Strengthening ARMM Elections

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Strengthening ARMM Elections toPromote Peace

By Abhoud Syed M. LinggaThe ARMM in Transition Series brings together

academics and leaders in the Autonomous region in

Muslim Mindanao to a discussion and analysis of

critical issues that shape the future of the autonomous

region. Views expressed in this paper do not

necessarily reflect those of the Institute for Autonomy

and Governance, Inc. and the Konrad- Adenauer-

Stiftung.

This paper Strengthening ARMM Elections

to Promote Peace addresses the following questions:

What lessons can be drawn from the recent electionsin the ARMM? What role do regional political parties

play in these elections? What can be done to make

elections an instrument for greater democratization and

peace in the region?

This paper is written by Prof. Abhoud Syed

M. Lingga, Executive Director of the Institute for

Bangsamoro Studies in Cotabato City. Lay-out by

Grace Delos Reyes-Talamillo.

This series is made possible through the grant of

the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung. KAS is in 3rd

floor,ALPAP I building, 140 Leviste Street, Salcedo Village,

Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines, telephone 894-

3501.

Established in 2001, the Institute for Autonomy

and Governance, Inc., seeks to provide research,

training and technical assistance to promote

meaningful autonomy and governance in the southern

Philippines. The Institute is at the Alumni Center, Notre

Dame University, Notre Dame Avenue, Cotabato City,

Philippines, telephone 0918-5040-805.

No. 5 September 20, 2005

ARMMARMMARMMARMMARMM in Transition Series

INSTITUTE FOR AUTONOMY AND GOVERNANCE KONRAD ADENAUER-STIFTUNG

ALUMNI CENTER, NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY, COTABATO CITY

Introduction

The 1987 constitution of the Philippines provides for the

establishment of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the

Cordillera. With this constitutional mandate the Philippine Government

created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as its

own approach of complying with the 1976 Tripoli Agreement between

the Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)

which provide for establishment of autonomy for the Muslims in South

Philippines within the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the

Philippines. The Philippine Congress passed in 1989 Republic Act No

6734, the law governing the creation and operations of the ARMM

In a plebiscite conducted on November 19, 1989, four out of thethirteen provinces proposed in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement voted to

constitute the autonomous region. After the conclusion of the

negotiations between the Government and the MNLF in 1996

amendments were introduced in the ARMM Organic Act to

accommodate provisions of the GRP-MNLF final agreement. Republic

Act No. 9054, the new ARMM organic act, became a law on March

13, 2001. In the plebiscite held on August 14, 2002, one province and

one city joined the autonomous region.

At present the ARMM is composed of five provinces and one

city. One hundred municipalities and 2,459 barangays (villages)

constitute the area of autonomy. It has a population of 2,873,232 and

89.17 percent are Muslims. The autonomous region is the poorest in

the whole Philippines. Poverty incidence of families in 2003 was 45.7

percent compared with the national figure of 24.7 percent, and poverty

incidence of population was 53.1 percent in the ARMM and 30.4

percent for the whole country.

There are 1,057,458 registered voters in the autonomous region

which is 2.43 percent of the total number of voters in the whole country

CONTENTS

General Observation

Election Management and

Administration

Political Parties

Civil Society

Conclusion and Recommendations

2

3

3

4

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The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) established 7,784 election precincts in

the five component provinces and one city.

Number of Precincts and Registered Voters

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

As of April 28, 2004

Province Number of Precincts Registered VotersARMM 7,784 1,057,458

Basilan* 711 117,467Maguindanao** 2,475 334,287Lanao del Sur 2,010 275,572Sulu 1,884 209,677Tawi-Tawi 704 120,455

*Excluding the City of Isabela**Excluding the City of Cotabato

Source:Comm ission on Elections

Since its creation, five elections were held in the ARMM to elect the Regiona

Governor, Regional Vice-Governor and members of the Regional Legislative Assembly

(RLA) composed of three members from each district. Three elections were held

under the old organic law and two under the new organic act.

