and mistakes transparent, and showed no irregularities. Despite the
in the bid submission are as follows: setbacks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,
COMELEC still was able to secure most of the equipment
(a) Submission of collection receipts instead and materials necessary for the conduct of the 2022
of official receipt for the Single Largest Completed NLE. However, the failure of bidding for the I-Buttons for
Contracts (SLCC); Digital Signature adversely affected the implementation
of digital signatures of EBs, as discussed earlier in this
(b) Generic Secretary’s Certificate for the Authorized 73
"Negotiated Procurement is a method of procurement
Representative of the Company; of Goods, Infrastructure Projects and Consulting services,
whereby the Procuring Entity directly negotiates a contract
(c) Interpretation of Similar Single Largest with a technically, legally and financially capable supplier,
Completed (SLCC) project; contractor or consultant in any of the following cases:

(d) Failure to submit Net Financial Contracting 53.1 Two Failed Biddings. Where there has been failure of
Capacity (NFCC) computation; competitive bidding or Limited Source Bidding for the second
time as provided in Section 35 of the Act and this IRR." (The
(e) Missing proof of identity; 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic
Act No. 9184 (updated as of March 31, 2021), https://www.
(f) Missing special power of attorney for the Joint gppb.gov.ph/assets/pdfs/Updated%202016%20IRR_31%20
Venture Agreement (JVA). March%202021.pdf)

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 21

report chapter and in the chapter on election day The NAMFREL IT Team examined the source code and
monitoring, under Digital Signatures Implementation. found that some of the implementation of microservices
did not follow industry standard best practice. NAMFREL
However, economical elections may not have been pointed out those codes and gave examples on how to
achieved. As stated above, bidders either did not submit improve it. The Smartmatic Team acknowledged these
bids or were disqualified. This could have led to a non- recommendations.
competitive environment, in turn keeping prices up
instead of pushing them down. Comments/observations during LSCR sessions are voiced
out or made verbally and captured by COMELEC. As a
F. Observation of COMELEC Pre-Election AES rule, even reviewers’ handwritten notes are to be left with
Activities COMELEC at the end of each review session, extending
the prohibitions under the COMELEC resolution on the
As a member of the COMELEC Advisory Council, a LSCR.74 These prohibitions, express or implied, do not
participant in AES Steering Committee discussions, and promote transparency and should be dropped.
as an accredited citizens' arm, NAMFREL participated
and/or observed the following activities upon invitation The practice during the LSCR was that Smartmatic would
by the COMELEC: provide a specific version of the source code for review,
but used a different version of the source code for the
1. Local Source Code Review (LSCR) for the 2022 NLE (4 Trusted Build, which was actually used on Election Day.
October to 21 December 2021) Many reviewers, including NAMFREL’s representative,
opposed this practice The local source code to be
What is a source code? I. “human readable instructions that define reviewed must be identical to the trusted build to ensure
what the computer equipment will do” (Section 2(12), Republic Act that the Election Day Trusted Build was the same as that
No. 8436, as amended by Section 2, Republic Act No. 9369) subjected to LSCR. This principle should be implemented
II. A “source code” is a set of instructions written by a programmer
in the next AES runs.
using a computer language. The instructions include logically
arranged procedural steps and rules for processing something to In the past, NAMFREL recommended that the COMELEC
generate an outcome. should specifically indicate in the contract with the AES
An example is computing for the area of a rectangle. We assume the
provider that observers could use automated tools to
following variables: be able to test the accuracy of the software during the
LSCR.75 This recommendation was not adopted in the
L = length of a side of the rectangle contract for the procurement of the AES software used
in the 2022 NLE.76 As mentioned earlier, no electronic
W = width of the shorter side of the rectangle
A = the area of the rectangle
devices of any kind, including but not limited to laptops,
The formula for computing the area of a rectangle is declared in the 74
“SEC. 25. Documents; Limitations. No copy of the
program:
source code, documentation, any material supplied by the
Area (A) = Length (L) x Width (W) or simply: A= L x W Commission or any part thereof may be taken out from the
secured location/facility, whether physically or electronically,
Then, there must be a way to encode the values of L and W and
unless expressly authorized by the Commissioner-in-Charge of
displaying or printing the output of the computation.
the LSCR Committee.
COMMENT: L = length of a side of the rectangle
COMMENT: W = width of the shorter side of the rectangle SEC. 26. Electronic Device; Limitations. No electronic device
COMMENT: A = the area of the rectangle
of any kind, including but not limited to laptops, mobile
INPUT “Length” L
INPUT “Width” W phones, cameras, USB drives and other storage devices
LET A = L * W shall be permitted inside the secured location/facility,
PRINT “Area of the Rectangle is” A unless expressly authorized by the Commission.” [COMELEC
END
Resolution No.10712, https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-
BASIC is the computer language used in the example
“COMMENT” is used for documentation purposes attachments/2022NLE/Resolutions/com_res_10712.pdf]
“INPUT” prompts the user to encode or enter the value of a declared
variable 75
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
“LET” declares a formula, it may also be used to set the value of a 76
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/
particular variable
Procurement/ProcurementProjects/SBAC042020EVCS/
“PRINT” displays or prints the resulting value computed using the
formula
SBAC042020EVCS_Contract.pdf
“END” ends the process
Source: (Lito Averia, NAMFREL National Council Member,
Understanding the Local Source Code Review presentation)

22 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

mobile phones, cameras, USB drives and other storage 4. LSCR End-to-End Demonstration (22 March 2022) and
devices were permitted inside the secured location/ VCM System Hash Code
facility, unless expressly authorized by the COMELEC.77
The End-to-End Demonstration was the culmination
2. First Trusted Build (3 December 2021) and Second event of the LSCR, during which the COMELEC conducted
Trusted Build (13 January 2022) a full simulated election and transmission demonstration.
The event was opened to all political parties, media
What is a trusted build? The trusted build is an and other stakeholders. After the demo, NAMFREL’s IT
activity organized by the Commission on Elections team pointed out the VCM System Hash Code shown
where the process of converting the source code during the demo did not match what was published
during the second Final Trusted Build. In an email-letter
of various components of the automated election
to Commissioner Marlon Casquejo dated 23 March
system into their respective binary code is done.
2022, NAMFREL pointed out this discrepancy. On 24
Source: (Lito Averia, NAMFREL National Council March, NAMFREL found on the COMELEC website a
Member, Understanding the Local Source Code Review “CERTIFICATION OF CORRECT SYSTEM HASH” by the
presentation) Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) and the letter
from Pro V & V with the subject “Generated VCM System
With regard to the first Trusted Build, NAMFREL SHA256 Hash Discrepancy.” The certification came with
verified that the hashes of VCM source code and other a letter from Pro V&V addressed to COMELEC, making
components of AES on livestream were identical to the reference to NAMFREL’s email-letter to Commissioner
hashes listed by COMELEC in a letter sent to NAMFREL. Casquejo. Pro V&V reported that the hash value
However, another Trusted Build was conducted on 13 generated by the VCM was correct, but that humans
January 2022, the results of which are discussed later in physically typed the hash value into the certification
this Chapter under “Local Source Code Review End-to- documentation manually, leading to the error discovered
End Demonstration (22 March 2022) and VCM System by NAMFREL.78
Hash Code”.
What is a system hash code? “Following the
3. Walkthrough of the VCM and CCS Production and
Deployment Process (20 March 2022)
trusted build, a hash code of the VCM software was
generated. The hash code is a kind of fingerprint
of the software. If a change in the software is
introduced, a different hash code will be generated.
[INSERT PICTURE: WALKTHROUGH - PROVIDED BY SIR JR The hash code of the current version of the VCM
ON NAMFREL PARTICIPATE MESSENGER CHAT] software has been posted in the Comelec's website
and it is printed on the diagnostic report which is
generated after VCM startup.”
Source: (Lito Averia, NAMFREL National Council Member,
“People ask: Is the AES secure?”, The Manila Times, 2 March
2022, https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/03/02/opinion/
columns/people-ask-is-the-aes-secure/1834770)
The walkthrough, held at the COMELEC warehouse in
Sta. Rosa, Laguna, was held in response to the clamor In addition, the process of building the components into
for more transparency. Prior to this event, NAMFREL and a system, which included the generation of the system
other organizations were not allowed to have access hash, was never shown publicly to anyone. Aside from
to the COMELEC warehouse in Laguna. In this event, the VCM System Hash, there were no other hash codes
COMELEC presented the process of preparation of the shared with the public to check. Without this process
VCM and the Consolidation and Canvassing System shown to the public, the whole LSCR process would
(CCS). The walkthrough included a presentation of the seem to be futile. In other words, without the system
sample kit of the VCM as well as a plant tour where they hash generation process in full view of stakeholders, the
showed how the VCMs and CCS Laptops were being source code that NAMFREL saw and reviewed during the
prepared. SCR could be different from what was used by the VCMs
77
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/ 78
https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2022NLE/
Resolutions/res10712 AutomatedElectionSystem/VCMSystemHash.pdf

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 23

on election day. In layman’s terms, the software used To satisfy its stakeholders’ plea to make the ballot
on the VCMs on election day could have been different printing process more transparent, COMELEC organized
from the software reviewed by NAMFREL and other IT two events prior to opening the ballot printing process:
observers during the SCR because the source code could a) Walkthrough of the Printing of Ballots at the NPO by
have been edited in the meantime. the COMELEC Printing Committee (15 March 2022), and
b) Random Testing of Printed Ballots (24 March 2022).
Based on these points, NAMFREL wrote a follow-up NAMFREL attended both events.
email-letter dated 25 March 2022 to Commissioner
Casquejo requesting for the following. The accredited citizens’ arms and political parties
observed the walkthrough, and the event was covered by
(a) Process documentation from Pro V & V on how they the media. The COMELEC explained the ballot printing
prepare documents and encode the hash code into the process as well as the packaging process. After the
Certificates that was signed by the TEC. presentations, the stakeholders and the media were
allowed to observe the printing and packaging of the
(b) Documentation on the verification process of Pro V & ballots in the viewing area.
V on the certification process;
During the walkthrough, Commissioner Casquejo
(c) Documentation on the verification process of announced that 73% of the 67,442,616 ballots were
COMELEC that the Final Trusted Build binaries are already printed. However, only 55% were verified. The
deployed on the AES system; verification of the printed ballots using the VCMs was
still ongoing. The manual ballots and overseas ballots
(d) An observable proof of the generation of the system were 100% printed. The printing of ballots was “on time”
hash codes of all AES components; according to Commissioner Casquejo as the printing
and packaging were being done day and night and
(e) An observable proof that the output of the Trusted with enough workforce to operate. He also mentioned
Build was actually installed on components of the AES, that the matter of allowing citizens’ arms to observe
particularly the VCMs; the ballot printing was still to be decided in a COMELEC
En Banc meeting. However, beginning 16 March 2022,
(f) Allow independent verification of all the hash political parties and candidates’ representatives were to
codes of the binaries and the system as listed in the be allowed in the NPO for inspection and demonstration.
“CERTIFICATION ON AES FINAL TRUSTED BUILD” as
revised dated 13 January 2022. During the event, people entering the venue were
required to have a temperature check. In the viewing
NAMFREL received no response to its 23 and 25 March area for the ballot printing and packaging, only 10
letters. people were allowed to enter with a maximum 10-minute
time limit. However, social distancing in the venue was
5. Printing of Official Ballots (15 March 2022) barely observed.

Observing the entire printing process of the official 6. Random Testing of Printed Ballots (24 March 2022)
ballots for the 2022 NLE at the National Printing Office
(NPO) in Diliman, Quezon City was part of NAMFREL’s The COMELEC Printing Committee held a random
work program. However, the COMELEC did not issue any checking of the printed ballots and ballot verification
guidelines for stakeholders and accredited citizens’ arms demonstration at the NPO conference room. It invited
regarding face-to-face observation. COMELEC later said representatives of political parties, media, local
it limited the face-to-face observation of the process source code reviewers, members of the COMELEC
due to the pandemic.79 NAMFREL requested COMELEC Advisory Council, civil society organizations, and other
through letters to be allowed to observe the printing stakeholders to randomly check the ballots from the
process, but the Commission gave no definite answer select Official Ballots (OB) box (box refers to packaging).
regarding the matter.
The random checking was not extensive. Observers were
79
Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s just able to check a few (not all, about 5-20 ballots) of
Participation (9 March 2022) - https://www.youtube.com/ the OBs in a bundle. The random checking took only
watch?v=W0CF2MppZco

24 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

around 30-40 minutes and was assisted by COMELEC
personnel. Every observer was only able to observe one
ballot during the machine verification.

All observers were required to surrender all recording

equipment/gadgets, including smartphones, before
entering the checking area. All kinds of recording (photo,
video, digital, and written records) were prohibited inside
the venue while the random checking was ongoing.
This was done as a security measure to OBs to avoid
leakage of information such as the serial numbers on
the OB boxes, according to COMELEC. All observers who
participated in the random checking were required to
wear surgical gloves to avoid OB tampering and leaving
unintended marks. Everyone in the checking area was
required to wear face masks.

7. VCM Demo to the Diplomatic Corps at the Rizal Park

Hotel (29 March 2022)

The event was attended by members of the diplomatic

corps and other guests, including NAMFREL.

The COMELEC presented the dates and timeline of the

2022 NLE for in-country voting, overseas voting, local The demonstration of the VCM then proceeded. Several
absentee voting, and PDL (persons deprived of liberty) VCMs were provided and located at strategic locations
voting, election statistics, and the number of poll workers within the venue. Guests participated in the mock voting.
and boards of canvassers.
The demonstration was uneventful.

8. Briefing for Media and Other Stakeholders at UST with

simultaneous walkthrough of the data servers (30 April
2022)

The COMELEC briefed stakeholders who would be

allowed secure copies of the electronically transmitted
ERs via the Transparency Media Server (TMS), located at
the Quadricentennial Arena, University of Santo Tomas
(UST), Sampaloc, Manila.

Information covered security arrangements, the process

of securing copies of the electronically transmitted
election returns via the TMS, and the provision of laptops
for various pollical parties and accredited citizens’ arms.
Media was advised to provide their own laptops for the
purpose.

A guided tour of the facility was then conducted but

mobile phones were not allowed in the work area just
outside the server room. No photos were allowed.

Held after the UST briefing were simultaneous

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 25

walkthroughs at the Central Data Server (PLDT Vitro Transparency Data Center. No observers would be
Taguig, 1/F Bonifacio Technology Center, 31st Street, allowed.
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig), Transparency Data Center
(PLDT Vitro Paranaque, Rack IT Elorde Compound, Brgy. Before ending the session, participants were given a
San Antonio, Sucat, Parañaque), and Back-up Data Center chance to ask questions and clarify the process.
(Data One, 6/F IBM Plaza, Eastwood City Cyberpark, E.
Rodriguez Jr. Ave, Quezon City). The walkthroughs were 9. Other activities
streamed live to the TMS location.
(a) Loading and Dispatch of AES supplies (2 April
The NAMFREL IT Team attended the walkthrough at the 2022), which was ceremonial
Central Data Server and the Transparency Data Center.
(b) Loading and Dispatch of Official Ballots and
The designated room for monitoring the Central Data Other Supplies (19 April 2022)
Server in the Bonifacio Technology Center was on the
second floor. The setup, as discussed by the COMELEC,
would consist of four computers connected via LAN 10. Technical Meeting for End-Users of the Transparency
to the data server. One computer would monitor the Media Server Room (4 May 2022)
database, one for application, one for telecom signal
strength, and one for network security. The computers COMELEC held the meeting with representatives of
monitoring the database, the application, and network political parties, mainstream media, and ciitzens’ arms
security would require split password access. One to discuss the procedure for transferring election
password would be from COMELEC staff, the other from results data from a laptop to a flash drive. The following
Smartmatic. guidelines were laid down:

Participants then visited the cage of the physical (a) COMELEC would issue two ID cards on 6 May 2022.
data server. The guards were strict in checking if the
participants were authorized by the COMELEC. Two (b) Only two representatives per organization would be
security cameras were present inside the cage of the allowed inside the TMS Room.
server, and two outside the cage.
(c) Only the representatives listed by the organization
In the Transparency Data Center, participants were would be allowed to swap with other representatives.
divided into two groups and required to pass through
three secured entrances before reaching the server room. (d) Citizens’ arms and political parties would be required
No photos were allowed inside. COMELEC servers were to submit two USB flash drives that have 16 GB or higher
inside secured cabinets, enclosed in a metal cage for capacity. Media organizations would be required to
additional security, and equipped with CCTV cameras, the submit a laptop and two USB flash drives that have 16 GB
footage from which were broadcasted at the UST. or higher capacity.

Discussed by the Smartmatic representative were data (e) Only media organizations would have a designated
transmission and process, file transfers, and security room to upload data from the TMS Room.
arrangements. In detail, the topics involved:
(a) Stress test - doubling the actual expected transmitted (f) Smartphones would not be allowed inside the TMS
data Room.
(b) Package transmission – files would be sent every 15
minutes (g) A face mask would be required while a face shield
(c) Resolutions on issues and escalations would be optional.
(d) Transmission of data from the data center to UST via
the file transfer module
(e) Precinct results – Would be monitored, received and
stored only
(f) Only authorized representatives from Smartmatic
and Comelec would monitor the operations of the

26 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

3
A. Open Election Data Website
PUBLIC INFORMATION AND
VOTER EDUCATION

NAMFREL made a major push on public information

and voter education for the 2022 elections online. These
efforts included the following:

NAMFREL's open election data website, www.voteforus.

org.ph, intended to assist the COMELEC with its voter
communication and information efforts, anchored on
transparency and open data principles. The website set
B. Social Media

NAMFREL maintained social media accounts

for NAMFREL and for the Vote For Us website.
NAMFREL attracted thousands of new followers and
undeterminable amounts of engagements on Facebook,
Twitter, Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram. NAMFREL posted
announcements, photos, statements and press releases
on these social media channels.

out to be a "one-stop shop" for voters to be informed of C. Educational Videos

important information with regard to the 2022 NLE.
NAMFREL released a series of short videos called Botante
During the registration period, the website invited voters Bits to guide the public through the different processes
to use it to search for the address and contact info of of the 2022 elections. Topics include Voter Registration,
local COMELEC offices. As the election calendar unfolded, Certificate of Candidacy, Local Source Code Review,
NAMFREL added data sets on: COMELEC distribution Vote Counting Machines, Voters Lists, and Candidates.
hubs of election equipment and supplies, Links to lists The short-form videos were made available on TikTok
of candidates, Links to videos candidates' debates, and Instagram, while the long-form videos were made
Links to COMELEC resolutions organized by category, available on YouTube. (https://www.voteforus.org.ph/
Election calendar, Information on overseas voting, AES videos/botante-bits-series/).
procurement, and NAMFREL's various videos (discussed
below). NAMFREL also created three long-form videos with
the purpose of not only informing the public about
The website continues to be a work in progress, and will important aspects of the polls, but also to make the
be updated with new data sets following the COMELEC's public aware of what to look out for during specific
calendar on succeeding elections. election-related activities, and encourage them to
become citizen election observers. The videos were:
From the period January to May 2022, the Vote for
Us website gained 7,165 unique visitors, 74,528 visits,
183,577 pages, 872,426 hits, and bandwidth of 20.92
GB.80 The following figures are monthly visit statistics. “Visits” refers to the number of visits made by all visitors.
“Hits” refers to the number of pages, graphics, photos, videos,
80
“Unique visitors” refers to the number of visitors measured animation, scripts, etc. being viewed on the site. For example, if a
by the unique IP addresses. Unique visitors were counted only page has one photo, one video and one animation, that is equivalent
once no matter how many times they visited the site. If multiple to four hits (one hit for the page, one hit for the photo, one hit for the
users accessed the site from the same IP (such as a home or office video, and one hit for the animation).
network), they were counted as a single unique visitor.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 27

 report -- these violations, which included the COMELEC
itself, election monitoring organizations like NAMFREL,
the authorities like the PNP, political parties, and
especially the media.

The videos were made available on NAMFREL's

YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/
NamfrelBantayngBayan).

D. Online Briefings

Starting in 2021, NAMFREL conducted online press

[INSERT PICTURES: THUMBNAILS OF LONG VIDEOS] briefings to talk about its AES observations and
recommendations.

NAMFREL also launched a limited series of talk shows

on Twitter Spaces called “NAMFREL Huddle”, moderated
by the NAMFREL National Secretariat Team. Episodes
were devoted to topics such as qualifications of
candidates, vote counting machines, election monitoring,
transparency in vote count, election day experience, and
campaign contributions. NAMFREL Huddle episodes may
be streamed at the NAMFREL Twitter account (https://
twitter.com/namfrel) and on NAMFREL's YouTube channel
1. Pagboto sa NEW NORMAL 2022 National and Local linked above.
Elections

This is a walkthrough of the COMELEC’s “new normal”

voting process, highlighting what was going to be
different this time due to the adoption of anti-COVID
protocols.

