MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, May 3 (PIA) -- Poll monitors and observers play a vital role in ensuring the credibility of the upcoming May 13 elections.
This was highlighted during the Election Reform Summit held on Thursday at the Mamitua Research Center in Mindanao State University here.
Police Supt. John Roderick Morales, deputy for administration of the Lanao del Sur Police Office, said the help and cooperation of all election stakeholders, especially poll monitors and observers, are needed to ensure the conduct of secure and fair elections.
He said even if numerous security personnel are deployed in the polling places, it will still be hard to achieve secure and fair elections without the eyes and the voice of monitors and observers.
He thus hopes for more monitors and observers from non-government organizations and private organizations during the elections.
Assemblywoman Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) legislative assembly women sector representative, reiterated the same sentiment, saying that the gains of the electoral reforms implemented in the region will be re-echoed during the elections through the help of poll watchdogs and international monitors.
She said the 103rd Infantry Brigade will also place closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at strategic places to monitor polling areas.
Gutoc-Tomawis added that the reformed ARMM will be tested with the coming elections.
Lawyer Michael Ignes, acting election officer of Marawi City, meanwhile reminded the Citizens CARE or the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reform to immediately submit a list of monitors to his office for authentication and issuance of identification cards.
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