ARMM ElectionsFebruary 12, 1990

March 25, 1993

September 9, 1996November 26, 2001

August 8, 2005

GENERAL OBSERVATION

Since its creation the transfer of power in the ARMM had been through the

ballot box. Although there is growing cynicism regarding the credibility of the election

process, nonetheless the institutionalization of election is a democratic developmen

in the autonomous region that has to be recognized. Base on COMELEC figures,there was great number of voters who exercise their right to vote during elections

Except during the November 26, 2001 elections where the voters turnout was just

21.99 percent, the voters turnouts during the past four elections were relatively

high. The voters turnout was 76.44 percent during the September 9, 1996 election

82.39 percent in the March 25, 1993 election; and 80.09 percent in the February 12

1990 election. The estimated turnout last August 8, 2005 election was 88.2 percent.

Although there is

growing cynicism

regarding the credibility

of the election process,

nonetheless the

institutionalization ofelection is a democratic

development in the

autonomous region that

has to be recognized.


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ELECTION MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Although schedule of election is fixed by law but this has always been

postponed. Only the first election was held on time. The irregularity of election

schedules made it difficult for political parties and candidates to plan for

election activities. Consequently, terms of office of incumbents were extended

beyond what are provided by law.

The voters lists in the ARMM are full of multiple registrants. This is admitted

by the COMELEC but it failed to purge the voters lists of multiple registrants

and under age registrants. There was also failure on the part of COMELEC

to inform voters who were reassigned to vote in different precincts resulting

to disenfranchisement of many voters.

The failure of the COMELEC to automate the polling, counting and

transmission of results cast doubt on the election process, despite the efforts

of the COMELEC last election to centralize the counting of votes. Instead of

the traditional canvassing done at the precinct levels the votes were counted

in centers put up in each of the five ARMM provinces. However, there werestill allegations that ballots were filled up before the day of election, and

many were disenfranchised allegedly because somebody voted using their

names. Congress is now investigating these charges.

Vote buying is reported every election but no concrete step done to stop this

practice. Both the COMELEC and the political parties have not shown any

effort to put an end to vote buying.

The peaceful conduct of election last August 8 was a commendable

achievement of the COMELEC, the police and military. It demonstrated that

peaceful election is possible, and violence in past elections could have beenavoided if the COMELEC, police and military did their job.

Although there are democratic institutions like an independent judiciary that

act as arbiter in election complaints the process of adjudicating election protests

is slow and costly.

POLITICAL PARTIES

There is no regional political party with ARMM population as its focus

constituency. There are five accredited Muslim political parties that have

their constituencies both in areas of the ARMM and outside the ARMM.

The founding presidents of these political parties are: Dr. Mahid M. Mutilan

(Ompia Party), Ustadz Abdulmalik Laguindab (Ummah Party), Ustadz

Ebrahim Abdulrahman (Islamic Party of the Philippines), Kamar Mindalano

(Muslim Reform Party), and Basher Calauto Edris (Peoples Consultative

Party).

Like the national political parties these Muslim political parties do not seek

mass membership only mass support during election.

Although schedule of

election is fixed by law

but this has always been

postponed. Only the first

election was held ontime.

The peaceful conduct

of election last August 8

was a commendable

achievement of the

COMELEC, the police

and military. It

demonstrated that

peaceful election is

possible, and violence in

past elections could

have been avoided if the

COMELEC, police and

military did their job.


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Muslim Political Parties with Constituencies

In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

(April 11, 2001)

Political Party Constituency HeadquartersOMPIA Party Regions IX and XII* Marawi CityMuslim Reform Party Lanao del Sur and Lanao

del Norte

Marawi City

Peoples ConsultativeParty (Mushawara)

Lanao del Sur, Lanao delNorte, Maguindanao,Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi,Zamboanga del Sur

Marawi City

Ummah Party Lanao del Sur, Lanao delNorte,

Marawi City and IliganCity

Islamic Party of thePhilippines

Island of Mindanao,Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi

Sultan Kudarat,Maguindanao

*Ompia Party was registered before the establishment of the ARMM. At that time the Provinces of

Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur were part of Region XII, and the Provinces of Basilan, Sulu andTawi-Tawi were parts of Region IX.