2. Ang Automated Election System 2022

The video explained in layman's terms the concepts

surrounding the AES Philippine automated election
system, as well as demystified s the vote counting
machine (VCM), discussing in great detail its parts,
functions, and usage throughout the different election
day processes.

3. Bantay ng Bayan

NAMFREL emphasized how ordinary Filipinos could be

citizen election observers, even if they did not belong
to citizen’s election monitoring organizations, political
parties and election management bodies. The video
enumerated the different violations that citizens could
easily look out for during the different phases of the
electoral process. It also outlined how and to whom
citizens can report -- or seek assistance to officially

28 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

 PRE-ELECTION LOCAL
MONITORING

Through its chapters nationwide, NAMFREL observed

pre-election activities, as early as January 2021.

As in past elections, NAMFREL recruited and mobilized

volunteers nationwide to monitor election-related
activities during the pre-election period, election day,
and post-election period.

NAMFREL conducted recruitment both at the local level

and online.
A. Electoral Exercises in 2021

NAMFREL observed:
4
In 2021, NAMFREL was accredited by the COMELEC to
observe the March 2021 Palawan Plebiscite. In addition,

(1) The voter registration process in different parts of the

country from January to April 2021

(2) The voting simulation exercise on 23 October 2021 in

San Juan City
NAMFREL encountered difficulty in recruiting volunteers
for the 2022 NLE. This was brought about by the ongoing (3) The observation of mock elections on 29 December
COVID-19 pandemic, which caused past volunteers to 2021 in various locations around the country
beg off from serving this time, as well as the fact that
many colleges and universities were still not conducting
face to face classes. Traditionally, these educational [INSERT PICTURES: PALAWAN PLEBISCITE, VOTER
institutions were a source of volunteers during election REGISTRATION, VOTING SIMULATION, MOCK
periods. In addition, many volunteers in past elections ELECTIONS]
opted to become partisan for the 2022 NLE.

[INSERT PICTURES: REGIONAL ASSEMBLY SCREENSHOTS]

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 29

NAMFREL provided COMELEC reports on its comes from people registered in the electronic Resident
observations as well as recommendations on these Identification Card (e-KTP) scheme, the Indonesian
activities, and shared the same to the public as well as national ID system;
to Congress during past hearings of the JCOC. Many
of the observations had to do with health and safety (2) Require the PSA and the Civil Registrars
protocols.81 nationwide to submit to the COMELEC the information
NAMFREL also recommends the following legislative on deceased persons so that they can be purged from
measures on voter registration. These measures will the voter registration database;
greatly help make the process more efficient, less costly,
and more convenient for Filipinos. (3) Allow data on citizens turning 18 years old for
purposes of NLEs, plebiscites, referenda, etc., and 15
(1) Allow data sharing agreements between the years old for purposes of the SK elections, to be shared
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Comelec in by the Civil Registrars with COMELEC. This and the
order to dispense with the voter registration process. previous recommendation would be subject to Data
This would save time and costs not only for the local Sharing Agreements in accordance with Republic Act No.
Comelec offices but also for would-be voters who have 10173 or the Data Privacy Act;
to line up even before the sun has risen just to be able to
submit their applications. Congress may study and adopt (4) Repeal "Any person who did not vote in the two
the system used in Indonesia, where the government (2) successive preceding regular elections as shown by
is mandated to provide citizenship data to be used by their voting records" as a ground for deactivation under
the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) Section 27 of Republic Acts No. 8189 (for local voters)
for compiling the voters list.82 The data given to KPU and 9189, as amended by R.A. 10590 (for overseas
voters). Voters should not be penalized for the failure to
81
NAMFREL Report on Limited Observation of the exercise their right to choose our leaders, and then line
Registration Process (January-March 2021), https://namfrel. up before sunrise to apply for reactivation. Instead, they
org.ph/2021/files/NAMFREL%20Report%20on%20Limited%20
Observation%20of%20the%20Registration%20Process%20
(January-March%202021).pdf; NAMFREL releases preliminary (4) Citizenship data, as mentioned in paragraph (2) and
observations on the 2021 Mock Elections, https://namfrel.org. paragraph (3), shall be synchronized together by the
ph/2021/files/NAMFREL%20Preliminary%20Observations%20 government and the KPU in, at most, 2 (two) months since the
on%20the%202021%20Mock%20Elections%20(PDF).pdf citizenship data being received by the KPU from the Minister
of Home Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
82
According to Article 201, Law No. 7/2017, unofficial
translation: “(1) The national and regional government shall (5) Citizenship data, after being synchronized together by the
provide citizenship data in the form of: government and the KPU as mentioned in paragraph (4), shall
a. per-sub-district aggregate citizenship data as an ingredient become the Potential Voter List.
for KPU to determine the electoral district for election of
members of Regency/City DPRD; (6) the Potential Voter List, as mentioned in paragraph (5)
b. potential voter list, as an ingredient for KPU to form the must be provided for the KPU at the same time by the national
temporary voter list; and and regional governments at the latest 14 (fourteen) months
c. data of Indonesian citizens residing abroad, as an ingredient prior to Election Day, through the following mechanism:
for KPU to determine the electoral districts overseas and
overseas temporary voter list. a. Minister of Home Affairs provides the Potential Voter Data
to the KPU, and
(2) Citizenship data, as mentioned in paragraph (1) letter a,
must be already available and provided by the Minister of b. Minister of Foreign Affairs provides the Potential Voter Data
Home Affairs to the KPU at the latest 16 (sixteen) months prior to the KPU.
to Election Day.
(7) Citizenship data, as mentioned in paragraph (1) letter
(3) Data of Indonesian citizens residing abroad, as mentioned b, and the data of Indonesian citizens residing abroad
in paragraph (1) letter c, must be already available and as mentioned in paragraph (1) letter c, shall be used to
provided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the KPU at the supplement the fixed voter list of the most recent election.
latest 16 (sixteen) months prior to Election Day.

30 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

should be encouraged to vote through the adoption of candidates, as recounted by another chapter. Lastly, a
voting technology (for example, Internet voting) and/ separate chapter wanted to conduct a political forum but
or mechanisms (polling places close to their residences), the incumbent prevented its holding in a certain venue.
and enlightened on the importance of their choice and
how they can exercise it. If the reason for including failure Loud sounds as early as 6 A.M. was a complaint by a
to vote as a ground for deactivation is that those who different chapter.
failed to vote may have done so because of death, this
would be addressed by the PSA and the Civil Registrars Regarding quarrels, four NAMFREL chapters reported
nationwide submitting information on deceased persons that there were small incidents between different political
to the Comelec. camps or their supporters in small villages.

B. Campaign Activities Supporters of one candidate tried to intimidate a

homeowner to put campaign materials on the house,
NAMFREL chapters around the country observed according to one NAMFREL chapter. The homeowner did
activities during the campaign period. While the not approve so the supporters fired a shot. The house
observations were generally positive, with no violence was near a military checkpoint so the incident did not
or other untoward incidents observed, the general escalate.
consensus was that many COVID-related protocols
were not followed or enforced during these observed C. Public Demo of VCMs
activities. The top protocols violated included physical
distancing, proper wearing of face masks, physical Several NAMFREL chapters around the country observed
contact and taking of photos of candidates in close the public demonstration of VCMs conducted by
proximity with attendees. the local COMELEC. The observations were generally
positive. However, volunteers noted issues with some
Another prevalent observation was the physical VCMs during the startup and counting processes, most
distribution of food, drinks, and other items to attendees, notably, paper jam and difficulty in inserting the ballots.
which was disallowed by the COMELEC in its campaign About a third of the observations NAMFREL received also
guidelines.83 reported that ERs were not printed during these VCM
demos.
One NAMFREL chapter reported that some campaign
materials belonging to a candidate found in a certain D. Delivery of VCMs and Election Materials
area were removed by campaigners for an opponent.
Another chapter observed that the campaign posters NAMFREL chapters observed the deployment of VCMs
of only one candidate could be seen along a highway. and other election materials from the delivery hubs to
The manner of regulating billboards and spaces owned voting centers. Election materials delivered included
by candidates was the concern of a separate NAMFREL backup batteries, ballot papers, ballot boxes, election
chapter. forms, and other election paraphernalia.

A NAMFREL chapter reported that a candidate could Volunteers noted that seals were intact in all the
not enter a particular village/area. Another chapter deliveries observed. The packaging also appeared intact
reported that disinformation arose that a candidate was and undamaged in almost all items observed, and all the
not allowed by the incumbent to hold a political rally in storage locations appeared secure.
a certain venue. The fact was that the candidate decided
to move their political rally elsewhere. Political rallies Some volunteers noted that in some areas, the deliveries
in another area could not be conducted by candidates were not announced ahead of time, causing some
because of a ban by the incumbent mayor, according observers to arrive late. A NAMFREL chapter reported
to a different chapter, or by supporters of opposing that some deliveries were delayed.

83
COMELEC Resolution No. 10732, https://comelec.gov.ph/
php-tpls-attachments/2022NLE/Resolutions/com_res_10732.
pdf, as amended by COMELEC Resolution No. 10769, https://
comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2022NLE/Resolutions/
com_res_10769.pdf

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 31

E. Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) this reason adequately to the observers. According to
observations reported by NAMFREL volunteers, only
three of the VCMs observed during FTS were deemed
defective.
[INSERT PICTURES: NAMFREL VOLUNTEERS OBSERVING
FTS] F. Voter’s Information Sheet and Online Precinct
FInder

Republic Act No. 7904 requires the COMELEC to furnish

every registered voter with an unfilled official sample
ballot, voter information sheet (VIS), and a list of all
registered national, provincial and city candidates to be
voted in the election at least 30 days before said election.
The VIS should include the voter's name, address, the
precinct and the place where he is registered, and simple
instructions as to the casting of votes.84
NAMFREL volunteers across the country observed FTS of
VCMs in the week leading up to election day. NAMFREL While the COMELEC announced on 20 April 2022 that
received observations corresponding to about 400 VCMs. the printing of VIS was completed,85 not many voters
received them. A big number of voters did not receive
Three NAMFREL chapters reported that the local their VIS. For instance, the NAMFREL Quezon City
COMELEC gave them short notice about the FTS, hence, Chapter Head was assured by the six District Election
none of its volunteers could observe the FTS. Officers that the VIS have been sent out through the
respective barangays. Yet, residents of Pasong Tamo,
While some problems were encountered during the Tandang Sora District, did not receive their VIS.
FTS, the majority of the responses were positive. During
the startup process, about a quarter of the VCMs Voters instead resorted to checking their registration
encountered some problems. Issues mentioned by status, precinct assignment, and voting center through
volunteers include the following: paper jam, ballot being the online Precinct Finder.86 However, the Precinct Finder
rejected, USB device unable to be read, difficulty in went online only on 20 April 2022, with 17 days left
inserting the ballots, delay in fixing VCMs, problem with before the elections.87
SD cards, wrong placement of VCM on top of the ballot
box. Additionally, about a quarter of VCMs observed In the last week prior to election day, NAMFREL received
during the FTS also had issues during the counting
process, and of VCMs stopping to operate. 84
“At least thirty (30) days before an election, it shall be
the duty of the Commission on Elections to furnish every
However, volunteers mentioned that many of these registered voter through registered mail with return card,
issues were easily resolved by the members of the EBs personal service with corresponding receipt to be signed by
by re-inserting the ballots, changing the orientation of the voter or any person who knows the voter, or any other
the ballot before re-inserting, and flattening the ballot practicable means with an unfilled official sample ballot,
papers when crumpled. In contrast, three NAMFREL voter information sheet, and a list of all registered national,
chapters reported that the EBs were not trained well. One provincial and city candidate to be voted in the said election.
chapter reported that even the technical support staff The information sheet shall include the voter's name, address,
tasked to address issues with the VCMs was improperly the precinct and the place where he is registered, and
trained. simplified instructions as to the casting of votes.” (https://
comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/
During counting, the manual count of the FTS ballots ElectionLaws/OtherElectionLaws/RA7904)
matched the automated count in about 98% of the 85
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172578
VCMs. For those that did not match, the EBs did a 86
https://voterverifier.comelec.gov.ph/voter_precinct
recount (some ovals were not shaded properly), refreshed 87
Daniza Fernandez, “DICT to activate voter precinct finder
the machine, or restarted the machine. Over-voting on Apr. 22”, Inquirer.net, 21 April 2022, https://newsinfo.
also accounted for the mismatch, and the EBs explained inquirer.net/1586264/dict-to-activate-voter-precinct-finder-
on-apr-22, citing COMELEC

32 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

complaints via email and social media from distraught loading and dispatch of AES supplies began only on 2
citizens saying that the Precinct Finder reported that their April 2022,93 while loading of official ballots and other
records could not be found. They wanted to know if their supplies started on 19 April 2022.
names were stricken off the registration roll for failure
to vote in the last two elections. Even until the Saturday In contrast, printing of FTS and official ballots was
and Sunday prior to election day, voters were still only scheduled on 12 January to 25 April 2022. The printing
by that time finding out that their names were not in the began on 19 January,94 and ended early on 2 April.
online precinct finder, and that they could not confirm However, as discussed earlier, much of the process took
whether they would be able to vote from their respective place without observers.
local COMELEC offices because it was the weekend. The
information from the Precinct Finder could have caused COMELEC should prepare and implement a realistic,
some voters not to go on their polling places on election doable, and transparent election calendar, that should
day, effectively disenfranchising them. also include items in relation to preparation for the
elections, for the guidance of all election stakeholders.
G. AES Calendar Monitoring
H. Early Voting
COMELEC issued Resolution No. 10365 stating its list of
activities for the 2022 NLE.88 However, it did not contain NAMFREL had suggested in the past that an advance
any items on preparations for the 2022 NLE. These were voting day be conducted several days before election
instead contained on a separate AES calendar that is not day for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, officials
publicly available on the COMELEC website.89 The dates rendering election day duty, citizens who will be
on the AES calendar served only as rubber dates and not working on election day, those confined in hospitals and
as deadlines, although delays could have been possibly penitentiaries, indigenous people living in remote areas,
caused by quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 and others. 95
pandemic.
Local absentee voting during the 2022 NLE, held on 27-
For example, the LSCR was scheduled under the AES 29 April 2022 (before election day on 9 May), remained
calendar to take place from 1 June 2021 to 30 October limited to government officials and employees, including
2021. However, the local source code review began only members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
on 5 October 2021,90 and ended with the LSCR End-to- and the Philippine National Police (PNP) as well as
End Demonstration on 30 March 2022. Refurbishment members of the media, media practitioners including
of VCMs was scheduled under the AES calendar to their technical and support staff (media voters) who are
occur from 1 February to 31 October 2021, but as of 13 duly registered voters. They could only vote for national
September 2021, the refurbishment rate was 38.25% or positions.96
37,230 out of 97,345 machines. The COMELEC set the
completion target date on 30 November 2021.91 As of 27 The House of Representatives passed a bill allowing
November 2021, only 46 machines remained for repair.92 qualified senior citizens and persons with disabilities
Delivery of machines, peripherals and consumables to vote at accessible establishments designated by the
was scheduled on 1 July to 30 October 2021. However, COMELEC within seven working days before election day.
But it was not passed into law.97
88
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/
Resolutions/res10695 93
COMELEC, https://www.facebook.com/watch/
89
Available at https://www.voteforus.org.ph/election- live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=744650766919578, https://
calendar/#tab-strongaesstrong www.facebook.com/comelec.ph/posts/342201354612370
90
COMELEC, https://www.facebook.com/comelec.ph/ 94
William B. Depasupil, “Printing of ballots starts”,
posts/228778235954683 Manila Times, 19 January 2022, https://www.manilatimes.
91
JCOC-AES (15 September 2021), https://www.youtube. net/2022/01/19/news/national/printing-of-ballots-
com/watch?v=kkwNQ4NDhqo starts/1829878
92
COMELEC Deputy Executive for Operations Director 95
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
Teopisto Elnas, during his presentation at NAMFREL’s “New 96
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
Normal 2022 Elections: Are We Ready? A Stakeholders' Forum LocalAbsenteeVoting
on the 2022 Elections”, held on 29 November 2021, https:// 97
https://www.congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/?v=billsresults#18,
youtu.be/prbP77QG2xQ?t=1583 https://hrep-website.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 33

I. Other Modes of Voting

NAMFREL also recommended in the pastthat other

alternative voting methods such as online voting, postal
voting, mobile ballot boxes, etc., and combinations
be explored for those mentioned earlier as additional
groups for early voting and for overseas Filipino workers.
98

NAMFREL also suggested the development of an

appropriate voting technology or procedure for small
sized voting precincts, precincts in locations with weak
or no transmission facilities or overseas voting sites. For
overseas voting sites with no turnout, internet voting
may be used in future elections to encourage people to
vote. Local precincts which have less than one hundred
voters could adopt a manual voting system.99

Permitting other modes of voting would allow voters who

would otherwise fail to vote in two consecutive elections,
and then have their voter registration deactivated, to
exercise their right to choose the leaders of this country.
Other modes of voting would be a better alternative
to reactivation of voter registration, as discussed in the
section of this report chapter on Electoral Exercises in
2021.

COMELEC conducted test runs on internet voting

solutions in September 2021, as part of an exploratory
study on the use of internet-based technology for
overseas voting. This was authorized by Section 28 of the
Overseas Voting Act of 2013.100 NAMFREL participated in
these test runs, and gave feedback to the COMELEC.

legisdocs/third_18/HBT9562.pdf
98
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
99
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
100
“SEC. 28. Authority to Explore Other Modes or Systems
Using Automated Election System. - Notwithstanding current
procedures and systems herein provided, for the proper
implementation of this Act and in view of the peculiarities
attendant to the overseas voting process, the Commission
may explore other more efficient, reliable and secure
modes or systems, ensuring the secrecy and sanctity of the
entire process, whether paper-based, electronic-based or
internet-based technology or such other latest technology
available, for onsite and remote registration and elections
and submit reports and/or recommendations to the Joint
Congressional Oversight Committee." (Republic Act No. 9189
[2003], as amended by Section 28 of Republic Act No. 10590
[2013], https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/
RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/OAV/RA10590).

34| NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

 ELECTION DAY MONITORING

NAMFREL volunteers turned up at voting centers across

the country to observe and help safeguard the 2022
NLE. They observed the election day processes, from the
opening process until canvassing. Some chapters also
observed the pull-out of VCMs to be used for RMA in
Manila.

As citizens’ arm for the 2022 elections, NAMFREL

had the function and duty under Section 52(k) of the
Omnibus Election Code to “[n]ominate one watcher
for accreditation in each polling place and each place
5
Nevertheless, the NAMFREL chapter in Negros
Occidental reported that certain voting centers and/or
polling places did not recognize the NAMFREL volunteers
or did not initially allow them to enter the premises. A
volunteer reported that an EB chair in Aganan-Ungka I
Elementary School in Pavia, Iloilo did not know what to
do with the appointment paper. A volunteer in Catuan
Elementary School104 in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental
said that EBs were not kind to welcome them. An EB in
Central Elementary School in Bulacan105 did not permit
the volunteers to enter the polling place. Some EBs did
of canvass who shall have the same duties, functions not know that NAMFREL was an accredited citizens' arm,
and rights as the other watchers of political parties hence the refusal.
and candidates.”101 NAMFREL also had the right to a
copy of the printed Election Returns under the Election NAMFREL chapters in Zamboanga del Sur, Negros
Automation Law.102 Occidental, Iloilo, Davao del Oro, Pampanga, Sorsogon,
Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Quezon City, Rizal, Palawan, South
A new challenge was posed to accredited citizens’ arm in Cotabato, Sarangani, and Bohol were also refused copies
the 2022 NLE from the COMELEC's General Instructions of ERs by some EBs, even though NAMFREL was entitled
for the Electoral Boards: that polling place volunteers to a copy according to the Election Automation Law, as
must be registered voters at the city/municipality where earlier mentioned. Some EBs reasoned that they had
they were to be deployed.103 no such instruction, while others instructed NAMFREL
101
https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/ person:
RelatedLaws/OmnibusElectionCode/OECArt7 a. Is a registered voter of the city or municipality where
102
"13) The twenty-seventh to the thirtieth copies, to the such person is assigned;” (Section 46, COMELEC Resolution
major citizen's arms, including the accredited citizen's arm, No. 10727, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
and other non-partisan groups or organizations enlisted by Resolutions/res10727)
the Commission pursuant to Section 52(k) of Batas Pambansa 104
Identified as “PMIS” in observation form, covering
Blg. 881. Such citizens' arm, groups and organization may precinct numbers 0241A and 0241B. The latter corresponded
use the four certified copies of election returns for the to Catuan Elementary School in COMELEC’s Project
conduct of citizens' quick counts at the local or national of Precincts, https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/
levels;" (Section 22, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended ProjectOfPrecincts
by Section 19, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov. 105
The only Central Elementary School in Bulacan according
ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/ to COMELEC’s Project of Precincts (https://comelec.gov.
AutomatedElection/RA9369) ph/?r=2022NLE/ProjectOfPrecincts) is Calumpit Central
103
“No person shall be appointed as a watcher unless said Elementary School in Calumpit, Bulacan.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 35

volunteers to claim the copy from the Election Officers. Inside the polling places, NAMFREL volunteers'
observations were generally positive, with most reports
One chapter reported that a young volunteer citing almost 100 percent presence of all EB members
experienced intimidation. A volunteer in a different operating the elections, and completeness of needed
chapter had to be pulled out since their safety was materials, starting on time, and following the opening
compromised. of polls protocols. In some polling places though,
volunteers noted that some members of the EB made
A chapter reported that the local COMELEC did not minor mistakes in procedure, which indicated inadequate
recognize NAMFREL’s accreditation as citizens’ arm. training. Some volunteers in certain areas reported that
Another chapter said that the Election Officer of the there was power failure which delayed the process.
local COMELEC was replaced four times until the eve of
election day, 8 May. The teachers who would have served In Manila, one VCM did not work upon opening of polls
as EBs in the same area were also replaced by the police. at Celedonio Salvador Elementary School.

