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Community-based Dialogues Project
Top-Level Policy Dialogue on the “2022 Elections and the Security Sector”

An online Top-level Policy Dialogue on the 2022 national and local elections was held on April 26, 2022 organized by the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the Community-based Dialogues (CBD project, led by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Alternative Law Groups (ALG) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation/Germany (HSF).

It was attended by more than 25 participants from various sectors.

HSF

Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) gave the opening remarks.  Com. Karen acknowledged the members of the PSC and the participants joining virtually.  She expressed gratitude to the main speakers from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Law Department, Director (Atty.) John Rex Laudiangco and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Legal Affairs, Director (Atty.) Christian Dawn Molino who will discuss various election issues in the security sector and in the country as well given the upcoming 2022 national and local elections.   She underscored the importance of recognizing occurring/recurring issues and engaging constructive discussions regarding existing policy gaps and possible steps towards reform, as well as the challenges and roadblocks that may impede the implementation of free and fair elections.  She noted that CHR, as the national human rights institution, welcomes this dialogue to promote and safeguard everyone’s human rights especially during this crucial season of elections with the support of the security sector to help ensure transparent, free, fair and credible elections.  She expressed hope that the top-level policy dialogue and the CBD project will continue to be a productive space to substantively discuss human rights issues and present solutions to uphold the dignity of each person in the community and improve the human rights situation on the ground in general.  She advised everyone to reset their governance and move forward by voting for human rights in the coming May elections. 

An audio-visual presentation (AVP) was shown by the Philippine National Police-Human Rights Affairs Office (PNP-HRAO) on the ‘PNP and its Human Rights Obligations during the electoral process,’ which articulated the guaranteed rights of citizens during the electoral process, and the proactive measures against interference of guaranteed rights, among others.

Comelec’s Atty. John Rex Laudiangco shared two (2) presentations, viz: Election Laws and the Security Sector, and Mechanisms for Reporting Election Violations. For the first presentation, Director Laudiangco discussed election-related laws applicable to the candidates covering the following points:  transportation, food and drinks; prohibited donations by candidates, treasurers of parties or their agents; vote-buying and vote-selling; threats, intimidation, terrorism, use of fraudulent device or other forms of coercion; unlawful electioneering; use of public funds, money deposited in trust, equipment, facilities owned or controlled by the government for an election campaign; security personnel and bodyguards; and other prohibited acts.  He also tackled the duties and responsibilities of the security sector when it comes to elections, notably, Comelec Resolution 10755-Duties and Functions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police as deputies.  He also talked about the tasks and roles of civil society organizations.

For the second presentation, Atty. Laudiangco presented the mechanisms for reporting election violations such as prosecution of election offenses and Comelec Resolution No. 10673 or the Guidelines of Electronic Filing.

CSC’s Atty. Christian Dawn G. Molino, on the other hand, presented the CSC Rules Pertaining to Elections which include pertinent laws governing code of conduct and ethical standards of government employees during elections; rule on partisan political activity; rationale behind non-partisanship and political neutrality during elections; election campaign or partisan political activity for government employees, and excluded activities; who are covered by the prohibition in electioneering; penalties for those who engage in prohibited political activities; CSC Memo Circular No. 10, s. 2011/CSC Resolution No. 11-00188 dated February 1, 2011 re. Revised Rules on Appointments Issued by Outgoing Elective and Appointive Officials; and relevant jurisprudence.

A question-and-answer portion ensued thereafter. Atty. Gian Miko Arabejo of ALG moderated the activity and facilitated the question-and-answer portion. 

For the closing message, HSF Resident Representative, Mr. Goetz Heinicke, conveyed his gratitude to the speakers and participants for joining the activity. He stated that the dialogue was fruitful and interesting, noting that he learned a lot from the discussions.  He expressed hope that the forthcoming national and local elections will be peaceful and successful.

Overall, it was a comprehensive and interesting dialogue on election-related laws and regulations, with additional information/updates from the ground.

The CBD project is a partnership of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Alternative Law Groups (ALG), and Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation/Germany (HSF).