Massive fraud
observed in Philippine elections
Press Release
June 28, 2022
QUEZON CITY – The
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
has completed its independent monitoring and assessment of the
Philippine elections that took place on May 9, 2022. The main
finding is that the election was not free, honest, or fair by
international standards. It was a classic ‘guns, goons, and gold’
contest and marked by a successful massive social media campaign to
rebrand the kleptocratic Marcos family’s brutal dictatorship as the
golden age of Philippine politics. The return of the disgraced
Marcos family to center stage in the Philippines is consistent with
the feudal dynastic system that is the centerpiece of political life
in the country.
Evidence gathered by the
International Observers Mission
The Philippine Election
2022 International Observer Mission (IOM) was established as a
response to Investigate PH’s independent international investigation
into human rights violations in the Philippines. The IOM has had
over 60 observers from 11 countries on the ground since April 1, who
have meticulously documented the campaign, the vote, and the
aftermath in various areas including Central Luzon, National Capital
Region, Southern Tagalog, Southern Luzon, Central Visayas, Western
Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Mindanao. IOM observers included
members of national parliaments, lawyers, trade unionists, church
people, youth and students, educators, scientists, and human rights
advocates. At various times, the IOM observers themselves were
subjected to harassment and red-tagging by the police and military.
“The observers reported
that the May elections showed a higher level of failure of the
electronic voting system than ever before, along with a higher level
of blatant vote-buying, a disturbing level of red-tagging of
candidates and parties, as well as a number of incidents of deadly
violence. A large number of voters did not get to cast their vote,
and many had to trust that election officials would later put their
marked ballot paper through a Vote Counting Machine, thus
undermining the secrecy of the vote,” said Lee Rhiannon, former
Australian Senator and Commissioner of the IOM.
Massive fraud and failure
of the democratic process
The main conclusion of the
IOM is that the recent Philippine national elections were a failure
of the democratic process. The elections took place in the most
repressive context seen since the time of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Military and state officials openly campaigned against the
opposition by red-tagging the Leni Robredo campaign, as well as
other candidates for Senate and partylist groups. “Throughout the
election campaign, the Duterte government continued its orchestrated
campaign of state terror. As part of its war on dissent, the
government marshalled the entire machinery of government, including
the judiciary, the military and police; and government departments
of education, social services, and local governments,” said Danilo
Arao of the anti-election fraud organization Kontra Daya. The IOM
observed soldiers in Eastern Visayas up to the election day
intimidating people not to vote for Bayan Muna and other progressive
party lists.
The May 9 election did not
meet the standard of “free, honest, and fair” because of these
prevailing conditions. It robbed voters of access to reliable
information, access to voting places without intimidation, and a
credible vote counting system. The IOM has reported election-related
violations of human rights since early March in the form of
political killings, shootings, abductions, death threats, political
arrests, harassment and surveillance of candidates and supporters,
large-scale red tagging, widespread vote-buying, media manipulation
and repression, fake news, and harassment of journalists by the
Marcos campaign. IOM researchers identified that the 2022 election
results were the first time in five presidential elections in the
Philippines that the number of votes garnered by an Automated
Electronic System (AES) president is higher than the number one AES
elected senator, suggesting massive fraud.
Rule of political
dynasties
“The tendency towards a
one-party state evident under the Duterte regime was omnipresent in
the results of the May vote. In essence it was an exercise in para-military
democracy fused with a system of feudal dynastic rule,” said Chris
Ferguson, IOM Commissioner and former General Secretary of the World
Communion of Reformed Churches. While there remain many political
parties, most pay fealty to the Marcos-Duterte bloc. The opposition
was all but wiped out in the Senate, with only one of the 12
candidates elected not allied with the Marcos-Duterte bloc in one
way or another, and 3 political dynasties now controlling a quarter
of the Senate seats. Similarly, the partylist system has been
corrupted by dynastic politics to the point where only a shrinking
sliver of the successful groups represent disadvantaged or
marginalized sectors in Philippine society. “The partylist system
should return to its intended purpose because now it is yet another
failed attempt to democratize the Philippine political process,”
continued Ferguson.
Democratic reforms needed
within the Philippine political system
The results of the May
election are the latest in a series of chronic failures of the
Philippine political system to offer the economic and social reforms
required to advance social rights and speaks to the need for major
reform. These political reforms required to democratize the
Philippine polity include removing the feudal family dynasties from
politics, reviewing the efficacy of the AES and renewing the
partylist system to give a greater voice to the marginalized and
dispossessed sectors.
“For the international
community and proponents of human rights, the results of the
election represent a worst-case scenario. ICHRP’s concern is that
the new Marcos-Duterte government will continue to provide legal and
legislative cover for past and future human rights violations and
crimes against humanity,” said Rev. Michael Yoshii, Commissioner of
the IOM and member of the ICHRP Global Council.
Yoshii continued, “the
return of a Marcos to the presidency and the virtual elimination of
legislative opposition represents a huge challenge for the
international community. There must be a renewed effort to
strengthen civil society and the organizations representing the
popular sectors. A renewal of the democratic foundations of
Philippine society will be essential to combating the pervasive
authoritarian tendencies in Philippine society.” This ultimately
means elimination of oppressive institutions such as the National
Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and reducing the
role of the military in public affairs, both of which played such a
strong anti-democratic role in the electoral process.
Monitoring and reporting
of the international community
“Looking forward, there
needs to be an intensified international focus on the new Marcos-Duterte
government and their ongoing human rights record. The international
community needs to strengthen the capacity of internal and external
human rights organizations to monitor and report on the situation in
the Philippines,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the ICHRP Global
Council.
“At the same time, the
international community should continue to hold the outgoing Duterte
team accountable for its abysmal human rights record. This work is
underway at the International Criminal Court, and in the United
Nations Human Rights Council processes, and can be pursued in
national jurisdictions with Magnitsky-style laws. There should be no
hint of a green light for continued human rights violations under
the incoming Marcos-Duterte administration,” Murphy concluded.