Volunteers were asked to submit their election In Quezon City, VCMs did not work on opening in the
observations in three possible ways: physically using following voting centers: two in Pres. Corazon C. Aquino
paper forms, and electronically using their smartphones Elementary School (one was working by 12 noon), one
either through Google Forms or through the NAMFREL in Esteban Abada Elementary School (was not replaced
app. the entire morning), one in Judge Juan Luna High
School, one in Cubao Elementary School, two in Culiat
NAMFREL established an Operations Center at its Elementary School; one in Culiat High School, one in
headquarters in Mandaluyong City to receive and Pura V. Kalaw Elementary School, and one in Toro Hills
process election day observations from its volunteers Elementary School.
nationwide. Upon the request of then-Commissioner
George Garcia, NAMFREL allotted a space for two of his Two SD cards did not work in Teachers Village East
staff members to facilitate communication between the Barangay Hall, one in Libis Elementary School, one in
two institutions for any election-related concern. Ismael T. Mathay Sr. High School, and two in Pinyahan
Elementary School, all in the same city.
A. Opening Process
B. Voting
The early morning of election day prior to the start of
voting was characterized by a high turnout of voters, with Voting went smoothly in general. However, hundreds of
people lining up in the hundreds outside many voting polling places observed (representing a small fraction of
centers. This was despite the fact that the 2022 NLE was the total observed) encountered many issues during the
the first nationwide elections held in the Philippines voting process.
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NAMFREL volunteers most often cited three sets of
A common observation was that the high turnout issues. The first were VCM-related: paper jams, issues
seemed to have overwhelmed many voting centers, with the SD card, and late replacement of problematic
hence COVID-19 protocols were not properly enforced machines.
and observed, most especially physical distancing.
NAMFREL volunteers reported confusion among voters A VCM in Aganan-Ungka I Elementary School in Pavia,
about queueing procedures outside voting centers, and Iloilo jammed 10 times according to a volunteer. Another
crowding outside polling places. VCM in the same voting center and a VCM in Carlos L.
Albert High School in Quezon City jammed four times.

With regard to VCM-related issues, EBs in most of the

polling stations concerned were able to fix the problem
[INSERT PICTURES: LONG LINES IN VOTING CENTER either on their own or by seeking technical assistance
BEFORE 6 AM] from the DESO technical support staff.

EBs opened the ballot boxes to make room for ballots in

36 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

order to stop the ballot jams in some polling places at their accomplished ballots to the voters’ polling places
Las Piñas City National Science High School and Las Piñas for feeding into the VCMs. Voters would not do so
East National High School in Las Piñas City; De La Salle themselves and be able to check the VVPAT.
Greenhills in Mandaluyong City; PUP San Juan in San
Juan City; Marcela Marcelo Elementary School in Pasay The implementation of the waiver option led to the
City; as well as Judge Juan Luna High School and Santo second set of issues: voters being asked leave their filled
Cristo Elementary School in Quezon City. A volunteer out ballot papers with no proper or complete explanation
in Pasay East High School reported that punches were (such as in one polling place at Pinyahan Elementary
applied on the VCM (sinusuntok) to accept ballots. School in Quezon City); voters being asked to sign
COMELEC’s contingency procedures provided that while waivers with no COMELEC logo, which made many voters
waiting for the troubleshooting or replacement of the to think twice or refuse to do it.
VCMs or SD cards, the EB should announce to the voters
that they have the option: Procedural issues involved lack of physical distancing,
lack of control on the flow and number of voters,
(a) to proceed in casting their votes by shading their unauthorized people using express lanes, and watchers
ballots with waiver of their right to be issued a voter’s being allowed to apply indelible ink.
receipt, in which case, these ballots shall be temporarily
placed inside the Envelope for Rejected Ballots, Half
or Torn Unused Official Ballots and Other Half of Torn
Unused Official Ballots, and Counted Official Ballots and
which shall be batch-fed by the EB before the close of
polls; or [INSERT PICTURES: VCM-RELATED ISSUES AND
PROCEDURAL ISSUES]
(b) to wait for the VCM malfunction to be resolved or the
replacement VCM to arrive, for them to cast their votes
and personally feed the ballot in the VCM.106

Similar to these waivers were the authorization forms

for senior citizens, person with disabilities, and heavily In many polling places observed, voters reached up
pregnant voters in Emergency Accessible Polling Places107 to 20 people, but on average, it was five to ten. Voters
and voters with COVID-19 symptoms in Isolation Polling took three minutes to more than an hour to vote, but
Places.108 These forms allowed the support staff to bring the average voting time was five to ten minutes. While
voters remained calm, volunteers in Palawan reported
COMELEC Resolution No. 10759, https://comelec.gov.ph/ that voters stayed in the poll areas for more than three
106

index.html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/res10759 hours due to the sheer number of voters. Due to the

“e. Authorization Form - refers to the hereto attached long waiting time, voters were irritated at senior citizens
107

document marked as Annex “A”, to be accomplished by a receiving priority to vote.

person with disability, senior citizen or heavily pregnant voter
availing of the EAPP. The filled-out form shall give consent Many polling places observed did not start on time. In
to the EAPP Support Staff to: a) obtain the ballot from the Cotabato City, particularly in Cotabato City National High
designated polling place; b) bring such ballot to the EAPP School, Cotabato City Central Pilot School, Villo Central
where it will be accomplished; and c) return the same to School, and Krismalville Elementary School, NAMFREL
the polling place where it was obtained for feeding to the volunteers reported that it was past 9am when voting
Vote and Counting Machine (VCM)” [Section 2(e), COMELEC started.
Resolution No. 10761, https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-
attachments/2022NLE/Resolutions/com_res_10761.pdf]
108
“C. The EB Chairperson shall: [xxx] 2. After the voter's identity
has been validated, note in the Minutes of Voting (Minutes) the
voter’s name, ID card, if any, or the accomplished Annex “A", precinct
and serial number of the ballot given to the Safety Protection Officer.
The Authorization Form and any other documents submitted shall
be placed inside an envelope which will be attached to the Minutes,
Documents received from the IPP shall not be comingled with other No. 10783, https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2022NLE/
documents in the polling place” [Section 11, COMELEC Resolution Resolutions/com_res_10783.pdf]

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 37

1. Replacement of VCMs and SD cards (k) San Carlos City, Negros Occidental: one in Cong.
V. Gustilo, Sr. Memorial Elementary School; and
A majority of the VCMs operated normally, but
volunteers relayed cases of malfunctions. In the morning, (l) Santa Maria, Bulacan: one in Balasing Elementary
volunteers reported that additional VCMs required School.
replacement in the following voting centers:
Additional SD cards became corrupt and required
(a) Kabankalan, Negros Occidental: one in Esteban replacement in the following voting centers in Quezon
R. Abada Memorial School (ERAMS West); City: one in Libis Elementary School, one in Project 3
Elementary School, one in North Susana Clubhouse, one
(b) Mainit, Surigao del Norte: one in Magpayang in P. Bernardo Elementary School, one in Doña Juana
Elementary School; Elementary School, and one in CBE Town Multi-Purpose
Hall, Barangay Pasong Tamo. In the afternoon, more SD
(c) Malabon: one in Bagong Lote Elementary School; cards became corrupt in Quezon City voting Centers: one
in Carlos L. Albert High School, one in Flora Ylagan High
(d) Makati: three in Fort Bonifacio Elementary School, one in Quirino Elementary School, one in San
School; Agustin Elementary School, and one in Valencia Barangay
Hall.
(e) Mandaluyong: one in Mandaluyong Elementary
School; In the afternoon, volunteers reported that more VCMs
needed replacement in:
(f) Manila: one in Lakandula High School;
(a) Binmaley, Pangasinan: one in Baybay Elementary
(g) Navotas: one in Tangos Elementary School School;
(Mother);
(b) Iloilo City: one in Calumpang Elementary School;
(h) Pasay: two in Pasay City West High School. One
VCM simply stopped working altogether while another (c) Las Piñas: two in Manuyo Elementary School;
rejected ballots. The problems were resolved by noon on
election day; (d) Manila: one in Rafael Palma Elementary School;

(i) Puerto Princesa City, Palawan: two in Napsan (e) Monreal, Masbate: two in Monreal Central
Elementary School, and one in Pilot Elementary School; School;

( j) Quezon City: one in Batasan National High (f) Navotas: one in San Roque Elementary School;
School, one in Bagong Silangan Elementary School,
one in Doña Juana Elementary School, two in Miriam (g) Pasay: one in Marcela Marcelo Elementary
College, one in Pres. Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School; and
School, one in Pura V. Kalaw Elementary School, one in
Esteban Abada Elementary School, one in Flora Ylagan (h) Quezon City: two Bagong Silangan Elementary
High School, one in Ismael Mathay Sr. High School, one School, two in Pres. Corazon C. Aquino Elementary
in J. P. Laurel Sr. High School, two in Lupang Pangako School, one in Claret School Auditorium, one in
Elementary School, one in PhilAm Clubhouse, one in St. Bagumbayan Elementary School, one in Carlos Albert
Paul109 University, one in P. Bernardo Elementary School, High School, one in Culiat Elementary School, one
one in E. Rodriguez Elementary School, one in Betty in Ismael Mathay Sr. High School, one in Kamuning
Go-Belmonte Elementary School, one in San Antonio Elementary School, one in North Fairview Elementary
Elementary School, two in Doña Juana Elementary School, one in Paltok Elementary School, one in Quirino
School, one in Bagumbayan Elementary School, two in Elementary School, one in St. Paul110 University, one in
Quirino Elementary School, one in Kamuning Elementary Tandang Sora National High School, two in San Agustin
School, and one in Paltok Elementary School; Elementary School, and one in E. Rodriguez Jr. High
109
“Pauls” in COMELEC’s Project of Precincts, https:// 110
“Pauls” in COMELEC’s Project of Precincts, https://
comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/ProjectOfPrecincts comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/ProjectOfPrecincts

38 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

School. place at night time reported that that there was still no
SD card by 11:12 PM.
As of 1:14 P.M. on election day, the NAMFREL Quezon
City chapter reported additional defective VCMs: one in In Clustered Precinct 878 at Libis Elementary School
Teachers Village Elementary School,111 one in Krus112 in the same city, the replacement SD card arrived only
Na Ligas Elementary School, one in San Bartolome around 4 a.m of the next day. Only one voter stayed and
Elementary School, one in Doña Rosario Elementary fed the ballot herself. The other ballots were batch-fed
School, one in San Gabriel Elementary School, one by the EBs. While waiting for the SD card replacement
in Lagro Elementary School, one in San Francisco to arrive, the NAMFREL volunteer was the only one left
Elementary School, and one in Holy Spirit Elementary awake in the room. The expected time of arrival of the SD
School. card replacement kept changing.

Five VCMs were defective and pulled out from Abra State In Clustered Precinct 1247 at Teachers Village East
Institute of Science and Technology Bangued Campus. Barangay Hall, voters waiting to personally feed their
ballots into the VCM once the replacement SD card
Some machines that broke down took too long to be arrived became upset when the voting center gates were
replaced. For example, in a clustered precinct at Pura closed at 8:50 P.M. The EB clarified that they would still
V. Kalaw Elementary School in Quezon City, the VCM be allowed to do so.
broke down at 7 a.m. and was fixed only at 4:35 p.m.
In Clustered Precinct 1699 at Ismael Mathay Sr. High In Clustered Precinct 1271 at Pinyahan Elementary
School, also in Quezon City, the replacement SD card had School, the SD card malfunctioned upon opening of
not arrived as of 6:10 p.m. Some South Cotabato and voting, but the replacement arrived only at 12:39 a.m. of
Sarangani volunteers reported that voters were told to the following day, Voters waited for the SD card to arrive.
wait for other polling places to finish voting, before the Clustered Precinct 1261 of the same voting center also
VCMs in those places would be used to scan the ballots suffered the same issue but the replacement SD card had
of polling places where the VCMs malfunctioned. In a not yet arrived at 12:39 a.m.
polling place in Surallah, South Cotabato, volunteers
reported that it took four to five hours to replace a In Pias Elementary School at Mapandan, Pangasinan,
malfunctioning VCM in a polling place in the mountains. a VCM shut down at 2 p.m. The replacement VCM
arrived at 4 p.m. but with no SD card. Volunteers waited
Voters were not able to vote until later in the night or until 12:30 a.m. the next day but the SD card did not
even the next day. For instance, in Clustered Precinct arrive. A VCM malfunction also delayed voting in one
1310 at Celedonio Salvador Elementary School in Manila, polling place in Baybay Elementary School in Binmaley,
the VCM did not work at the time of opening of polls. Pangasinan.
The Election Officer arrived 12 hours later, at 6:25 p.m., to
fix the machine, only to announce that the VCM had to These incidents caused a lot of voters to complain and
be taken to Sta. Rosa, Laguna for reconfiguration. to wonder why COMELEC TMS already had most of the
results when they were still at the polling places unable
In Clustered Precinct 90 at Toro Hills Elementary School to vote.
in Quezon City, the VCM did not work on opening time,
but the replacement machine arrived only at 8:37 p.m. One NAMFREL chapter relayed the report of a volunteer,
A long line of voters was still observed at that time. In who said that in a voting center, the SD card of a VCM
Clustered Precinct 912 at Miriam College in the same city, was removed and replaced with a different one. A
the NAMFREL volunteer reported that the SD card was volunteer followed the car where the SD card was loaded.
found to be corrupted as early as opening. Some voters The car ended up in place of the incumbent mayor.
were mad and wanted to vote in the adjacent clustered
precinct. The volunteer assigned at the same polling
111
Called “Claret School Auditorium” in COMELEC’s
Project of Precincts, https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/
ProjectOfPrecincts
112
“Cruz” in COMELEC’s Project of Precincts, https://comelec.
gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/ProjectOfPrecincts

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 39

2. Secrecy of the Vote Elementary School and Eugenio S. Daza Pilot Elementary
School in Borongan City, Eastern Samar; Santiago
Elementary School in San Fernando City, La Union; in
Pacpaco Integrated School in San Manuel, Tarlac; and
in Our Lady's Village Elementary School in Bibincahan,
Sorsogon City. In a polling place in Balara Elementary
School, both EB and DESO inserted the ballots.

[INSERT PICTURE: voters voting while using the ballot (c) Some EB members could see or saw the contents
secrecy folder] of the ballot, such as in Dalumpinas Elementary School in
San Fernando City, La Union; in Primary School Building
in Caba, La Union; in Leon Elementary School in Leon,
Iloilo; and in Juan Sumulong High School in Quezon
City. Some EBs could also see the contents of the VVPAT,
While secrecy of the vote was maintained in most polling such as in one clustered precinct in Pasay City West High
places, NAMFREL believes that this secrecy should be School, where the VVPAT was cut while face up, making
maintained at all times. Volunteers cited many ways how its contents visible to anyone.
this was not protected inside polling places:
(d) The ballots got exposed during incidents like paper
(a) Voters did not use the secrecy folders in voting jam, when voters would attempt to insert their ballots
and in inserting their ballots into the VCM, such as in several times, such as in Toro Hills Elementary School
Col. Ruperto Abellon Memorial School in Patnongon, in Quezon City. VCMs were having difficulty receiving
Antique; Marcela Marcelo Elementary School in Pasay ballots, so the folders were removed, such as in Taysan
City; Las Piñas East National High School and Pulanlupa Elementary School in Legazpi City, Albay and in Pasay
Elementary School in Las Piñas City; Bauang North East High School in Pasay City;
Central School in Bauang, La Union; Baraoas Norte
Primary School in Naguilian, La Union; in Marcela (e) The crowding inside polling places allowed people to
Marcelo Elementary School in Pasay City; Aguinaldo see the votes as the ballots were being filled out, such
Elementary School, Balara Elementary School, Culiat High as in Leoncia Village Elementary School in Angeles City,
School, Juan Sumulong High School, Flora Ylagan High Pampanga.
School, Libis Elementary School, Nick Joaquin Senior
High School, PhilAm Clubhouse in Quezon City; Carmen (f) Many voters in line unintentionally exposed their votes
Central Elementary School in Carmen, Agusan del while holding their ballots, such as in Banaba Elementary
Norte; B.V. Closa Central School in Abuyog, Leyte; Garita School in Padre Garcia, Batangas. This also happened in
Elementary School in San Enrique, Iloilo; Cong. V. Gustilo, one polling place in Pasay City West High School while
Sr. Memorial Elementary School in San Carlos City, the VCM was being fixed.
Negros Occidental; and Pedro Cruz Elementary School in
San Juan. (g) Watchers and other voters could look or looked at
filled out ballots, such as in Lingsat Elementary School
In Commonwealth High School in Quezon City and F. in San Fernando City, La Union and Ismael Mathay Sr.
Serrano Sr. Elementary School in Parañaque City, the High School in Quezon City. In the latter, a volunteer saw
folders were taped on the desks. watchers hovering over the voters. In PhilAm Clubhouse
in Quezon City, watchers were shown ballots. In Las Piñas
In some cases, the EB told the voters to leave the folders East National High School, political party watchers who
or to return the folders before the voter could insert stayed close to the VCM were assisting voters. Other
their ballots. In contrast, EBs in Flora Ylagan High School instances of political party watchers assisting voters were
and Nick Joaquin Senior High School in Quezon City recorded in Mindanao. In Libis Elementary School in the
reminded voters to put their ballots inside folders. same city, a voter in line to get a ballot was seen visibly
coaching a fellow voter on shading the ballot. In Banaba
(b) Members of the EB inserted the ballots (instead Elementary School in Padre Garcia, Batangas, voters
of the voters doing this themselves), such as in Pasay being assisted by family members spoke loudly who they
City West High School in Pasay City; in Aganan-Ungka wanted to vote for.
I Elementary School in Pavia, Iloilo; Leon Elementary
School in Leon, Iloilo; Don Pedro Vasquez Memorial (h) Voters were talking about who they voted for, such
Elementary School in Jordan, Guimaras; Culiat Elementary as in Marcela Marcelo Elementary School in Pasay City.
School, Carlos L. Albert High School, Fairview Elementary In Ismael Mathay Sr. High School in Quezon City, voters
School, Libis Elementary School in Quezon City; Bato were even showing their ballots to each other. A voter in