Source: Commission on Elections

No regional political party won election in the ARMM. All elected regional

governors were candidates of national political parties in power. Vice Governor

Mahid M. Mutilan, the running mate of Governor Parouk S. Hussin, won in

the November 26, 2001 election as Lakas NUCD-UMDP candidate

Seemingly, being an administration candidate is insurance for victory. This is

probably the reason why candidates would lobby for Malacaang backing.

Even in the RLA no regional party had ever captured majority seats.

Political parties and candidates offered no real platform or positions on issues

affecting the ARMM as basis of voters in selecting the candidates they would

vote.

The MNLF boycott of the last election could have been precluded if the MNLF

transformed itself into political party after it signed the 1996 peace accord.

Having strong political party, the MNLF would no longer need Malacaang

endorsement to win the election, and it can even bring out as election issues

the alleged failure of the national government to implement fully the 1996peace agreement.

CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil society involvement in the election process in the ARMM is weak. In the

last election; there were NGOs who came out with manifesto for clean and

honest election; others were engaged in voters education; and few acted as

watchdogs during voting, counting and canvassing of votes. All these efforts

were done at the local level with no regional network that coordinates their

activities.

Political parties and

candidates offered no

real platform or

positions on issues

affecting the ARMM as

basis of voters in

selecting the candidatesthey would vote.


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NGOs efforts were usually done little bit too late. For example, the voters

education training was done in mid June less than two months before the

August 8 election. For civil society groups to be effective, their advocacy and

voters education programs should be continuing process.

The problem of generating active civil society involvement during elections is

the perception that the ARMM was meant to fail from the beginning coupled

with the opinion of many that it is not the solution to the Bangsamoro problem.

The poor performance of the ARMM in addressing issues of good governance,

delivery of services, corruption and the rule of law for the last fifteen years

reinforced these perceptions.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Credible election is not only necessary for legitimacy of elected officials but

essential for people to trust and have confidence in the ARMM as political institution.

The growing cynicism on the electoral process in the autonomous region isnot without basis. And because of this there is need to reform the election process in

areas of administration and management of election, political parties, and civil society

involvement the three important pillars to attain credible election process.

Below are some doable recommendations, if implemented before the 2008 election

(if it will not be postponed), will contribute to the efforts of achieving strong electoral

system and credible election in the ARMM.

Elections in the ARMM should be held on fixed schedule as provided by law.

The national government should stop the practice of postponing election

schedule.

Election of provincial, city and municipal officials of the component provinces

and city of the ARMM should be synchronized with the election of the regional

officials.

The COMELEC should modernize the election process. The use of antiquated

system of casting, counting, canvassing and reporting of votes provide wide

range of commission of malfeasance acts that undermine the credibility of the

electoral process.

Encourage the organization and strengthening of regional political parties to

articulate and push for ARMM agenda. Regional political parties with

constituencies both in and outside ARMM areas cannot focus on the needs

and aspiration of the people of the ARMM, likewise continuing reliance on

national political parties will not be very helpful because the national parties

have to attend to the interests of their larger constituencies.

Support the organization of regional networks of civil society groups that can

undertake programs on voters education and serve as watchdog during voting,

counting, canvassing and reporting of votes.

The problem of

generating active civil

society involvement

during elections is the

perception that the

ARMM was meant to

fail from the beginning

coupled with the

opinion of many that it

is not the solution to the

Bangsamoro problem.

Credibleelection is not only

necessary for legitimacy

of elected officials but

essential for people to

trust and have

confidence in the

ARMM as political

institution.

Documents

Strengthening ARMM Elections