DLSU hosts Task Force 2016 general assembly in preparation for 2016 nat’l elections

DLSU hosted the Task Force (TF) 2016 General Assembly last September 30 at the European Documentations Centre at the Henry Sy Sr. Hall. The meeting was attended by the University’s representatives from the Center for Social Concern and Action (DLSU-COSCA) and Boto Lasalyano, Sulong Pilipino (BLSP), as well as other delegates from other TF 2016 member universities and organizations.

Each of the representatives presented developments in their respective organization’s plans of action in preparation for the upcoming 2016 National and Local Elections (NLE). Some of the plans discussed includes local and regional Presidential and Vice Presidential debates and forums, campaign monitoring, poll watching, and voter’s education. In DLSU, the most significant action would be the source code review for the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

“Bantay Proseso, Bantay Pangako”

COSCA Director Lourdes Melegrito mentioned in her opening remarks that the TF members gathering once again, despite working with each other before, could only mean one thing: the problem(s) they are trying to solve is still the same.

As TF 2016’s main focus as “Bantay Proseso, Bantay Pangako,” volunteers from the different TF 2016 member organizations will actively participate and monitor the activities of both political candidates and voters from pre-elections to post-elections. This will include probing illegal schemes such as premature campaigning and vote-buying cases to ensure a more transparent NLE.

Atty. Rona Caritos of Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) assessed the TF 2016’s capabilities. According to her, the size of their team is both an advantage and a disadvantage in that there are too many volunteers in a certain region (NCR, for instance), but only very few in other places, specifically in Northern Philippines. Caritos expressed her concern for the TF to have member organizations coming from all over the Philippines to make sure that every region is monitored during the pre-election, election, and post-election periods.

On the other hand, the TF’s members are comprised mostly of the youth, who have the most access to social media.

Caritos also added that the TF would have an easier job of pushing for transparent elections if they have collaborations with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), which the TF is still working on. However, she and the rest of the other representatives in the general assembly vowed to do their best to contribute to achieving a better resulting NLE this coming 2016.

The following universities, offices, and/or organizations were represented in the meeting:

• National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
• Simbahang Lingkod sa Bayan (SLB)
• LENTE
• DLSU-COSCA
• BLSP
• University of Santo Tomas (UST)
• Ateneo de Manila University – Ateneo Task Force 2016 (ADMU-ATF)
• Ateneo de Manila University – Office of the Vice President for Social Development (ADMU-OVPSD)
• Ateneo de Manila University – Ateneo Law Student Council (ADMU-ALSC)
• Xavier University – Kristohang Katilingban sa Pagkabana- Social Involvement Office (XU-KKP-SIO)
• Ateneo de Zamboanga University – Ateneo Center for Leadership and Governance (ADZU-ACLG)
• Ateneo de Davao University – Arrupe Office of Social Formation (ADDU-AOSF)
• Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP)
• Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO)
• Jesuit Volunteers Philippines Foundation Inc. (JVPFI)
• Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID)
• Student Catholic Action of The Philippines (SCA)
• Libertas
• Veritas Philippines