40 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

Pasay East High School also did the latter. Marcelo Elementary School in Pasay City, boxes of a
local juice drink were used. In a polling place Holy
(i) There were more voters than there were ballot secrecy Spirit Elementary School in Quezon City, a generic box
folders in the polling station. There were also polling served as the VVPAT receptacle. In a polling place at
places that did not have ballot secrecy folders. Libis Elementary School, a black tissue box became the
container. In a polling place in Pulanlupa Elementary
They appeared to stem from a lack of training or control School in Las Piñas City, a large plastic bag and shoebox
on the part of the EBs, or lack of knowledge on the part were used. In Las Piñas City National Science High School
of voters and watchers regarding vote secrecy. and in some areas of Mindanao, makeshift boxes served
as VVPAT receptacles.
In Bagong Silangan Elementary School in Quezon
City, the NAMFREL volunteer who observed three 3. VVPAT Versus Vote on Ballot
polling places where VCMs were pending replacement
recommended that voters who waived their right to What is VVPAT? The voter-verifiable paper audit
personally feed their ballots to the VCMs should be trail “has been referred to as the "resibo." Printed in
assured that such ballots were secure while waiting for the "resibo" are the voter's choices per position.”
the replacement VCMs. In Bagumbayan Elementary Source: (Lito Averia, NAMFREL National Council Member
School also in Quezon City, a volunteer reported that “Election observation and monitoring”, Manila Times, https://
voters did not want to leave their ballots to the EBs. In www.manilatimes.net/2022/04/13/opinion/columns/election-
a polling place in Pres. Corazon C. Aquino Elementary observation-and-monitoring/1839853)
School, where the VCM took time to be replaced and
voters opted to submit their ballots without personally NAMFREL volunteers reported that many voters did not
feeding it into the VCM, ballots were just placed in a bother to even look at the contents of the VVPAT, which
carton, instead of in the proper envelope.113 may indicate lack of knowledge about the importance
of this “resibo”. In Las Piñas East National High School, a
In Barangay West Triangle Multipurpose Hall in Quezon volunteer wrote that the EB member tasked to assist in
City, those in the waiting area needed to pass by those inserting the ballots just asked voters to put their VVPATs
voting when they proceed to the EBs. Thus, the ballots on the receptacle box without asking voters to read them
could be seen by those passing by. Meanwhile, in PhilAm first.
Clubhouse in the same city, the tables were not wide
enough, so voters were too close to each other, and The VVPAT used in the 2022 NLE contained the election
could see each others’ ballots. name, election date, province, city/municipality, barangay,
clustered precinct ID, precincts in a cluster, machine ID,
According to the General Instructions, the VVPAT list of candidates voted for, QR code, and system hash.
receptacle box should be the box containing the Official The date and time of printing was not printed on the
Ballots.114 However, in two polling places in Marcela receipt.
113
“To proceed in casting their votes by shading their ballots
with waiver of their right to be issued a voter’s receipt. In While in the minority, volunteers reported that there
which case, these ballots shall be temporarily placed inside were cases of VVPAT figures reportedly not matching the
the Envelope for Rejected Ballots, Half or Torn Unused Official voter's actual votes. However, volunteers clarified that
Ballots and Other Half of Torn Unused Official Ballots, and many of these were due to overvotes (voting in excess
Counted Official Ballots and which shall be batch-fed by the of the positions available; thus, the vote for the position
EB before the close of polls" [COMELEC Resolution No. 10759, was not counted), or undervotes (voting for less than
https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/ the number of positions available, because the shading
res10759] was not sufficient enough to be counted by the VCM).
114
“3. Instruct the voter to fold the VVPAT and deposit Volunteers added that members of the EB explained
the same in the VVPAT receptacle. For this purpose, the these adequately to the voters concerned.
box containing the Official Ballots shall serve as the VVPAT
receptacle which shall be placed in an area visible to the EB A volunteer from Gumaca, Quezon reported that a
members/support staff/citizens’ arm, watchers and other different name appeared on the VVPAT when another
persons allowed inside the polling place;The EB shall ensure candidate was voted. In Carlos L. Albert High School and
that all Official Ballots are removed from the box before the Libis Elementary School in Quezon City, two voters said
same is used as a VVPAT receptacle. The VVPAT receptacle they did not vote for a candidate that appeared on their
shall be properly sealed using the packaging tape, on which VVPAT. Misread ballots were also reported in polling
the EB and watchers, if any, shall affix their names and places in Pagbilao National High School and Parang
signatures;” [COMELEC Resolution No. 10727, https://comelec. Pinagbayan Elementary School. Observers in Pagbilao
gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/res10727]

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 41

said that EBs did not appear well-trained because they signages or directional signs, such as in Lakandula High
were new at the task and that they appeared to be School in Manila; Aringay Central Elementary School
flustered. in Aringay, La Union; and in Mandaluyong Elementary
School in Mandaluyong City. One NAMFREL chapter
4. COVID-19 Protocols reported that the signages could not be seen properly
because of crowding.
NAMFREL volunteers reported that less than half of
polling places observed did not follow COVID-19 In Pasay City West High School, several senior citizens
protocols. Lack of physical distancing was the most often proceeded to their polling places on the fourth floor,
violated protocol, followed by improper use of face while some went around looking for their polling places.
masks, improper disposal of used face masks and gloves, One senior citizen who obviously suffered stroke found
thermal scanners not working properly, lack of plastic himself on the fourth floor just to find his polling place.
barriers, no foot baths, and foot bath solution not being According to the NAMFREL volunteer who assisted
replenished. him, the voter’s polling place was on the second floor.
Senior citizens were also seen taking the stairs in Salapan
C. Voting Centers Elementary School in San Juan and Aguinaldo Elementary
School in Quezon City. A volunteer in Mandaluyong High
School reported that the venue and procedures were too
difficult for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

Volunteers also observed people complaining that they

could not find their names on the voter lists, such as in
Kaypian National High School in San Jose Del Monte City,
[INSERT IMAGES: LONG LINES, NO PHYSICAL Bulacan; Doña Juana Elementary School and Dalupan
DISTANCING] Elementary School in Quezon City; in Ramon Avanceña
High School in Iloilo City; in Naguilian Central School in
Naguilian, La Union. Volunteers also encountered voters
not being able to find their precinct number, such as
in Batasan (Hills)116 National High School and Sauyo
As mentioned earlier, the high turnout seemed to have Elementary School, both in Quezon City; in Fort Bonifacio
overwhelmed voting center personnel and volunteers. Elementary School in Makati; in Lingsat Elementary
Temperature was not consistently checked at the School in San Fernando City, La Union; and in Sofronio
entrance in many voting centers. Española Central School in Sofronio Española, Palawan.

Even though voting centers tended to be crowded,

Volunteers reported that they did not see medical volunteers also reported voters being barred entry
personnel inside many of the voting centers observed, in Lioac Elementary School in Naguilian, La Union
contrary to what was stated in the General Instructions.115 and Marcelo Marcela Elementary School in Pasay City
because they were not wearing face masks. Voters
The flow of voters resulted in crowding outside polling carrying babies were not allowed to enter Balasing
places and corridors. Volunteers said a lot of voters did Elementary School and Cay Pombo Elementary School in
not seem to know where to go to start voting, such as Santa Maria, Bulacan; and in an unnamed voting center.
in Sauyo Elementary School, Pres. Corazon C. Aquino
Elementary School, and Ramon Magsaysay Elementary Campaigning on election day is prohibited by law as
School in Quezon City. Voters seemed to not know where an election offense.117 Yet, volunteers reported seeing
to go after voting due to absence or poor placement of
116
The word “Hills” is not in COMELEC’s Project of Precincts,
115
“Medical Personnel shall refer to those health care https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/ProjectOfPrecincts
workers tasked to check voters with temperatures of 37.5 117
“Election and Campaign Period. - Unless otherwise fixed
degrees Celsius, or exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 by the Commission, the election period for the May 11, 1992
virus” (Section 1(q), COMELEC Resolution No. 10727, https:// regular elections shall commence ninety (90) days before the
comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2022NLE/Resolutions/ day of the election and shall end thirty (30) days thereafter.
com_res_10727.pdf)

42 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

sample ballots of candidates distributed in the morning Cotabato, and outside Isaac Lopez Integrated School in
outside Pulanlupa Elementary School and Las Piñas Mandaluyong City.
National High School in Las Piñas City; Aguinaldo
Elementary School in Quezon City, and Barangay Dalig A NAMFREL chapter reported the presence of local
Covered Court in Antipolo City, Rizal. Meanwhile, voters government officials inside polling places, who did not
were seen bringing sample ballots inside Aurora A. seem to be there to vote.
Quezon Elementary School in Quezon City and PUP San
Juan in San Juan City. A chapter reported that one candidate was still
campaigning during the election day outside the polling
Volunteers observed many voters who came in campaign place. A volunteer reported the incident to the Municipal
shirts and face masks with names of candidates. In Juan Election Officer to call the attention of the candidate and
Sumulong Elementary School and Kamuning Elementary stop him from campaigning.
School in Quezon City, Doña Manuela Elementary
School in Las Piñas, and in voting centers in different Voters Assistance Desks (VADs) located at the entrance
areas in Mindanao, said voters were told to change their of voting centers were a big help in containing crowds.
clothes before they were allowed to enter, or were given No VADs were seen in a few voting centers, such as,
disposable face masks. EBs in Abra told affected voters to such as Fort Bonifacio Elementary School in Makati City;
just wear their shirts inside out. Epifanio De Los Santos Elementary School in Manila;
Ramon A. Avanceña National High School and A. Mabini
In contrast, people wearing campaign materials were Elementary School in in Iloilo City; Intermediate School
seen inside voting centers in Banaba Elementary School Building, Poblacion Norte in Caba, La Union; San Jose
in Padre Garcia, Batangas; Las Piñas City National Science Provincial High School in San Jose, Negros Oriental;
High School and Las Piñas East National High School in Balud Central School in Balud, Masbate; and Leoncia
Las Piñas City; in PUP San Juan in San Juan City; in Culiat Village Elementary School in Angeles City, Pampanga.
High School, Nagkaisang Nayon Elementary School,
and Philippine Chinese Institute in Quezon City. Tents In Pasay City West High School, the VAD was not open at
with the names and photos of candidates were set up the time of start of polls.
inside the grounds of a voting center in Tampakan, South
On voting centers with VAD, voters took an average of 5
The campaign periods are hereby fixed as follows: to 10 minutes to go through verification, but some took
30 to 45 minutes.
(a) For President, Vice-President and Senators, ninety (90)
days before the day of the election; and A considerable percentage of voting centers observed
had no Emergency Accessible Polling Places (EAPP) for
(b) For Members of the House of Representatives and elective senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and heavily
provincial, city and municipal officials, forty-five (45) days pregnant voters,118 or Isolation Polling Places (IPP)
before the day of the election.

However, in the preparation of the election calendar, the 118

“Emergency Accessible Polling Place (EAPPs) shall refer
Commission may exclude the day before the day of the to rooms or makeshift/temporary polling place established at
election itself, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. the ground floor of a voting center or outside of it but in close
proximity thereto, where Persons with Disabilities (PWDs),
Any election campaign or partisan political activity for or Senior Citizens (SCs) and heavily pregnant women voters may
against any candidate outside of the campaign period herein vote on election day, specifically:
provided is prohibited and shall be considered as an election 1. PWD/SC who did not avail of APPs;
offense punishable under Section 263 and 264 of the Omnibus 2. PWDs who failed to update their registration record;
Election Code.” (Section 5, Republic Act No. 7166, https:// 3. Persons who become disabled/incapacitated temporarily or
comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ permanently after the continuing registration of voters ended;
ElectionLaws/SynchronizedNationalandLocal/RA7166). and
According to COMELEC Resolution No. 10765, campaigning 4. Heavily pregnant voters, who are six (6) months on the
was prohibited on election day, 9 May 2022 (https://comelec. family way.” (Section 1(m), COMELEC Resolution No. 10727,
gov.ph/?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/res10695). https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/
res10727)

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 43

for voters with COVID-19 symptoms.119 For example, School;
volunteers in the following voting centers reported not
seeing EAPPs: (16) Iloilo City: A. Mabini Elementary School,
Balantang Elementary School, and Quintin Salas
(1) Caba, La Union: Primary School Building, Elementary School;
Poblacion Sur, and Intermediate School Building,
Poblacion Norte; (17) Kawayan, Biliran: Kawayan Central School (Upper
Campus);
(2) San Fernando City, La Union: Canaoay
Elementary School, Pagudpud Elementary School, and (18) Taft, Eastern Samar: Samar School of Arts and
San Fernando City SPED High School; Trades; and

(3) Luna, La Union: Barrientos Community School; (19) Surigao City, Surigao del Norte: Surigao West
Elementary School.
(4) Naguilian, La Union: Gusing Elementary School
Annex and Naguilian Central School;
Volunteers reported that some EAPPs were crowded, with
(5) Bauang, La Union: Bauang North Central School; up to 40 people inside comprising voters, voter assistors,
and staff.
(6) Manila: Lakadula High School, Francisco Benitez
Elementary School; Another NAMFREL chapter reported that the EAPP,
contrary to the meaning of the word “Accessible”, was
(7) Quezon City: Goodwill Club House, Miriam not accessible to senior citizens since the polling place
College, and Sto. Niño Parochial School; was located on a higher floor of the voting center,
not on the ground floor. In Ismael Mathay Sr. High
(8) Masbate City: Nursery Elementary School; School in Quezon City, EAPP voters were angry due
to inconvenience, and preferred to line up on their
(9) Puerto Princesa City, Palawan: Napsan assigned polling places instead. The latter was also seen
Elementary School; in Barangay West Triangle Multipurpose Hall in Quezon
City.
(10) San Vicente, Palawan: Alimanguan Elementary
School; Meanwhile, volunteers in the following voting centers
reported not seeing IPPs in:
(11) Dumaran, Palawan: Dumaran Central School;
(1) Aringay, La Union: Aringay Central Elementary
(12) Banga, Aklan: Mambog Multi Purpose Pavement; School120
and
(2) Caba, La Union: Intermediate School Building,
(13) Jordan, Guimaras: Don Pedro Vasquez Memorial Poblacion Norte;
Elementary School;
(3) Luna, La Union: Barrientos Community School;
(14) Passi, Iloilo: Passi I Central School;

(15) Pototan, Iloilo: Dolores P. Tirador Elementary

(4) Angeles City, Pampanga: Leoncia Village
“Isolation Polling Place shall refer to rooms or makeshift
Elementary School;
119

tents established in every voting center where voters

evaluated by the Medical Personnel to be suffering from a
(5) Makati: Fort Bonifacio High School;
fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius or higher, or any of the COVID-19
symptoms, may cast their vote.” (Section 1(p), COMELEC
(6) Malabon: Bagong Lote Elementary School,
Resolution No. 10727, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.
html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/res10727) 120
Form uncertain if the West or East Compound

44 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

Dampalit Elementary School (Unit 1), Ninoy Aquino Volunteers observed commotion and shouting by voters
Elementary School; demanding immediate action on VCMs and SD cards
with issues in some voting centers, such as in Toro Hills
(7) Mandaluyong: Highway Hills Integrated School; Elementary School, in CBE Town Multi-Purpose Hall,
Barangay Pasong Tamo, and in Teahcers Village East
(8) Navotas: North Bay Boulevard North Elementary Barangay Hall, all in Quezon City. In one polling place in
School; Paltok Elementary School in Quezon City, the volunteer
observed some tension among the observers and EB,
(9) Quezon City: Miriam College, Sto. Niño Parochial although most apparently understand that the EB had no
School, Doña Juana Elementary School, Judge Juan Luna control over the VCM repair.
High School, Libis Elementary School, Culiat High School,
and Holy Spirit Elementary School; Volunteers observed that some polling places were
too small, such as in Sauyo Elementary School and Sto.
(10) Puerto Princesa City, Palawan: Napsan Niño Parochial School, both in Quezon City; and in Don
Elementary School; Pedro Vasquez Memorial Elementary School in Jordan,
Guimaras, and/or had poor ventilation. A volunteer in
(11) Dumaran, Palawan: Dumaran Central School; Sto. Niño Parochial School reported that one polling
place was in the hallway. Volunteers in Lioac Elementary
(12) Banga, Aklan: Mambog Multi Purpose Pavement; School in Naguilian, La Union and Eugenio S. Daza Pilot
and Elementary School in Borongan City, Eastern Samar
recommended that additional polling places be set up.
(13) Iloilo City: Balantang Elementary School and More seats were sought in Mandaluyong Elementary
Quintin Salas Elementary School in Iloilo City; School in Mandaluyong City and in Mandaragat
Elementary School in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
(14) Taft, Eastern Samar: Samar School of Arts and
Trades; Holding areas in Bagong Silangan Elementary School in
Quezon City were also observed to lack ventilation and
(15) Surigao City, Surigao del Norte: Surigao West chairs, especially for senior citizens. Large crowds were
Elementary School; and also seen in many holding areas. Volunteers in Lakandula
High School in Manila called for better holding areas
(16) Four voting centers in Misamis Oriental. because of the crowding. No holding areas were
observed in Dalupan Elementary School in Quezon City,
leading to people lining up from as far as the staircase.
The space was not as big.

Many voting centers observed did not have, or had weak,

mobile signal on election day at the time of observation.

In the evening of election day, when the closing process

was about to start, NAMFREL received reports from
regular citizens saying that they were refused entry into
[INSERT PICTURES: EAPP and IPP] the voting centers to observe the counting process.
There was no proper explanation for the refusal.

The incidents reported above are all isolated cases. In

general, voting proceeded smoothly.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 45

D. Closing and Counting in San Juan, the EB chair did not want the volunteer to
take a photo of the ER, but said that NAMFREL would be
The closing and counting processes inside polling given a copy.
places went smoothly in general, according to NAMFREL
volunteers. The VCMs also functioned normally in most In Bacolod and Bohol, some EBs did not print all 30
polling places observed. If malfunctions happened, they copies of the ERs. Only eight were printed. In Ramon
were usually caused by paper jams, VCMs stopping to Magsaysay High School in Quezon City, the printing
operate or overheating, and paper running out which of 30 copies was not completed. After transmission of
stopped or delayed the printing of ERs. results, the VCM shut down. The technician could not fix
the problem. No ER was posted outside.
During the batch-feeding of ballots at Clustered Precinct
878 in Libis Elementary School in Quezon City, paper Some EBs also did not post printed copies of the ERs
jams were a repeated occurrence. It was resolved by conspicuously on a wall within the premises of the
opening the VCM with assistance from poll watchers. polling place, such as in Ramon Magsaysay High School
The EB then retrieved the ballots inside. One ballot did in Quezon City.
not initially have a VVPAT because the VCM ran out of
thermal paper mid-printing. The ballot was set aside Only when they were shown the Election Automation
for refeeding in case it was not counted. In the end, the Law121 did they do so.
ballot was counted in the final tally but still separated
from all other ballots. In a clustered precinct in Narra Pilot School, Narra,
Palawan, the volunteer reported that after printing all
NAMFREL volunteers reported that most EBs appeared copies of the ER, it took a long time for the EB to post it.
well-trained and were able to handle minor technical
issues. To deal with the issues the EBs: HOW MANY COPIES OF THE ER SHOULD BE
PRINTED? WHO ARE ENTITLED TO COPIES OF
(a) re-read their manuals to ensure that procedures THE ER?
were correct;
“SECTION 22. Electronic Returns. - Each copy of the printed
(b) relied on their manuals but knew where to find election returns shall bear appropriate control marks to
what they were looking for; determine the time and place of printing. Each copy shall
be signed and thumbmarked by all the members of the
(c) improvised, including cutting ballots to stop the
board of election inspectors and the watchers present. If any
member of the board of election inspectors present refuses
paper jam issue; or to sign, the chairman of the board shall note the same copy
in each copy of the printed election returns. The member of
(d) sought the help of technicians and volunteers the board of election inspectors concerned refusing to sign
when necessary. shall be compelled to explain his or her refusal to do so.
Failure to explain an unjustifiable refusal to sign each copy
of the printed election return by any member of the board of
The Election Automation Law clearly specifies the number election inspectors shall be punishable as provided in this
of ERs to be printed, and enumerates who should be Act. The chairman of the board shall then publicly read and
given printed copies of the ER. However, in some polling
announce the total numbers of registered voters, the total
number of voters who actually voted and the total numbers
places in Bacolod City and in Bohol, the EBs did not print of votes obtained by each candidate based on the election
all copies of the ERs. In some polling places, EBs were not returns.
sure whom they were to give these to.

To repeat, NAMFREL chapters in Zamboanga del Sur,

Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Davao del Oro, Pampanga,
Sorsogon, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Quezon City, Rizal,
Palawan, South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Bohol were
refused copies of ERs by some EBs, even though
NAMFREL was entitled to a copy according to the
Election Automation Law as earlier mentioned. Some EBs 121
“The eighth copy to be posted conspicuously on a
reasoned that they had no such instruction, while others wall within the premises of the polling place or counting
instructed NAMFREL volunteers to claim the copy from center” (Section 22, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended
the Election Officers. by Section 19, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.
ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/
In a polling place in Pinaglabanan Elementary School AutomatedElection/RA9369)

46 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

Thereafter, the copies of the election returns shall be sealed 13) The twenty-seventh to the thirtieth copies, to the major
and placed in the proper envelopes for distribution as follows: citizens' arms, including the accredited citizens' arm, and
other non-partisan groups or organization enlisted by the
A. In the election of president, vice-president, senators and Commission pursuant to Section 52(k) of Batas Pambansa
party-list system; Blg. 881. Such citizens' arms, groups and organizations
may use the four certified copies of election returns for the
1) The first copy shall be delivered to the city or municipal conduct of citizens' quick counts at the local or national
board of canvassers; levels;

2) The second copy, to the Congress, directed to the B. In the election of local officials and members of the House
President of the Senate; of Representatives:

3) The third copy, to the Commission; 1) The first copy shall be delivered to the city or municipal
board of canvassers;
4) The fourth copy, to the citizens' arm authorized by the
Commission to conduct an unofficial count. 2) The second copy, to the Commission;

5) The fifth copy, to the dominant majority party as 3) The third copy, to the provincial board of canvassers;
determined by the Commission in accordance with law;
4) The fourth copy, to the citizens' arm authorized by the
6) The sixth copy, to the dominant minority party as Commission to conduct an unofficial count.
determined by the Commission in accordance with law; and
5) The fifth copy, to the dominant majority party as
7) The seventh copy shall be deposited inside the determined by the Commission in accordance with law;
compartment of the ballot box for valid ballots.
6) The sixth copy, to the dominant minority party as
8) The eighth copy, to the Provincial Board of Canvassers; determined by the Commission in accordance with law; and

9) The ninth to the eighteenth copies, to the ten (10) 7) The seventh copy shall be deposited inside the
accredited major national parties, excluding the dominant compartment of the ballot box for valid ballots;
majority and minority parties, in accordance with a voluntary
agreement among them. If no such agreement is reached, 8) The eight copy to be posted conspicuously on a wall within
the Commission shall decide which parties shall receive the the premises of the polling place or counting center;
copies on the basis of the criteria provided in Section 26 of
Republic Act No. 7166; 9) The ninth to the eighteenth copies, shall be given to the
ten (10) accredited major national parties, excluding the
10) The nineteenth and twentieth copies, to the two dominant majority and minority parties, in accordance with
accredited major local parties in accordance with a voluntary a voluntary agreement among them. If no such agreement
agreement among them. If no such agreement is reached, is reached, the Commission shall decide which parties shall
the Commission shall decide which parties shall receive the receive the copies on the basis of the criteria provided in
copies on the basis of criteria analogous to that provided in Section 26 of Republic Act No. 7166;
Section 26 of Republic Act No. 7166;
10) The nineteenth and twentieth copies shall be given to
11) The twenty-first to the twenty-fourth copies, to national the two accredited major local parties in accordance with a
broadcast or print media entities as may be equitably voluntary agreement among them. If no such agreement is
determined by the Commission in view of propagating the reached, the Commission shall decide which parties shall
copies to the widest extent possible; receive the copies on the basis of criteria analogous to that
provided in Section 26 of Republic Act No. 7166;
12) The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth copies, to local
broadcast or print media entities as may be equitably
determined by the Commission in view of propagating the
copies to the widest extent possible; and

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 47

 11) The twenty-first to the twenty-fifth copies, to national After the electronic results have been transmitted,
broadcast or print media entities as may be equitably additional copies not to exceed thirty (30) may be printed
determined by the Commission in view of propagating the and given to requesting parties at their own expense.”
copies to the widest extent possible; (Section 22, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by
Section 19, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.
12) The twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh copies, to local ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/
broadcast or print media entities as may be equitably AutomatedElection/RA9369)]
determined by the Commission in view of propagating the
copies to the widest extent possible; and

13) The twenty-eighth to the thirtieth copies to the major In Multi-Purpose Center (Pelota Court), Blue Ridge A, the
citizens' arms, including the accredited citizens' arm, and
EB in one polling place did not want to read the results
but was eventually prevailed upon by the watchers to do
other non-partisan groups or organizations enlisted by the
Commission pursuant to section 52(k) of Batas Pambansa
Blg. 881. Such citizens' arms, groups and organizations may so.
use the five certified copies of election returns for the conduct
of citizens' quick counts at the local or national levels. In Pasay East High School, a volunteer wrote that the
watchers were noisy after transmission.
Immediately after the eight copy is printed, the poll clerk
shall announce the posting of said copy on a wall within NAMFREL volunteers also reported that a large
the premises of the polling place or counting center, which percentage of polling places still had voters in line
must be sufficiently lighted and accessible to the public. Any
outside when the voting period closed. They were still
allowed to vote as per election rules, which delayed the
person may view or capture an image of the election return
by means of any data capturing device such as, but not
limited to, cameras at any time of the day for forty-eight (48) start of closing and counting.
hours following its posting. After such period, the chairman
of the board of election inspectors shall detach the election
return from the wall and keep the same in his custody to be
produced as may be requested by any voter for image or
data capturing or for any lawful purpose as may be ordered
by competent authority.
[INSERT PICTURES: CLOSING AND TRANSMISSION]
Within one hour after the printing of the election returns, the
chairman of the board of election inspectors or any official
authorized by the Commission shall, in the presence of
watchers and representatives of the accredited citizen's arm,
political parties/candidates, if any, electronically transmit
the precinct results to the respective levels of board of
canvassers, to the dominant majority and minority party, to
the accredited citizen's arm, and to the Kapisanan ng mga
Broadcasters ng Pilipinas (KBP).
E. Transmission
The election results at the city/municipality canvassing
centers shall be transmitted in the same manner by the
election officer or any official authorized by the Commission The electronic transmission of results went smoothly in
to the district or provincial canvassing centers. most polling places observed. In places where it did not,
the reason was related to weak mobile signals in the
The election returns transmitted electronically and digitally transmission venue. No transmission occurred for this
signed shall be considered as official election results and reason in Caguisan Elementary School in Narra, Palawan,
shall be used as the basis for the canvassing of votes and and Bugsukan Elementary School in Butuan City, Agusan
the proclamation of a candidate. del Norte.

EBs attempted to transmit results anywhere between

five minutes to an hour, but on average, it took about
30 minutes to transmit results. The slow but ultimately
successful transmission in polling place/s in the following

48 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

voting centers was due to poor internet connection:
(3) the VCM was brought to the canvassing center.
(1) Naguilian, La Union: Naguilian National High
School and Tuddingan Elementary School; F. Canvassing

(2) Bulacan: Central Elementary School;122 NAMFREL volunteers also observed the canvassing
process, mostly in municipal/city canvassing centers.
(3) Pasay City: Juan Sumulong Elementary School; The reports were largely positive, with most volunteers
reporting that the canvassing was smooth, systematic,
(4) Agdangan, Quezon: Agdangan Central and well-organized.
Elementary School;
In a few cases, volunteers commented on the weakness
(5) Pagbilao, Quezon: Pagbilao Central Elementary of the internet connections, interruptions during printing,
School; and issues with the consolidation and canvassing system
(CCS). For example, canvassing in Pagbilao, Quezon did
(6) Narra, Palawan: Aramaywan Elementary School not go smoothly because of malfunctioning VCMs in the
and Maasin Elementary School (where it took 106 voting centers.
minutes);
A large percentage of the canvassing centers observed
(7) Masbate City: Amancio Aguilar Elementary lacked enforcement and observance of COVID-19
School; protocols, with volunteers citing lack of physical
distancing, improper wearing of face masks, not enough
(8) Jordan, Guimaras: Don Pedro Vasquez Memorial disinfection of hands and materials, and improper
Elementary School; disposal of used protective gear.

(9) Abuyog Leyte: B.V. Closa Central School, where G. Pull-Out of VCMs for RMA
one clustered precinct transmitted at 1:30 a.m., while
another was still attempting to transmit at 2:00 a.m. The Some NAMFREL chapters were able to observe the pull-
NAMFREL volunteer observed that the technicians were out of VCMs to be taken to Manila to go through the
visibly drained in attempting to transmit; RMA.

(10) Borongan, Eastern Samar: Eastern Samar Volunteers reported positively in general, with seals
National Comprehensive High School; appearing intact and undamaged, the location of
the activity appearing secure, and security personnel
According to volunteer reports, in places where electronic accompanying the transport of the VCMs in most cases.
transmission was not successful, the EBs concerned
performed any of the following: H. Voter Assistance

(1) the VCM was moved to another location (within About 40 NAMFREL provincial chapters were also PPCRV
the voting center or within the municipality) where the chapters, and they provided voter assistance in their
mobile signal was better. This was done in U.P. Integrated respective assigned voting centers as mandated.
School, U.P. Campus (Grade 3 - 6 Bldg.) In Quezon City,
in PUP San Juan; and in Bancagan Elementary School in NAMFREL chapters in Las Piñas, Quezon City, and La
Naguilian, La Union. Union also provided voter assistance by stationing
themselves near the bulletin boards where the school
(2) the SD card was brought to the canvassing map was posted, and directed voters to the location of
center; or their polling places.

The only Central Elementary School in Bulacan according The NAMFREL chapter in Palawan established a remote
122

to COMELEC’s Project of Precincts (https://comelec.gov. voter assistance desk, encouraging voters to send
ph/?r=2022NLE/ProjectOfPrecincts) is Calumpit Central their information to a mobile phone number to inquire
Elementary School in Calumpit, Bulacan.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 49

about the location of their polling places. The chapter In another incident in Malabang, a man was shot dead
performed the same activity during the March 2021 while sitting on a pedicab outside Jose Abad Santos
Palawan Plebiscite. Elementary School.

In the past, NAMFREL would receive copies of the In the past, NAMFREL recommended that elections in
Election Day Computerized Voters List (EDCVL) for the area now covered by the Bangsamoro Autonomous
voter assistance purposes. NAMFREL chapters would Region be held on a separate date so that the security
also compare the Election Day Computerized Voters forces can be concentrated in the area.124 While the
List (EDCVL) and Printed Computerized Voters List. Due election to the Bangsamoro Parliament was rescheduled
to the requirements of the Data Privacy Act, NAMFREL to 2025 by Republic Act No. 11593 passed in 2021,
opted to provide a link to the Online Precinct Finder elections for officials of local government units that
instead of securing a copy of the EDCVL for the 2022 are part of the region also took place during the 2022
elections. Hence, no comparison was made between the NLE. This recommendation requires an amendment of
EDCVL and PCVL. Nevertheless, the recommendation for the Constitution, since the Supreme Court ruled that
COMELEC to maintain a complete, updated, accurate, the Constitution mandates synchronization of regional
and organized Voters List that would be the source of elections with the national elections.125 No amendment
both PCVL and EDCVL stands.123 Both lists should be has been passed adopting this recommendation.
consistent with each other.
In Dimatubo, San Luis, Aurora, five trucks were
I. Violence and Intimidation apprehended, with one truck containing money, guns,
and sample ballots. The NAMFREL volunteer who
Pockets of violence and intimidation marred an otherwise reported the incident said that the details were turned
peaceful election day. Reports were received and verified over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for its
by NAMFREL volunteers deployed in many of these areas, investigation.
including Buluan, Maguindanao; Malabang, Lanao del
Sur; San Luis, Aurora; Baybay City, Leyte, Cotabato City; In Pilar, Abra, NAMFREL volunteers reported that
and Tagbilaran City, among other places mentioned in members of private armies were present in at least four
the media where untoward incidents were reported to barangays.
have happened.
In Baybay City, Leyte, a NAMFREL volunteer reported
In Buluan, Maguindanao, at around 11:30 a.m., unknown that the principal of a voting center mobilized barangay
assailants opened fire and killed three members of a tanods for election day, supposedly in coordination with
barangay patrol action team outside Datu Luminog the PTA president of the school and a barangay councilor.
Mangelen Pilot School while voting was ongoing. A police officer in the city also prevented NAMFREL
According to NAMFREL volunteers in the area, the police volunteers from observing in at least three barangays.
considered the incident politically motivated because
the victims were supporters of a local party. According In Cotabato City, NAMFREL volunteers reported a
to volunteers, gunshots were also heard in the vicinity of commotion outside Vilo Elementary School. Barangay
the same voting center when unknown assailants fired at officials responded to the incident and soldiers were
a helicopter on which a relative of a local candidate was called to guard the premises and those waiting outside
onboard. the voting center.

In Malabang, Lanao del Sur, a fistfight occurred between In Tagbilaran City, Bohol, barangay officials manned voter
supporters of opposing candidates inside Malabang assistance desks. The city COMELEC promptly replaced
National High School. They were forced by the police and them after the local NAMFREL chapter inquired.
Marines to leave the school, but once outside, a gunfight
ensued. One supporter of a candidate was killed. Voting
continued in said voting center.
124
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections
125
Datu Michael Abas Kida vs. Senate of the Philippines, G.R.
No. 196271, 28 February 2012, https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.
123
From NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/24083

50 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

J. Transparency Media Server (TMS) The screencap below is from a video taken during the
AES shutdown.
As an accredited citizen’s arm, NAMFREL was granted
access to the output of the TMS, located at the
Quadricentennial Pavilion, University of Santo Tomas,
Sampaloc, Manila. The output was a processed comma
separated values (CSV) file that could be imported into
relational databases. It was scheduled to be provided
every fifteen minutes from the TMS. Data was passed
to NAMFREL via a designated USB thumb drive. This
process was similar to that implemented during previous
elections.

The NAMFREL IT Team witnessed only one issue: a delay

in the release of data from 9:00 to 9:30 PM on the night
of election day, 9 May 2022. The reason was the program K. ER Transmission and Unofficial Count
that pushed data from the TMS to the laptops failed to
start its feature of automatically sending the data to the NAMFREL noted the speed by which the results were
laptops every 15 minutes. To solve the issue, the program received through the TMS. On the initial report of 8:17
was manually restarted. p.m. of election day, 9 May, 36 percent of the total votes
were already received. By 13 May at 2:47 p.m., when
In the past, NAMFREL suggested that accredited entities the TMS was shut down, 98.35 percent of the ERs were
be provided with the key needed to decrypt and read the transmitted. These ERs covered 55 million out of 67.4
ERs.126 This was not done in the 2022 NLE. million votes, coming from 106,008 out of a total of
107,785 clustered precincts. This meant more ERs and
The IT Team terminated its operations on 13 May, at the votes had been electronically transmitted. In comparison,
same time that the TMS room was decommissioned. At a total of 96.15 percent of the votes were transmitted
10:00 a.m., Smartmatic staff showed to the IT Team and to the TMS once it shut down in 2016, 76.35 percent in
other participants the names of nine log files on the TMS. 2013, and 90.35 percent in 2010.127
COMELEC offered access to the log files, but an official
request should first be made. NAMFREL submitted its For the 2022 NLE, COMELEC used an upgraded
intention to have access to those log files. COMELEC then transmission facility (from 3G to 4G). The 2019
returned the two flash drives submitted by the IT Team; transmission rate (number of ERs transmitted per hour)
one of the drives had a copy of the last election results was not immediately observed because of the seven-
file from the TMS. hour glitch. The transmission rate in 2022 was a little
slower than in 2019. (See chart in the Annex.)
NAMFREL had no major concern, except for the physical
waiting and handling of the USB thumb drives. Nevertheless, ERs from 1,777 clustered precincts were
not transmitted to the TMS.
The IT Team also observed the shutdown of the AES
infrastructure on 30 May. At 11:00 a.m. COMELEC staff
executed Linux terminal commands to initiate the
shutting down of the Central Data Server at the Bonifacio
Technology Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Participants were allowed to take videos or photos of
computer screen output. At 12:00 noon, participants were
allowed to visit the cage of the physical data server on
the first floor. COMELEC Staff unlocked the cabinet where
the data server was secured and unplugged all the cords.
The participants were given permission to take videos
or photos of the data server while cables are being
unplugged.
126
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections 127
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 51

The following charts show the number of ERs received (a) per region per hour for the first five hours
starting at 7:00 PM, when polls were scheduled to close and VCMs were scheduled to transmit votes; and
(b) per hour for the first five hours; and (a) per hour up to the end of 11 May.

52 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

The following charts show the percentage of votes received per presidential candidate, broken down into
hours starting at 7:00 P.M. of 9 May.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 53

54 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS
The charts below show the percentage of votes received on 11
May, by province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and by region.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 55

 The chart below shows that as of 8:00 P.M. on 11 May,
only three votes had been transmitted from Clustered
Precinct No. 66120038, covering Barangay Siburi,
Municipality of Siasi, Province of Sulu in the BARMM.

56 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

Election results received through the TMS could be Duly registered NAMFREL volunteers were also able to
accessed at https://namfrel.org.ph/2022/2022-results.htm unlock additional features in the NAMFREL app, which
in the form of bar charts. they used to send election day observations straight
to NAMFREL headquarters in Mandaluyong City. The
L. Submissions through NAMFREL app election day observations submitted by volunteers
through the app have been discussed earlier in this
NAMFREL released an app for Android and iPhone on 29 report.
April 2022 to be used in crowdsourcing AES information
from the general public. The NAMFREL app was used to M. Digital Signatures Implementation
take photos of the following portions of the printed ERs:
The Supreme Court relied on its definition of “electronic
(a) Top, which contains the votes for President signature”128 in its April 2019 ruling, “As gleamed
from the wording of the law, the signature may be any
(b) Bottom, which contains the VCM System Hash Code distinctive mark or characteristic that represents the
(discussed in the report chapter on pre-election AES identity of a person. Thus, a machine signature of a
monitoring under “LSCR End-to-End Demonstration (22 PCOS machine may validly be considered the functional
March 2022) and VCM System Hash Code”). equivalent of the aforementioned "digital signature," as
it represents the identity of the individual, said signature
Once a picture is submitted, it would go through an naturally being created specifically for the person him or
optical character recognition (OCR) process. The result of herself inputting the details.”129
the OCR would then be compared to the data of the ER
record coming from the TMS. Hence, legally, the definition of “digital signatures”
NAMFREL received around 6,781 images that went for purposes of the AES is consistent with the Rules of
through this process. This yielded around 1,208 unique Electronic Evidence promulgated by the Supreme Court.
clustered precinct ERs submitted. The OCR data, which However, this means that the digital signature need not
uses machine learning and artificial intelligence, yielded be unique to each EB member. The need for a definition
an average of 92% accuracy when compared to the in the Election Automation Law of the term “digital
transmitted ERs from the Transparency Media Server. signature” which expressly states that the term refers
The remaining eight percent then went to a manual to the unique mark of each EB member, and not of the
comparison and eventually resulted in a full match of all machine, is crucial.
submitted ERs.
Nevertheless, the COMELEC announced in May 2021 that
The general public also used the NAMFREL app to the EBs would be using their personal digital signatures
conduct bandwidth tests, which determined the mobile instead of machine signatures.130 In preparation for the
signal strength in specific locations, especially in voting 128
The Supreme Court defined the term in Section 1(j), Rule
centers where election results were transmitted. The 2, of the Rules on Electronic Evidence, issued by it in 2001.
bandwidth test feature was in response to COMELEC’s Said Section reads, “"Electronic signature" refers to any
switch of network infrastructure from 3G to 4G. While in distinctive mark, characteristic and/or sound in electronic
theory this move should provide better coverage and form, representing the identity of a person and attached
faster network, any new implementation could post to or logically associated with the electronic data message
unknown variables. The bandwidth test part of the app or electronic document or any methodology or procedure
simulated data transfer from the vicinity of the polling employed or adopted by a person and executed or adopted by
place. such person with the intention of authenticating, signing or
approving an electronic data message or electronic document.
The NAMFREL app recorded 2,395 bandwidth tests For purposes of these Rules, an electronic signature includes
submitted from various parts of the country. The results digital signatures.”
showed a minimum speed transfer rate of 1.2 Mbps. 129
Bagumbayan-VNP Movement, Inc. vs. Commission on
While this speed is relatively slow for traditional Internet Elections, G.R. No. 206719, April 10, 2019, https://elibrary.
browsing, this is more than enough to transmit the judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/65166
ER package quickly and efficiently to the three target 130
Dwight De Leon, “Electoral boards to use digital
servers. The data gathered also shows better coverage of signatures for the first time in 2022”, Rappler, 17 May 2021,
the 4G network. This may explain the resulting speed and https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/comelec-says-
coverage of the transmitted ERs into the TMS. electoral-boards-use-digital-signatures-2022/

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 57

use of digital signatures, the Department of Information operational I-Button. This rendered the digital signature
and Communication Technology and the Department I-Button useless. Eight EBs claimed that during the FTS,
of Education announced during the 9 March 2022 the digital signature I-Buttons failed to work. Lastly,
hearing of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms no verification or test was conducted for the digital
and People’s Participation that it had enrolled all public signature.
school teachers who would serve as Electoral Boards into
the Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure.131 The N. Reception to Results
two departments did their part in the registration of all
EBs for digital signatures. According to COMELEC figures, a total of 1,310 VCMs
and 618 SD cards had to be replaced on election day.134
However, the COMELEC announced during the same Of the 1,310 VCMs, a total of 1,295 were in-country while
hearing that it encountered difficulties in procuring the 15 were used in overseas absentee voting (OAV). Of
cable assembly needed to connect the I-Button readers the 618 SD cards, 611 were in-country while 7 were for
to a server in order to produce the I-Buttons for digital OAV.135
signing. This limited the adoption of digital signing by
the teachers who would serve as EBs merely to a pilot In the 14 May 2022 meeting of the COMELEC AES
test in NCR, Cebu, and Davao, instead of nationwide.132 Steering Committee, then-NAMFREL National Council
Member Mr. Angel S. Averia, Jr. raised the request of
NAMFREL urged COMELEC to pursue other alternatives election stakeholders for an SD card audit, for the
like tapping local companies with the capacity to protobuf (protocol buffer), and for the trusted build.
fabricate the required cable assembly. As a last resort, Commissioner Marlon Casquejo welcomed the proposal
NAMFREL recommended making the election results of an SD card audit and even suggested making the
transmission package -- which should include the announcement a public event. Eventually, this SD card
electronically transmitted election returns -- in protobuf audit did not push through.
format, which shall include the xml sig and public key
certificates for validation available through the TMS.133 Many voters were shocked at the speed by which the
Neither recommendation was adopted. election results became known. These results were
eventually accepted. However, five NAMFREL chapters
On election day, NAMFREL observed that EBs were not reported that a total of five local candidates filed election
familiar with how to use digital signatures. The training protests seeking recounts.
materials for the pilot areas did not have a specific
section for digital signature; the instruction is just a small A NAMFREL chapter reported that in one clustered
part similar to other areas. precinct, the number of voters did not match the actual
number of voters who voted. There were also reports
Volunteers in polling places in Salapan Elementary of violence that might have been caused by the losing
School in San Juan City and Libis Elementary School in candidate.
Quezon City observed problems with the I-Button used
to affix the digital signatures. In the 2022 NLE, then-COMELEC Commissioner George
Garcia reported to the Senate Committee on Electoral
Since the VCMs could accept either the operational Reforms and People’s Participation that a total of 1,310
I-Button (which affixed the machine signature on VCMs and 618 SD cards had to be replaced.136 In the
the Election Returns) or the I-Button containing the past, NAMFREL recommended the following:
EB’s personal digital signatures, EBs opted to use the
131
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0CF2MppZco 134
Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s
132
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0CF2MppZco Participation (31 May 2022), https://www.youtube.com/
133
NAMFREL, https://namfrel.org.ph/2022/files/ watch?v=7viMoha-enY
Namfrel%20Press%20Statement-%20NAMFREL%20 135
COMELEC AES Steering Committee 14 May 2022 meeting
welcomes%20the%20new%20COMELEC%20Chairman%20 136
Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s
and%20Commissioners%20as%20it%20urges%20more%20 Participation (31 May 2022), https://www.youtube.com/
transparency%20in%20the%202022%20elections.pdf watch?v=7viMoha-enY

58 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

(a) conduct a comprehensive systems audit; O. Transparency and Credibility in the Election
System
(b) collate an inventory of the AES component
malfunctions and investigate why such glitches occurred; On 10 May 2022, COMELEC Commissioner Marlon
Casquejo announced that the VCMs would no longer be
(c) present to the public a schematic diagram of the used in the 2025 NLE139. The opportunity is thus ripe for
transmission employed a new system. Five NAMFREL chapters recommended the
use of a hybrid system in future elections.
(d) clarify how untransmitted ERs were aggregated
during the canvassing; and In manual elections, voters and poll watchers can see and
monitor what happens to each ballot as it goes through
(e) investigate and disclose the result of any the ballot appreciation process, counting, tabulation, and
unauthorized changes in the source code. 137 preparation of the ER. Voters and poll watchers can also
observe how and when the ER is sent to and received by
It remains to be seen whether these recommendations the municipal/city boards of canvassers (M/CBOCs) for
would be adopted as regards the 2022 NLE. These consolidation.
could be directed by or through the JCOC, which is
mandated to conduct a comprehensive assessment In an AES, almost all these steps are behind a computer
and evaluation of the performance of the different AES system. If the voting system is not designed properly,
technologies implemented and shall make appropriate the transparency in manual elections is lost. To replicate
recommendations to Congress.138 this transparency, all sorts of controls and processes
137
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections are necessary, such as hash codes and electronic IDs,
138
“SECTION 33. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. - An Oversight data sources, server logs, IT groups and support teams
Committee is hereby created composed of seven members each from the
that need to be made public. AES is therefore a very
complicated system. Yet, it can still be open to possible
Senate and the House of Representatives, four of whom shall come from
the majority and three from the minority, to monitor and evaluate the
implementation of this Act. A written report to the Senate and the House of mistakes or manipulation. It is difficult to verify how the
Representatives shall be submitted by the Advisory Council within six months figures were obtained. All these holes and questions
from the date of election. The oversight committee shall conduct a mandatory
make it difficult for everyone to accept the results.
review of this Act every twelve (12) months from the date of the last regular
national or local elections.
Thus, the better way to maintain transparency and
The oversight committee shall conduct a comprehensive assessment and credibility is to adopt hybrid elections. Manual elections
evaluation of the performance of the different AES technologies implemented
would be maintained at the polling place level, since
it provides the visibility and verifiability until the ER is
and shall make appropriate recommendations to Congress, in session
assembled, specifically including the following:
produced. In addition to a count using the tara system
1. An assessment and comparison of each of the AES technologies utilized, on a tally board, each ballot can also be counted by
including their strengths, weakness, applicability or inapplicability in specific
scanning it one by one in the presence of observers and
watchers.
areas and situations;

2. An evaluation of their accuracy through a comparison of a random sample inapplicable, inaccurate or with a defect which cannot be remedied;
of the AES election results with a manual tabulation, and the conduct of b) An enhancement or improvement is needed to an AES technology which
similar tests; was used in the 2007 elections to make it more functional, appropriate and
accurate;
3. As to the scope of AES implementation in the subsequent elections, provide c) A particular AES technology is already appropriate and should be utilized
for recommendations as to whether any of the following should be adopted: fully for subsequent elections; or
d) The testing or adoption of new technologies which may have emerged
a. Further test application of the AES or a particular AES technology used in after the 2007 elections is needed.” (Section 33, Republic Act No. 8436, as
the 2007 elections, whether in the same or others areas; amended by Section 27, Republic Act No. 9369, https://comelec.gov.ph/index.
b. An increase or enlargement of areas for implementation of the AES or an html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/AutomatedElection/RA9369).
AES technology and not a full implementation; or
c. A full implementation of the AES. 139
Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Tina G. Santos, "VCM glitches bug
4. As to the kind of AES technology, provide for proposals as to whether:
polls; Comelec finally not reusing them in 2025", Inquirer.net,
10 May 2022, https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1595198/vcm-
a) A particular AES technology should no longer be utilized for being obsolete, glitches-bug-polls-comelec-finally-not-reusing-them-in-2025

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 59

The ERs would then be electronically transmitted to the
M/CBOCs.

The EBs are needed to confirm the ERs making up the

results before the M/CBOCs, and the ERs should retain
metadata, such as but not limited to clustered precinct
ID, voting center and polling place, city/municipality and
province, and transmission time.

Once the authenticity of the electronically-transmitted

ERs are confirmed, the election results on them would be
accepted into the consolidation computer system (CCS).
The latter would sum up all the results and then generate
the certificates of canvass.

The EB should state to everyone present in the polling

place the voting turnout. This figure can be compared to
the voting turnout from the electronically-transmitted ER.
The CCS should thus show the latter.

The CCS can easily be made open source and the results
server publicly accessible and available. In bidding for the
CCS, the specifications should require that the hardware
run open-source election software, to open the playing
field. COMELEC should not restrict the specifications to
only one type of hardware.

Monitoring or viewing of municipal/city, provincial and

national results should be made readily available using
data visualization tools (such as Microsoft BI), so that
voters can check their local results.

60 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

A. Random Manual Audit
POST-ELECTION
MONITORING

What is the RMA? “The random manual audit

(RMA) is a process undertaken as mandated by the
Election Automation Law, Republic Act (RA) 8436 as
amended by RA 9369, to determine the correctness
and accuracy of the automated vote count.”

“The resulting counts of the vote in the audit return

shall be compared with the results of the vote counts
6
A total of 757 polling places, one polling place from each
congressional district,140 was subjected to RMA. As of 24
August 2022, the final report on the RMA has yet to be
released.

According to the latest RMA Bulletin (No. 36) dated 29

June 2022, 5:00 P.M., 748 ballot boxes had been audited
(as encoded by PSA), no ballot box was undergoing
processing, and all 757 had been retrieved.141

The Preliminary Accuracy Rate as of 7 June 2022, based

for the positions covered by the audit reflected in the on 503 out of 757 clustered precincts, or 66.4465%, are
election return. A discrepancy will lead to a review of as follows (see next page):
the manual count. If the discrepancy is not resolved,
the RMAT will turn to the VVPATs and count the
votes for the positions where the discrepancy is
found. If still the discrepancy is not resolved, such
fact shall be recorded in the RMA minutes, and
the ballot box referred to the technical evaluation
committee for root cause determination.
Source: (Lito Averia, NAMFREL National Council Member
“Random manual audit”, Manila Times, 15 June 2022, https://
www.manilatimes.net/2022/06/15/opinion/columns/random- 140
“SEC 29. Random Manual Audit. - Where the AES is used,
manual-audit/1847437) there shall be a random manual audit in one precinct per
congressional district randomly chosen by the Commission in
NAMFREL participated in the RMA as a member of the each province and city. Any difference between the automated
RMA Committee (RMAC), and observed the RMA process and manual count will result in the determination of root
done in Diamond Hotel in Manila from 11 May to at least cause and initiate a manual count for those precincts affected
29 June 2022. by the computer or procedural error.” (Section 29, Republic
Act No. 8436, as inserted by Republic Act No. 9369, https://
comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/
ElectionLaws/AutomatedElection/RA9369#sec24)
141
COMELEC, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4037
58701789968&set=a.224420859723754

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 61

 Position Preliminary accuracy rate amendments or policy notes to COMELEC. The NAMFREL
representatives raised several issues during the series of
deliberations. These include:
President 99.9774%
Vice-President 99.9744%
Senator 99.9821% Policy Amendment or
Party-List 99.8664% Recommendation Policy Notes
COMELEC Action
and Points Raised Agreed upon by
Member, House of by NAMFREL RMAC
Representatives
99.9790%
What if the physical No discretion should Section 16(k),
Mayor 99.9702% count of ballots does be granted to the COMELEC
Average Overall Accuracy Rate 99.95825% not match the count RMA Committee Resolution No.
Source: COMELEC142 as stated in the for this scenario. 10774: “In case
printed ER? The RMA Team the RMA results do
1. RMAC Deliberations
should continue not match the AES
with the audit and results, the RMAT
completely document members shall
The RMAC was created to ensure that the RMA the discrepancy review all ballots and
proceeded in a safe, efficient, transparent, participative, between the count of the corresponding
and credible manner.143 For the 2022 NLE, the RMAC
the physical ballots entries in the Audit
and the count as Returns for purposes
was composed of representatives from the COMELEC, indicated in the copy of excluding the
the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and a Coalition of the printed ERs. possibility of human
of Civil Society Organizations (CCSOs) that included the error.
Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), NAMFREL, After determination
the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants that human error
(PICPA), the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians was not committed
(PSPHP), and the Information Systems Audit and Control as having caused
Association (ISACA).
the discrepancy,
the Chairman shall
determine if the total
The RMAC met regularly starting in 2021 to form number of VVPAT
recommendations on how to improve the 2022 RMA and receipts is equal to
to discuss the actual conduct of the audit. In December
the total number
of valid ballots.
2021, the COMELEC, through Resolution No. 10738,144 If so, the RMAT
released the guidelines for the conduct of the RMA. members shall use
These guidelines were amended through Resolution No. the VVPAT receipts
10774.145
to count the votes
counted in favor
of the candidate
From the start of the election period, the RMAC met not with the reported
only to discuss the conduct of the audit but also to hold discrepancy/ies. If
simulations and training.
the number of VVPAT
receipts is not equal
to the number of
As a member of the RMAC, NAMFREL raised some policy total ballots counted
recommendations and points during the Committee’s inside the ballot box,
meetings. The RMAC, including NAMFREL, proposed
the discrepancy shall
be reported and
documented.”
142
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=388399799992
525&set=a.224420859723754
143
Section 2(h), COMELEC Resolution No. 10774, https://
comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/res10774
144
https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
Resolutions/res10738
145
https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/
Resolutions/res10774

62 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

What if verifiers will Verifiers should be Section 14(d), What if the results The results in Not adopted
be involved at an given an earlier COMELEC from the audit of the the copies of the
earlier point in the involvement in the Resolution No. selected clustered Electronic Results
Audit? process. Once 10774: “The copy of precincts would be on-hand with PPCRV
the tabulation was the Election Returns cross-checked with could also be
What if RMA Teams done, the Verifier shall be handed over the ERs collected by compared with the
would not be given could mark which to the assigned [RMA the PPCRV before results as indicated
access to the ERs candidates have Verification Team or after the RMA, in the copies of the
at any point in the variances, by (RMA-VT)] and shall to serve as another Electronic Results
audit? stating the range not be accessed source of audit check inside the ballot
of difference. It by the RMAT until of the VCM count? box. This could be
should be noted closing procedure coordinated with the
that the Verifier of the assigned PPCRV once the list
would not state the ballot box, to ensure of randomly selected
exact results per the integrity of clustered precincts is
candidate, but would the process. The released.
only facilitate the RMA-VT shall only
What if there would Given operational Not adopted
process to ensure disclose to the RMAT
be an independent limits, a smaller
that all means to the number of valid
Vote Counting sample from the
eliminate human ballots counted as
Machine (VCM) in randomly selected
error in tabulation is indicated in the copy
the RMA center to clustered precincts
done and suggested of the Electronic
serve as another should be subjected
consolidation Returns.”
source of audit check to this process.
procedures are
of the VCM count? The results from
done (using VVPAT Section 16(L),
the re-run using
receipts, if complete). COMELEC
the independent
Access to the copies Resolution No.
VCM should then
of the Electronic 10774: “If after
be compared to the
Results should the counting of
results as indicated
be limited to the votes in favor of
in the copy of the
assigned Verifier. the candidate/s
Election Returns
Following the with the reported
from inside the ballot
practice which was discrepancy/ies using
box.
observed in 2019, the VVPAT receipts,
only the count of the discrepancy/ What if the voter- If approved, the QR Not adopted.
the ballots would ies still exists, the verified paper audit Codes on the VVPAT Explained below this
be provided to the assigned RMA-VT trail (VVPAT) and ER could be utilized by table.
RMAT at the start shall provide notes would be printed with comparing the results
of the audit. The and reasons in the a QR code? gathered from using
results per candidate RMA Minutes.” this feature to the
should only be results as indicated
divulged at the point in the copy of the
of reconciliation. Electronic Results.
Then, if the count
of VVPAT receipts
did not match the
count of the ballots
inside the ballot box,
this should also be
documented and
reported.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 63

 What if the RMA The metadata Not adopted teachers), were responsible for the manual counting and
would have access from the selected tabulation of votes. A total of 18 verifiers observed the
to the metadata clustered precincts process being done by the teams.
of the randomly could be used to

Work done in the first and second floors were identical.

selected clustered check the following:
precincts from a. Opening
the electronically- b. Closing The only difference was in the physical arrangement of
transmitted ERs? c. Signing tables and chairs because the rooms on the second floor
d. Fingerprint hash
were smaller. COMELEC personnel were stationed outside
the rooms.
- if the fingerprint
matches with the
identified owner of
the digital signature The average output of a team was 2.5 days per ballot
box. Each batch of teams was asked to work for 7 days.
Though busy, the teams were spirited in their work,
Discrepancies
established from
these data should looked eager, and were receptive to comments.
form part of the RMA
report for 2022.
The RMA proceedings were open to observers and
representatives of candidates and political parties.
NAMFREL had developed an app that would scan the
The random selection of clustered precincts was done
contents of the QR Code on the VVPAT and perform
on 10 May 2022, a day after the elections. A random
vote counts per clustered precinct covered by the RMA.
selection software developed by the PSA was used.
The result of the count could be compared with the vote
A total of 757 clustered precincts were selected.
counts reflected in the ER. NAMFREL had even conducted
A contingency list of clustered precincts was also
a VVPAT QR Code workshop with the RMAC on 9
generated.
November 2021. Mr. Fernando Contreras, Jr., member
of the NAMFREL National Council, demonstrated how
Of 757 ballot boxes from randomly selected clustered
an app installed on an Android phone could count scan
precincts, nine were set aside for various reasons like wet
the QR codes and generate a tally of the election results
ballots.
based on the VVPATs scanned.
The nine ballot boxes were not replaced with ballot boxes
The VVPAT in the 2022 NLE was serialized. Serialization
from clustered precincts included in the contingency list,
is a security feature of the QR code: without the
since the legislative districts where the nine ballot boxes
serialization key, the QR code cannot be read. Hence,
came from were still represented in the original lot.
to complete the app, NAMFREL requested through the
RMA Committee for the data dictionary of the VVPAT QR
There were also 149 ballot boxes without printed
Code. However, NAMFREL received a copy of the letter
election returns. In order to proceed with the RMA, the
from the Office of Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino dated
electronically transmitted election returns were used
14 March 2022 addressed to Atty. Ona Caritos, Executive
for comparison with the RMA count. However, PICPA
Director of LENTE, stating that the request for the copy
suggested that an alternative printed copy may be used.
of the VVPAT QR Code data dictionary could not be
This prompted the RMAC to request the COMELEC En
granted.
Banc for its printed copies election returns from the
149 clustered precincts. Rather than develop a software
2. RMA Observations
to encode and compare the vote results reflected on
the printed copies with the corresponding electronic
The RMA was conducted in a safety bubble setup at
copy, the RMAC requested the PPCRV for the use of
Diamond Hotel.146 Observers were therefore required to
its software. However, PPCRV’s software was limited
undergo antigen testing before entering the site.
to covering only national positions. To finally resolve
A total of 60 teams, with three members each (who were
the matter, the RMAC had to compare the results in
146
Section 23, COMELEC Resolution No. 10774, https://comelec. the local positions reflected in the printed copy of the
gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/Resolutions/res10774 election return sourced from the COMELEC with the
corresponding electronic copy manually.

64 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

3. TEC Root Cause Analysis Each ballot box was processed separately. The TEC RMA
Team took a careful note of the labels and seals on the
ballot box and doing an inventory of the contents. The
WHAT IS ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS? contents of the ballot box included the ballots, ER, and
VVPAT.
The Election Automation Law, Republic Act No. 8436, as amended
by R.A. 9369, provides:
After completing the inventory, the TEC RCA Team retrieved
"SEC 29. Random Manual Audit. - Where the AES is used, there the ballots which had been grouped into batches by the
shall be a random manual audit in one precinct per congressional RMA Team. Each RCA Team member took a batch of ballots
district randomly chosen by the Commission in each province and for processing and counted the number of ballots in each
city. Any difference between the automated and manual count will batch.
result in the determination of root cause and initiate a manual count

Each RCA Team Member focused on the vote counts of

for those precincts affected by the computer or procedural error."

When there is a difference between the manual count of the ballots candidates with variances between the VCM vote count and
and the automated count as done by the VCM and shown in the ER, the RMA audit count. The corresponding ballot image of a
the ballot boxes would undergo analysis to determine the reason for ballot was retrieved from a laptop. Using the vote summary
the difference.
appended to the image of each ballot, each RCA Team
The TEC’s task was to determine the root cause of the variances member verified the vote counts by the VCM if the vote
through a process called “root cause analysis”. counts reflected in the election returns is the same.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is the process of discovering the Each RCA Team Member then inspected each ballot to
root causes of problems in order to identify appropriate
verify the correctness of the RMA audit count. Where a
variance had been confirmed, the RCA Team member
solutions.

concerned referred to the images of the ballot and

The RMAC referred 27 ballot boxes to the Technical compared it with the corresponding physical ballots to
Evaluation Committee (TEC) for root cause analysis. identify which ballot might have caused the variance. The
TEC RCA Team members are organized into pairs. After
Each of the 27 ballot boxes had more than 10 variances
completing the processing of the batch of ballots, the TEC
between the VCM Vote Count as reflected in the election
RCA Team pair exchanged the batch of ballots each had
returns generated by the concerned VCM and the RMA
processed and then performed a second processing of the
Vote Count as reflected in the RMA returns.
batch.
a. RCA Procedure The results of the RCA Team member’s count WERE
recorded in a matrix (photo below) that showed the total
The TEC RCA Team for the 2022 NLE was comprised of vote counts per batch of ballots, categorized into manual
representatives from the COMELEC, the Department of count of votes per RCA (C), undervote as per AES from
Science and Technology (DOST), and the Department of ballot image (U), and overvote as per AES from ballot image
Information and Communications Technology (DICT). (O).
TEC’s RCA process is defined in the document with the title
“FINAL DETAILED PROCEDURES FOR THE ROOT CAUSE The sum of the RCA vote count was then compared with
ANALYSIS (RCA) OF THE 2022 NATIONAL AND LOCAL the AES count and the RMA count.
ELECTIONS CLUSTERED PRECINCTS WITH VARIANCES”.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 65

b. Venue and RCA Period ballots in each of the three ballot boxes, it was found that
there were:
The RCA process started on 13 June 2022, also at the
Diamond Hotel in Manila. Without a defined RCA (1) Corrupted or distorted ballot image stored but
procedure, the TEC RCA Team struggled to process the vote record intact
first ballot box, taking a period of two weeks to complete (2) Ballot images with white lines
– from 13 to 24 June 2022. (3) Ballots with shades covering the ovals that
appeared to be valid vote marks but which were not
counted by the VCM
Since the contract with Diamond Hotel was scheduled
to end on 25 June 2022, a decision was made to transfer The Section 2 analysis required the inspection of the
the RCA venue. Upon approval of the COMELEC En Banc, corresponding VCM used with each of the subject ballot
the venue was moved to the Advanced Science and boxes with the assistance of a technical person from the
Technology Institute (ASTI) of the DOST in the University VCM provider, Smartmatic.
of the Philippines premises in Diliman, Quezon City. The
RCA process resumed on 28 July 2022. In response to a text message sent to Mr. Callao inquiring
on the status of the RCA, he responded as follows:
In the meantime, the RCA procedure was formulated and
the appropriate RCA forms developed. “Good morning po. We completed the ballot review last
week Aug 3 and the hardware analysis on 1 VCM last
With the RCA procedure defined and the appropriate Monday and Tuesday.” - Text message dated Aug 11,
forms drafted, the TEC RCA Team was able to process 2022, 8:42:45 from Rage Callao
each ballot box for a period of two days to two and a half When asked about the number of VCMs subject to
days. hardware/firmware analysis, he replied:

The RCA process was completed on 3 August 2022. “We only requested one from Bohol.” Text message dated
Aug 11, 2022, 9:49:12 from Rage Callao
c. RCA Outcome
The findings on the three ballot boxes have not been
The root cause of the variance in the 24 ballot boxes was disclosed but this is expected to be included in the TEC
determined to be the visual assessment of the vote marks RCA Report.
appearing on the ballot. It is difficult for the human eye
to assess if a shade covering an oval passed the 25% d. Observations
threshold. The 25% threshold refers to the size of the
shade covering an oval. If the shade covering the oval is The TEC RCA team was not prepared to conduct the RCA
beyond the 25% threshold, the said shade is assessed to on 27 ballot boxes. The RCA process was formulated only
be a valid vote mark. during the ballot analysis of the first ballot box.
The maker-checker set up was observed, that is, the
As discussed with TEC RCA Team leader, Mr. Rage Callao RCA team members worked in pairs but each member
of ASTI, during a visit on 27 July 2022, root cause analysis of the pair worked on separate batches of ballots. After
of the variances in three ballot boxes had to undergo processing their respective batch of ballots, the pair
machine hardware, firmware, and audit log analysis as would exchange batches and processed the batch of
provided for in the RCA Process document in Section 1, ballots anew. Verification of the work done by an RCA
Ballot Analysis Step 6 which states: “If he/she notes that team member was performed to ensure accurate ballot
there are stray marks, lines, and other artifacts appearing analysis to identify the cause of the variance between
on the ballot image which does not appear in the the AES count and the RMA audit count and resolve the
physical ballot, the RCA team shall continue to Section 2 same.
analysis.”
Inspection and review of the VCM was not observed.
On inspection of the ballot images of the correspond

66 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

e. Recommendations According to the local COMELEC in Masbate, ten local
candidates had not yet filed their SOCEs by the deadline.
For the RCA of succeeding NLEs, NAMFREL recommends In Las Piñas, four local candidates did not submit their
the following: SOCEs yet two days after the deadline.

1. Formulate the RCA procedure and appropriate forms The legal campaign spending limits remain those set
at the same time as the formulation of procedures for the by Republic Act No. 7166 (1991),148 as reiterated by the
RMA. COMELEC on its Resolution No. 10730 implementing the
Fair Election Act for the2022 NLE.149
2. Allow the RMA Teams to inspect the ballot images in
the event that the members of the RMA Teams could not
ascertain if a shade covering an oval in the ballot passed 148
“Sec. 13. Authorized Expenses of Candidates and
the 25% threshold. Political Parties. - The agreement amount that a candidate
or registered political party may spend for election campaign
3. Brief the TEC RCA Team on the RMA processes and the shall be as follows:
findings involving ballot boxes the referred to it. 1. For candidates. - Ten pesos (P10.00) for President
4. Maintain the maker-checker set up. and Vice-President; and for other candidates Three Pesos
(P3.00) for every voter currently registered in the constituency
5. Open the inspection and review of the VCM to where he filed his certificate of candidacy: Provided, That a
observation. candidate without any political party and without support
from any political party may be allowed to spend Five Pesos
B. Campaign Finance (P5.00) for every such voter; and
2. For political parties. - Five pesos (P5.00) for every
NAMFREL intended to further assist the COMELEC in voter currently registered in the constituency or constituencies
campaign finance efforts, consistent with NAMFREL’s where it has official candidates.
accreditation as citizens’ arm. To comply with this duty, Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding any
NAMFREL had requested from the COMELEC copies of contribution in cash or in kind to any candidate or political
campaign finance submissions filed with it, but it was party or coalition of parties for campaign purposes,
denied during a meeting of the Commission en banc on duly reported to the Commission shall not be subject to
24 March 2022, according to a letter (Document No. 22- the payment of any gift tax.” (https://comelec.gov.ph/
4561) from the COMELEC Law Department dated 1 April index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/
2022. SynchronizedNationalandLocal/RA7166)

NAMFREL explained in a reply dated 12 April 2022 the 149

"SECTION 5. Authorized Expenses of Candidates and
need for such documents to fulfill its assigned task Parties. - The aggregate amount that a candidate may spend
under the terms of accreditation, and later requested, for an election campaign shall be as follows:
at the very at least, authority to secure from the local a. For candidates for President and Vice-President -
COMELEC offices the list of candidates that complied Ten pesos (P10.00) for every registered voter
with the filing of their Statement of Contributions and b. For candidates with political party – Three pesos
Expenditures (SOCEs), as required by law, by the 8 June (P3.00) for every voter currently registered in the constituency
2022 deadline.147 A reply has yet to be received on these where the candidate filed his certificate of candidacy;
points. c. For other candidates without any political party
147
Section 14, first paragraph, Republic Act No. 7166 (1992) and without support from any political party – Five pesos
reads, “Every candidate and treasurer of the political party (P5.00) for every voter currently registered in the constituency
shall, within thirty (30) days after the day of the election, file where the candidate filed his certificate of candidacy; and
in duplicate with the offices of the Commission the full, true d. For political parties and party-list groups –
and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures Five pesos (P5.00) for every voter currently registered in
in connection with the election.” (https://comelec.gov. the constituency or constituencies where it has official
ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/ candidates."
SynchronizedNationalandLocal/RA7166)

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 67

The Supreme Court in 2009 ruled that a candidate is liable Lastly, under current rules, candidates and parties may keep
for election offenses only upon the start of the campaign unused campaign donations unless taxes are paid for them154.
period, and therefore cannot be held liable for premature This should not be the case: candidates and parties should be
campaigning for partisan political acts before the start of required to return unused donations.
the campaigning.150The provision of the Election Automation
Law cited by the Court 151 in support remains in force. Thus, NAMFREL also urges Congress to:

NAMFREL suggested in the past for the relevant institutions (1) Review the campaign spending limits;
to consider providing state subsidies to individual
candidates and or political parties, making candidacy (2) Amend the definition of a “candidate” for purposes of
less expensive and probably more inclusive. Taiwan has a penalizing pre-election campaigning;
good model of political party development and providing
(3) Require candidates, political parties, contributors, and media
subsidies to candidates.152 No law has been passed
entities to include in their campaign finance submissions to
adopting this recommendation.
COMELEC the details regarding political advertisements aired
before the campaign period;
At this point, NAMFREL urges COMELEC to:
(4) Amend the Omnibus Election Code so that duly-accredited
(1) Open to the public the list of candidates at all levels, citizen’s arms have a right to physical and/or electronic copies
not just at the national level, who did not comply with of all campaign finance documents and attachments;
submission of SOCEs at the appointed time;
(5) Require that all campaign finance submissions be made
(2) Sanction non-complying candidates and parties; and available online. To make this a duty of the COMELEC, Republic
Act No. 7166 and the Fair Election Act (Republic Act No. 9006)
(3) Investigate campaign spending of selected candidates or should be amended;
parties whose expenses are blatantly violative of the limits
prescribed by the law. (6) Provide state subsidies to individual candidates and or
political parties, making candidacy less expensive and probably
NAMFREL also repeats its recommendations for the more inclusive. Taiwan has a good model of political party
sustained implementation of the Campaign Finance development and providing subsidies to candidates; and
provisions of the law, reimposing appropriate late filing
(7) Require candidates and parties to return all unused
penalties on parties and candidates, requiring a more
campaign donations.
stringent validation of documentation, and implementing
legal sanctions on non-complying candidates and parties.
Towards this, COMELEC shall consider full manning of the
Campaign Finance Office. It should also review the reporting
system.153
150
Penera vs. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 181613,
25 November 2009, https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/ 154
Cathrine Gonzales, Comelec: Keeping excess campaign
thebookshelf/showdocs/1/50691 donations not wrong if taxes are paid, Inquirer.net, 25 January
151
Section 15, third paragraph, second sentence of Republic 2022, available at https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1545029/
Act No. 8436, as amended by Section 13 of Republic Act No. comelec-keeping-excess-campaign-donations-not-wrong-
9369, reads: “Any person who files his certificate of candidacy as-long-as-taxes-are-paid (last visited 30 August 2022).
within this period shall only be considered as a candidate Under BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 22-2022:
at the start of the campaign period for which he filed his “Unutilized/excess campaign funds, as well as donations
certificate of candidacy: Provided, That, unlawful acts or utilized before the campaign period, net of the candidate's
omissions applicable to a candidate shall take effect only upon or political party's/party list's campaign expenditures, shall
the start of the aforesaid campaign period” (https://comelec. be considered as subject to income tax and as such, must
gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ElectionLaws/ be included in their/his taxable income as stated in their/his
AutomatedElection/RA9369) Income Tax Return (ITR) pursuant to RR No. 7-2011.” (https://
152
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections www.bir.gov.ph/images/bir_files/internal_communications_2/
153
NAMFREL Report 2016 National and Local Elections RMCs/2022%20RMCs/RMC%20No.%2022-2022.pdf)

68 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

first election offense. Section 261 states:

“The following shall be guilty of an election offense:

(a) Vote-buying and vote-selling.

(1) Any person who gives, offers or promises money

or anything of value, gives or promises any office or
VOTE-BUYING

The Omnibus Election Code criminalizes vote-buying as the

employment, franchise or grant, public or private, or makes

or offers to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, or
secret”;
7
More cases of vote-buying remain unreported. NAMFREL
chapters observed vote buying in many forms, as follows:

(a) In the open, with one volunteer describing it as an “open

(b) “Hi-tech” vote-buying through e-wallets such as GCash;

(c) Receiving valuable goods for one’s vote;

(d) Individual voter’s vote or family votes or tribe votes may

cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, be negotiated;
corporation, entity, or community in order to induce anyone
or the public in general to vote for or against any candidate (e) Payouts usually handled by barangay leaders.
or withhold his vote in the election, or to vote for or against
any aspirant for the nomination or choice of a candidate in a A NAMFREL volunteer took a video of an alleged vote-
convention or similar selection process of a political party. buying incident in Magalang, Pampanga. A barangay
captain twisted the arm of said volunteer, assaulted three
(2) Any person, association, corporation, group or community other volunteers, and showed his gun to the people.
who solicits or receives, directly or indirectly, any expenditure
or promise of any office or employment, public or private, for The increase in vote-buying incidents was attributed by one
any of the foregoing considerations.” 155 chapter to the economic hardship brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Voters would accept anything just to
Yet, incidents of alleged vote-buying became more rampant get by.
in the 2022 NLE compared to previous elections. During
the 31 May 2022 hearing of the Senate Committee on Two NAMFREL chapters said that they could not verify
Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, then-COMELEC reports of vote-buying because no one wanted to testify
Commissioner George Garcia gave statistics on complaints and document these incidents. Another chapter said that
of vote buying received by the Commission as follows: recipients of vote-buying would brag off the record, but
940 from Facebook messages, 171 emails, 105 reports would not want to file a complaint. Formal investigations,
received by the COMELEC Law Department, and 12 verified leading to sanctions, rarely take place because complainants
complaints docketed by COMELEC Law Department. 156 are required to disclose their names,157 as required by law,
155
https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=References/RelatedLaws/ 157
COMELEC, https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-
OmnibusElectionCode/OECArt22 attachments/2019NLE/VerifiedComplaintOnVoteBuying/Complaint_
156
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7viMoha-enY Form.pdf

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 69

even if the same law provides that those otherwise guilty themselves160 and also testify in court or the COMELEC.
but who voluntarily give information and willingly testify
in any official investigation or proceeding shall be exempt The seeming inaction of law enforcement officers may be
from prosecution and punishment, except for perjury or due to their hesitance in offending the incumbent elective
false testimony if their statements turn out to be false.158 local officials who are campaigning for reelection or other
positions. Alarmingly, one NAMFREL chapter said that
A different NAMFREL chapter reported that vote-buying was the police raided the voter education session conducted
undeterred by the presence of law enforcement officers, by several NAMFREL volunteers, citing reports of vote-
who advised that formal complaints first be filed before buying as the reason. However, the chapter reported
they can take action. However, legally, those committing that the reason for the raid was that the voter education
vote-buying in full view of law enforcement officers can be session subject of the raid took place at the same time the
arrested on the scene, without need of a warrant of arrest incumbent was campaigning in the area.
nor a formal complaint,159 since vote-buying is a crime, an
election offense, as earlier mentioned. As for the lack of a A NAMFREL chapter also reported that many people made
formal complaint, law enforcement officers who personally the campaign of the candidates as a business to receive
witnessed vote-buying incidents can file the complaint valuable goods, essentially vote-selling, as defined above. A
158
Republic Act No. 6646 (1988). “Sec. 28. Prosecution of Vote- different chapter relayed that vote-selling, not vote-buying,
Buying and Vote-Selling. - The presentation of a complaint for took place in their area.
violations of paragraph (a) or (b) of Section 261 of Batas Pambansa
Blg. 881 supported by affidavits of complaining witnesses at testing Congress should revisit the verified complaint and affidavit
to the offer or promise by or of the voter's acceptance of money requirement in order to formally initiate investigations
or other consideration from the relatives, leaders or sympathizers of vote-buying. Complainants and witnesses should also
of a candidate, shall be sufficient basis for an investigation to be be eligible for witness protection programs. Possibly, to
immediately conducted by the Commission, directly or through its convince law enforcement officials to act on vote-buying
duly authorized legal officers, under Section 68 or Section 265 of said
incidents they personally witnessed without need for a
Batas Pambansa Blg. 881.
formal complaint, the law could be amended to impose
upon them the duty to arrest those responsible for vote-
Proof that at least one voter in different precincts representing at
least twenty percent (20%) of the total precincts in any municipality, buying when committed in their presence, to seize as
city or province has been offered, promised or given money, valuable evidence all related items found in the scene, and to testify
consideration or other expenditure by a candidate's relatives, leaders in court or the COMELEC on such incident. The law could
and/or sympathizers for the purpose of promoting the election include a declaration that such acts on the part of law
of such candidate, shall constitute a disputable presumption of a enforcement officers to stop and penalize vote-buying
conspiracy under paragraph (b) of Section 261 of Batas Pambansa incidents is a nonpartisan function.
Blg. 881.
Volunteers commented that the rampant vote-buying made
Where such proof affects at least twenty percent (20%) of the the election not fair.
precincts of the municipality, city or province to which the public Another recommendation to address vote-buying is to
office aspired for by the favored candidate relates, the same shall intensify voter education.
constitute a disputable presumption of the involvement of such
candidate and of his principal campaign managers in each of the
municipalities concerned, in the conspiracy.

The giver, offeror, and promisor as well as the solicitor, acceptor,

recipient and conspirator referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of
Section 261 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 shall be liable as principals:
Provided, That any person, otherwise guilty under said paragraphs
who voluntarily gives information and willingly testifies on any
violation thereof in any official investigation or proceeding shall
be exempt from prosecution and punishment for the offenses with
reference to which his information and testimony were given: 160
Section 3, Rule 110 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure:
Provided, further, That nothing herein shall exempt such person from
“Complaint defined.—A complaint is a sworn written
criminal prosecution for perjury or false testimony.”
159
“A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant,
statement charging a person with an offense, subscribed
arrest a person: (a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested by the offended party, any peace officer, or other public
has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an officer charged with the enforcement of the law violated.”
offense” (Section 5, Rule 113, Rules of Criminal Procedure, https:// (underscoring supplied, https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/11/369) thebookshelf/showdocs/11/369)

70 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

A. Assessment
ASSESSMENT AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

NAMFREL’s assessment of the 2022 NLE considers criteria

based on international election standards for free and fair
elections.

On the voters’ right to vote:

The exercise of the voters’ right to vote starts at the

registration of voters. The COMELEC endeavored to
register as many new voters for the 2022 NLE despite
pandemic conditions. COMELEC set up the Office for
8
whether in the local COMELEC or in satellite locations
such as malls. Those who have gone to the registration
centers but could no longer be accommodated could
have been issued dates and times when to come back
for registration. A queuing system could have been
implemented with the issuance of service numbers
to applicants and announcements could have been
announced when batches of service numbers can be
accommodated at specific times of the day.

Applicants living in remote areas are particularly

challenged as they need to fund their transportation
Overseas Voting and the Vulnerable Sectors Office to and meals to go to registration centers. COMELEC had
ensure inclusivity. Information on voter registration the option to bring registration closer to the people by
was widely disseminated and registration process setting up registration centers at barangays or voting
and systems put in place. Voter registration was centers.
largely COMELEC local office-centric even if satellite
voter registration centers were set up for example, in Applicants assumed that they are already registered
commercial malls. when they have filed their application and such
application received by COMELEC and a registration stub
Filipinos customarily put off what needs to be done until returned to them. Applicants were not aware that their
the last minute. Thus, there was a deluge of applicants applications still have to be processed and considered in
towards the end of the registration period, which was Election Registration Board hearings.
extended beyond the original deadline by one month.
Voter registration verification could be done in any of the
COMELEC’s registration system was limited by the following ways. Each had challenges:
number of registration equipment available. Some
applicants were informed that they could no longer be 1. Issuance by COMELEC of the Voter Information Sheet
accommodated on the day that they came since the daily (VIS). VIS distribution was done through barangays but
limit has been reached. some voters did not receive their VIS.

The registration system could have been designed to 2. Checking on the Precinct FInder page through the
consider the limited number of applicants that can be COMELEC website. This application is not widely available
accommodated, and could have leveraged on available since not all citizens have access to technologies
technologies, such as the online appointment (iRehistro) and only about 70% of the country are covered by
and queuing system, for all registration centers. The telecommunications infrastructure. Some voters who
iRehistro could have provided for specific dates and checked on their registration failed to get information
times when applicants can go to any registration center, through the Precinct Finder.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 71

3. Checking on lists of voters posted at COMELEC offices. Vote-buying was widely reported but largely anecdotal as
Going to COMELEC offices is a challenge for some, witnesses are reluctant to file complaints for fear for their
especially those who live remote areas and are, therefore, safety and security, as well as of their families.
unable to check if they are indeed listed.
Voting process on election day:
Access to reliable information on platforms. Physical
campaign sorties by political parties and candidates VCM and SD card malfunctions marred an otherwise
in the midst of pandemic restrictions hardly provided smooth voting day operations impacting an estimated
information on political party and candidates platforms 1.2 million voters, highlighting the poor contingency
and commitments. Social media campaigns did not planning measures and response. Some voters affected
provide enough reliable information as well. Social media had to wait for almost 24 hours for the problems to be
has seen a deluge of mis/disinformation. Campaign resolved. Some may have chosen to not vote resulting in
announcements were ruled more by numbers or the disenfranchisement. Voters’ experience cannot simply be
size of attendees in rallies. Campaign rallies served trivialized by saying that voters affected had the choice
as entertainment venues with celebrities singing and to leave their ballots with the Electoral Boards.
dancing with candidates to the delight of their audience.
Debates served as venue to provide information to the Voters who voted in emergency accessible polling
voting public but one particular candidate declined precincts (EAPP) expected to cast their votes personally
to participate thus failing to address issues to other but machines were not made available in the EAPP.
candidates. Leaving the ballots with election workers manning the
EAPP could have comprised the secrecy of the ballot.
Freedom from violence, harassment, and intimidation.
Pockets of violence, harassment, and intimidation marred Institutional transparency:
an otherwise peaceful conduct of the elections.
The level of institutional transparency was lowered as
Availability of choices. Some 900 local posts were observation printing of ballots, SD cards, and overall
uncontested and political clans ruled some jurisdictions preparation of the automated election system was not
limiting the choices of voters in those areas affected. opened to observers and watchers until the outcry for
observation was raised in the Senate Committee on
Citizen’s right to be elected: Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation hearing on 9
March 2022.
To exercise this right, any citizen who aspires for an
elective post must file his/her certificate of candidacy Overall assessment:
(CoC) at the appropriate time.
Based on data made available, NAMFREL did not observe
Loopholes in the rules of filing CoC were exploited, in any anomalies in the automated counting of votes and
particular, the substitution rules. Some political aspirants electronic transmission of election results in the 2022
served only as placeholders, reserving a slot for the real National and Local Elections. But while measures such
candidate, demonstrating that the right to be elected is as local source code review and the random manual
not taken seriously. While a period of substitution has audit were put in place to ensure integrity of the voting
been provided under the rules, substitutes can file their process, the summary findings discussed above may
CoCs until 12 noon of election day itself. have negatively impacted credibility of the election
results. The freeness and fairness of the elections must
A political aspirant who has filed his CoC is not deemed be addressed by resolving the long-lingering issues of
an official candidate for an elective post at the time of vote buying, campaign expenditures, provision of reliable
filing of the CoC. Rather, a candidate becomes an official information, transparency of the automated election
candidate on the first day of the campaign period. system, COMELEC transparency, among others.

Limits on campaign expenditures have been set by

law. But since political aspirants are not yet deemed
official candidates before the campaign period, early
campaigning and propaganda ruled the period between
the deadline of the filing of CoCs (or even earlier) and the
day before the start of the official campaign period. Thus,
expenditure limits may have been breached.

72 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

B. Recommendations day pertaining to observation and access to election
results documents could be avoided.
1. On Election Administration
g. Explore more effective means of distributing the
The COMELEC should: Voters’ Information Sheet (VIS) should be distributed to
every voter's house as early as possible. Voters should
a. Prepare and implement a realistic, doable, and not be made to pick up their VIS in just one location.
transparent election calendar, that should also include
items in relation to preparation for the elections, for the h. Improve the Precinct Finder, i.e., should be
guidance of all election stakeholders. available as early as possible, to enable people to know
in advance their polling place assignments and voter
b. On voter registration: status. COMELEC should also ensure that the public is
made aware of the existence of the website, and other
i. Extend the online appointment system iRehistro means by which the public can learn the same sets of
to any registration center, whether in the local COMELEC information. The Precinct Finder should also be made
or in satellite locations such as malls. It should provide available during the voter registration period, so people
for specific dates and times when applicants can go to can check if their registration is still active. Thus, voters
any registration center, will not be surprised to find out on Election Day or close
to such day that their names have been deleted.
ii. Issue dates and times for those who have gone
to the registration centers but could no longer be i. Maintain a complete, updated, accurate, and
accommodated (ex. because they are beyond the cut-off) organized Voters’ List that will be the source of both
PCVL and EDCVL. The PCVL and the EDCVL should be
iii. Implement a queuing system by issuing service consistent.
numbers to applicants, and by announcing when batches
of service numbers can be accommodated at specific j. Conduct an Advance Voting Day several days
times of the day. before the election day for senior citizens, PWDs,
officials rendering election day duty, citizens who will be
iv. Bring registration closer to the people residing working on election day, those confined in hospitals and
in remote areas by setting up registration centers at penitentiaries, indigenous people living in remote areas,
barangays or voting centers. etc. to decongest the poll stations on election day.

c. Strictly enforce COVID-19 protocols during Positions to be voted for should include all elective
campaign activities and on election day inside voting officials, not just those in the national level.
centers, polling places, and canvassing centers.
k. Explore other alternative voting methods such
d. Ensure that all stakeholders—including election as online voting, postal voting, mobile ballot boxes,
monitoring organizations—are informed in advance of all etc. and its combination for senior citizens, PWDs,
election-related activities like the delivery, public demos, officials rendering election day duty, citizens who will be
and final testing and sealing of machines, to encourage working on election day, those confined in hospitals and
participation and transparency of the said processes. penitentiaries, indigenous people living in remote areas,
e. Ensure that all members of EBs are made familiar etc., and for OFWs.
with the different election stakeholders, including the
different accredited citizens' arms like NAMFREL, so that l.. Develop an appropriate voting technology or
problems on election day pertaining to observation and procedure for small sized voting precincts, precincts
access to election results documents can be avoided. in locations with weak or no transmission facilities or
overseas voting sites, such as internet voting. Local
f. Cascade in advance -- down to the members of precincts which have less than 100 voters could also
the EBs -- information regarding the different accredited adopt a manual voting system.
citizens' arms like NAMFREL, their presence and purposes
especially on election day, so that problems on election m.. Ensure that all voting center and polling
station staff are trained on how to handle crowds more
effectively. The hiring and mobilizing of COMELEC
support staff to assist the EBs on election day is a good
idea.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 73

n. Ensure that each voting center has an Emergency w. Adhere to the policy of more openness
Accessible Polling Place (EAPP), an Isolation Polling Place, and transparency in order to stop the influence of
and a Voters' Assistance Desk (VAD). The VAD should disinformation on electoral processes and the AES.
be made more visible, with signs throughout the voting
center pointing to where the VAD is located. More VADs 2. Automated Election System
could also be made available in each voting center,
ideally one for every floor of a building. a. New technology should be used for succeeding
elections. A hybrid system should be adopted, where
o. Enforce the maximum number of people allowed votes are counted manually at the polling place level, and
inside regular polling places, EAPPs, and canvassing the results are transmitted electronically. In any case, the
centers. system (in general) and how it counts votes (in particular)
should be transparent and open, easily understandable
p. Ensure that a voting center map is available in by all voters without needing any specialized knowledge
conspicuous locations inside voting centers to guide in source codes and hardware.
voters where to go, showing the location of the polling
places and the precincts they cover. The COMELEC could In bidding for new machines, COMELEC should not
also make these voting center maps available online prior restrict the specifications to only one type of hardware.
to election day. The specifications should require that the hardware run
open-source election software.
q. Improve placement of directional signs inside
voting centers to prevent people from loitering after they b. COMELEC should give due consideration to the
have voted. Improve the signs themselves by making findings and recommendations of the COMELEC Advisory
them bigger, and written in the local language. Council, which is composed of experts in the IT field and
has the mandate under the Election Automation Law to
r. Consider using bigger venues as polling places study the best system for elections in the country.
with better ventilation.
c. COMELEC should specifically indicate in the
s. Provide at least one arm-chair for left-handed contract with the AES provider that observers could use
people in every polling place to prevent their votes being automated tools to be able to test the accuracy of the
exposed while accomplishing their ballot. software during the source code review.

t. Allow public access to the counting process but d. The voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)
guided by health protocols. should be designed to have information to further boost
confidence and auditability. This information should
u. Sustain the implementation of the Campaign include the date and time of printing, election name,
Finance provisions of the law, reimposing appropriate election date, province, city/municipality, barangay,
late filing penalties on parties and candidates, requiring clustered precinct ID, precincts in a cluster, machine ID,
a more stringent validation of documentation, and list of candidates voted for, QR code, and system hash.
implementing legal sanctions on non-complying
candidates and parties. Towards this, COMELEC shall e. The Election Markup Language (EML) version
consider full manning of the Campaign Finance Office. It of the ER generated by the VCM should be transmitted
shall also review the reporting system. to each entity allowed and accredited by COMELEC to
receive the same. The transparency server/TMS must
uv Open to the public the list of candidates at be configured to receive the ERs from the VCM in the
all levels, not just at the national level, who did not original format and to transmit the same to the various
comply with submission of SOCEs at the appointed time; accredited entities.
sanction non-complying candidates and parties; and
investigate campaign spending of selected candidates f. Accredited entities should be provided with the
or parties whose expenses are blatantly violative of the key needed to decrypt and read the ER.
limits prescribed by the law.

74 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

g. LSCR should be opened to any interested o. As regards instances when the VVPAT does not
political party or groups which may conduct their own match the votes on the ballot, the General Instructions
review, in accordance with Republic Act No. 9369. should include a provision granting the voters the
Any of them should be allowed to test the source right to a copy of their complaint, but the complaint
code anywhere; for this purpose, electronic devices shall contain no names of specific candidates in order
should be allowed in the LSCR, and the source code, to maintain the secrecy of the ballot. The General
documentation, any material supplied by the COMELEC Instructions should include a sample complaint in
or any part should be permitted to be used anywhere English, Filipino, or the voter's language. The EBs
for testing purposes. Reviewers’ notes should also be should be trained on how to teach the voter to fill out a
allowed to be taken out, and be included in any written complaint without mentioning names of candidates.
complaints to COMELEC and the technology provider.
p. To ensure that EAPP, IPP, and Persons Deprived
h. Using automated systems, COMELEC should of Liberty ballots have all been batch-fed into the VCM,
capture and publicize demographics on age, gender, the number of unused ballots should be counted and
educational attainment, etc. of the voting population, but compared with the number of voters who did not cast
with respect to the rights regarding personal information their votes before the VCM is set to "close polls" status.
under Data Privacy Act (Republic Act No. 10173).
Said information would be useful in the planning and q. Each ER should be digitally signed by the
administration of elections. members of the EBs, and with the digital signature
unique and personal to each EB member. The training of
i. Ensure that all members of EBs are able to EBs should go in detail about the importance and the use
attend training and be properly trained to handle minor of personal digital signatures. The difference between
technical issues. machine signatures and personal digital signatures
should be explained to EBs during training. The use of
j. Ensure proper and complete training of machine signatures should be discontinued.
all members of EBs with regard to all election day
processes to avoid procedural mistakes. Train EBs on r. Ensure that EBs are trained to print all copies
how to properly handle issues like issuance of waivers of the ERs, to post one printed ER conspicuously on a
to voters in polling places where voting is delayed due wall within the premises of the polling place as required
to malfunctioning machines; use of express lanes only by the Election Automation Law, and that the rest of
by those qualified to use them; filing of complaints by the printed ERs are given to the rightful recipients as
voters; and others. enumerated in the Election Automation Law and the
COMELEC's General Instructions.
k. Ensure that machines with issues are repaired or
replaced at the shortest possible time. s. Ensure that a copy of the ER is posted outside
each polling place after the counting process.
l. Ensure that secrecy of the vote is maintained at
all times inside polling places, by providing enough and t. The RMA should include a scan of the QR code
enforcing the use of secrecy folders, and by ensuring of the VVPAT receipts, and the data dictionary should
that votes are not exposed when ballots are inserted be made available to complete an app that would allow
into the machines, or when machines malfunction and scanning of such QR codes to come up with a VVPAT
enforcement of vote secrecy becomes lax, and when count. The use of an app to scan VVPAT QR codes and
voters are in queue waiting to insert their ballot. come up with a VVPAT count would not be contrary
to the “manual” nature of a random manual audit,
m. In polling places where voters opted to leave since the term “manual” is the opposite of the term
their ballots rather than wait for the replacement VCM, “automated” under the AES law, Republic Act No. 9369:
more assurance should be given to the voters that their “a system using appropriate technology which has been
ballots would not be tampered with nor looked at while demonstrated in the voting, counting, consolidating,
waiting for the batch-feeding into the VCM. canvassing, and transmission of election results”. An app
for the VVPAT count is not “a system using appropriate
n. Encourage voters to check the accuracy of their technology which has been demonstrated in the voting,
VVPAT. counting, consolidating, canvassing, and transmission of
election results”.

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 75

u. For the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of ballots d. Congress should repeal "Any person who did
where there is a difference between the automated count not vote in the two (2) successive preceding regular
and the manual count during the RMA for succeeding elections as shown by their voting records" as a ground
NLEs: for deactivation under Section 27 of Republic Acts No.
8189 (for local voters) and 9189, as amended by R.A.
i. Formulate the RCA procedure and appropriate 10590 (for overseas voters). Instead, to encourage them
forms at the same time as the formulation of procedures to vote, adopt voting technology (for example, Internet
for the RMA. voting) and/or mechanisms (polling places close to their
residences).
ii. Allow the RMA Teams to inspect the ballot
images in the event that the members of the RMA Teams e. Congress should limit substitution of candidates
could not ascertain if a mark in any oval in the ballot only in cases of death or physical/mental incapacity of
passed the 25% threshold. the candidate to be substituted;

iii. Brief the TEC RCA Team on the RMA processes f. Congress should revisit the verified complaint
and the findings involving ballot boxes the referred to it. and affidavit requirement in order to formally initiate
investigations of vote-buying. Complainants and
iv. Maintain the maker-checker set up. witnesses should also be eligible for witness protection
programs. Possibly, to convince law enforcement
v. Open the inspection and review of the VCM to officials to act on vote-buying incidents they personally
observation. witnessed without need for a formal complaint, the
law could be amended to impose upon them the
v. For the 2022 and succeeding automated duty to arrest those responsible for vote-buying when
elections, whether in whole or in part (hybrid): committed in their presence, to seize as evidence all
related items found in the scene, and to testify in court or
i. conduct a comprehensive systems audit; the COMELEC on such incident. The law could include a
declaration that such acts on the part of law enforcement
ii. collate an inventory of the AES component officers to stop and penalize vote-buying incidents is a
malfunctions and investigate why such glitches occurred; nonpartisan function.

iii. present to the public a schematic diagram of the g. Congress should review the campaign spending
transmission employed limits.

iv. clarify how untransmitted ERs were aggregated during h. Congress should amend the definition of a
the canvassing; and “candidate” for purposes of penalizing pre-election
campaigning.
v. investigate and disclose the result of unauthorized
changes in the source code. i. Congress should require candidates, political
parties, contributors, and media entities to include in
3. On Reforming Election Laws their campaign finance submissions to COMELEC the
details regarding political advertisements aired before
a. Congress should allow data sharing agreements the campaign period.
between the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the
Comelec in order to dispense with the voter registration j. Amend the Omnibus Election Code so that duly-
process. Congress may study and adopt the system used accredited citizen’s arms have a right to physical and/or
in Indonesia. electronic copies of all campaign finance documents and
attachments.
b. Congress should require the PSA and the Civil
Registrars nationwide to submit to the COMELEC the k. Congress should require that all campaign
information on deceased persons so that they can be finance submissions should be made available online. To
purged from the voter registration database, subject to a make this a duty of the COMELEC, Republic Act No. 7166
Data Sharing Agreement. and the Fair Election Act (Republic Act No. 9006) should
be amended.
c. Congress should allow data on citizens turning
18 years old for purposes of NLEs, plebiscites, referenda, l. Congress should provide state subsidies to
etc., and 15 years old for purposes of the SK elections, to individual candidates and or political parties, making
be shared by the Civil Registrars with COMELEC. candidacy less expensive and probably more inclusive.

76 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

Taiwan has a good model of political party development submission and receipt of bids for procurement
and providing subsidies to candidates. modalities where a two-envelope procedure or sealed
quotation is required.
m. Congress should require candidates and political
parties to return all unused campaign donations. d. The BAC through the BAC Secretariat should
maintain records and data of deficiencies and mistakes
n. The term “digital signature” should be defined of bidders in submitting deficient and non-compliant
clearly to mean the unique mark of each EB member. This bids. Call the attention of the bidders who frequently and
definition should be contained in an amendment to the repeatedly submit non-compliant bids and warn them of
Election Automation Law, Republic Act No. 9369. possible blacklisting proceedings. If such bidders remain
non-compliant, then they should be placed on the
o. Consider amending the Constitution so that blacklist.
candidates in the presidential and vice- presidential
contests should be elected by majority vote (50 percent e. To fully appreciate and assess the procurement
+ 1 vote count). processes/cycle of a specific project and to avoid
repetitive letter-requests, observers should be furnished
p. Consider amending the Constitution so that regularly with the following:
elections for autonomous regions can be held on i. Minutes of related proceedings of BAC meetings;
a separate date, so that the security forces can be ii. Abstract of Bids
concentrated in the area on that date. iii. Post-qualification summary report;
iv. Copies of “opened” proposals.
q. Consider the impact of the so-called command
votes (religious, political dynasties, tribes, etc.) to 5. Voter Education
electoral integrity.
a. Adopt in the school curriculum a mandatory
r. The JCOC should adhere to its mandate to voter education subject, which should include
conduct a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of recognizing and fighting disinformation, and stopping
the AES technology. It should make a recommendation vote-buying.
on the technology to be used for future elections.

4. On Procurement

a. COMELEC should minimize the legal

complications in the procurement of goods and services
by preparing the groundwork for the next elections as
early as now.

b. The Pre-Bid Conference should include the

following:

i. Additional slides on the common mistakes and

deficiencies in the submission of bids, which should be
regularly updated. The BAC Secretariat by now has a
record of historical data on the common mistakes.

ii. Continue the practice of calling each bidder for

their comments, questions, and suggestions during the
pre-bid conference.

c. Bidders should be retrained and reoriented

about GPPB resolutions adopting changes in the
procurement procedures, requirements, policy, and non-
policy opinion. This activity can be done in the form of
a Pre-Bid Conference like what the COMELEC SBAC did
during the implementation of Government Procurement
Policy Board (GPPB) Resolutions No. 09-2020 authorizing
the Procuring Entity to allow online or electronic

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 77

 ANNEXES

78 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

Annex A: 24 March 2022 Certification on the Correct VCM System Hash with 23 March 2022 Pro V&V email
referencing NAMFREL's letter on the VCM System Hash discrepancy

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 79

80 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS
Annex B: 1 April 2022 COMELEC Law Department Document No. 22-4651 on En Banc decision regarding
NAMFREL's requested datasets

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 81

 Annex C: Election Results Transmissions 2022 vs. 2019 NLE.

82 | NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS

 Precincts transmitted per transmission time
2019 & 2022 (1st 8 hours)
50000

45000

40000

35000

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
1800H 1900H 2000H 2100H 2200H 2300H 2400H 0100H 0200H

2019 2022

NATIONAL CITIZENS’ MOVEMENT FOR FREE ELECTIONS | 83

 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
National Chairperson Mr. Angel S. Averia, Jr.
Treasurer Mr. Angel S. Averia, Jr
Finance Committee Chair Mr. Edward S. Mijares
Membership Committee Chair Ms. Corazon H. Ignacio
Systems Committee Chair Ms. Ma. Corazon M. Akol
Secretary General Mr. Eric Jude O. Alvia
Corporate Secretary Atty. Salma P. Rasul
Mr. Jose S. Concepcion, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus

NATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS

Mr. Nestor M. Banuag, Jr Mr. Victor B. Gruet
Ms. Corazon S. Dela Paz-Bernardo Mr. Joel A. Layson
Mr. Fernando D. Contreras, Jr. Bishop Efraim M. Tendero
Atty. Reynaldo G. Geronimo

NATIONAL SECRETARIAT TEAM

Project Management and Operations Specialist Mr. Paolo B. Maligaya

Administrative and Finance Officer Ms. Maria Corazon N. Bañaga

Volunteer Monagement Associate/IT

Ms. Josefa C. Aportadera
Infrastructure and Administrative Support Staff

Regional Desk Coordinator Ms. Kristine Marie D. Tapiz

Legal Outreach Consultant Atty. Emir-Deogene V. Mendoza

Procurement Monitoring Specialist Mr. Jeffrey F. Falco

Research and Communications Assistant Ms. Ariadne F. Tolentino

Procurement Monitoring Resource Person and
Mr. Apolinar S. Dichoso
Trainer

National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)

Room 601, 6/Floor, DMG Center, Domingo M. Guevara St, Brgy, Mauway,
Mandaluyong City, Philippines

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +632-8451-1586
Website: www.namfrel.org.ph
Wireless Landline: +632-8736-0969
www.voteforus.org.ph
Telefax: +632-8470-4151
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Namfrel
Smart: +63939-1102827
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Namfrel
Globe: +63977-2417080
YouTube: www.youtube.com/NamfrelBantayngBayan

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