Resolution No. 10508

WHEREAS, Philippine and foreign nationals, whether as individuals or in groups, whether representing governmental or private interests, are expected to observe and monitor the conduct of the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections;

WHEREAS, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), as the sole government agency charged with the conduct of honest, orderly and peaceful electoral exercises, has a substantial interest in maintaining the orderliness and credibility of the elections;

WHEREAS, election observation and monitoring play an important role in providing accurate and impartial assessments about the conduct of the elections and has the potential to enhance the integrity of the electoral process;

WHEREAS, there is a necessity to provide for the accreditation and regulate the activities of domestic and foreign observers/monitors in the elections in accordance with established international standards on election monitoring;

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the powers vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code, and other election laws, the COMELEC has RESOLVED, as it hereby RESOLVES, to promulgate the following guidelines:

SECTION 1. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Resolution:

1. Domestic observer or monitor refers to any Philippine national, whether or not a resident of the Philippines, formally observing or monitoring the conduct of the elections.
2. Domestic group, organization, committee or association refers to any group of individuals organized under the laws of the Philippines.
3. Foreigner or Foreign national refers to any person whose nationality is other than Filipino, whether or not a resident of the Philippines.
4. Foreign group, organization, committee or association refers to any group of individuals duly organized and existing under national laws other than that of the Philippines.

SECTION 2. Qualifications for Accreditation. - Applicants must have a bona fide intention to participate in the conduct of the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections exclusively as observers or monitors of the electoral process, must be free from any political, economic or other conflicts of interests that would interfere with conducting observations/monitoring impartially, and must comply with the provisions of Sections 6 and 11 hereof. Applicants are required to disclose their intention to take part the conduct of the elections as domestic or foreign observers or monitors.

SECTION 3. Application for Accreditation - Filipino or Foreign nationals, whether as individuals or in groups, whether representing governmental or private interests, who are interested to observe or monitor the conduct of the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections, shall file personally an Application for Accreditation at the following offices:

1. COMELEC Education and Information Department (EID) - for foreign observers and domestic observers with official addresses in the National Capital Region.
2. Offices of the Regional Election Directors (OREDs) concerned - for domestic observers residing within the provinces in the region.

SECTION 4. Application Forms. - Application forms for accreditation shall be available at the COMELEC EID, the OREDs and the Offices of the Provincial Election Supervisors. They may be also downloaded from the COMELEC website (http://www.comelec.gov.ph).

The individual application forms shall be reviewed and evaluated by the EID and OREDs which shall recommend to the Commission en banc the final list of applicants for approval prior to the issuance of the appropriate individual Accredited Observer Passes.

The recommendation to the Commission en Banc shall be accompanied by the documents required to be submitted under Section 5 of this Resolution and, in the proper cases, such documents as may have been submitted under Sections 7 and 8 of this Resolution.

The Commission en Banc shall, within seven (7) days from the submission of the recommendations of the EID and the OREDs, approve or disapprove the recommendations.

SECTION 5. Documentary Requirements. - The application shall be supported by the following documents:

1. Duly accomplished application form for accreditation;
2. Two (2) recent 1.5"x 1.5" colored photographs of the applicant;
3. If foreigner or foreign group, organization, committee or association organization, endorsement issued by the ambassador or consul of the applicant's home country; and
4. Terms of Reference or similar document, explaining the purposes of the elections observation mission.

SECTION 6. Period for Filing Application for Accreditation. - The period for filing applications for accreditation shall be from the effectivity of this Resolution until March 15, 2019. The COMELEC reserves the right to entertain, for meritorious reasons, applications filed after this deadline.

SECTION 7. Opposition to the Application for Accreditation. - Any opposition to applications for accreditation shall be filed within five (5) days from filing of the application being contested. The opposition for accreditation shall be filed with the Office where the application being contested was filed.

SECTION 8. Grounds for opposition. - The opposition shall be filed on any of the following grounds:

1. the applicant has a previous derogatory record; or
2. any of the submitted documentary requirements is not authentic, falsified or contains any information which is false.

The Director IV of the EID or the Regional Election Director (RED) concerned shall resolve the opposition within three (3) days from the receipt thereof.

For this purpose, the EID and OREDs shall post an updated list of applicants at the bulletin boards of their respective offices.

SECTION 9. Accredited Observer Passes. - Upon approval of the applications for accreditation, the EID and OREDs shall issue the appropriate Accredited Observer Passes to the accredited observers/monitors.

SECTION 10. Privileges. - Duly accredited domestic or foreign observers or monitors shall have the following privileges:

• Unimpeded access to all stages of the electoral processes;
• Unimpeded access to all persons concerned with electoral processes, including, but not limited to:
  1. Electoral officials at all levels, upon reasonable requests
  2. Members of legislative bodies and government and security officials whose functions are relevant to organizing democratic elections;
  3. All political parties, organizations and persons participating in the elections, in whatever capacity; and
  4. News media personnel.

SECTION 11. Code of Conduct. - All duly accredited observers/monitors shall be deemed bound by the following Guidelines:

1. Respect the authority of election officials and their duly accredited deputies at all times.
2. Prominently display the Accredited Observer Pass, provided by the COMELEC, at all times.
3. Refrain from interfering with, obstructing, or otherwise hampering the conduct of any election related activity, including preparatory and post-election activities.
4. Maintain proper personal behavior and respect others, including exhibiting sensitivity to the country's cultures and customs, exercise sound judgment in personal interactions and observe the highest level of professional conduct at all times, including leisure times; and
5. Maintain impartiality and objectivity in carrying out the observation/monitoring mission.

SECTION 12. Summary Revocation of Accreditation. - The accreditation of any observer/monitor may be summarily revoked by the Electoral Board by confiscating the Accredited Observer Pass, and removing him/her or the group from the polling station and, due to any of the following grounds:

• Any violation of the Code of Conduct.
• Any disruptive behavior by anyone in the group.
• Misconduct which may include but not limited to:
  1. breaching or attempting to breach the secrecy of the ballot;
  2. knowingly obstructing electoral proceedings;
  3. asking electors about their voting preference while observing at the polling station.

The accreditation of the organizations may also be revoked if it refuses to promptly remove an observer found to be in breach of this Code from their list of nominated individuals.

The power of the Electoral Board to remove observers/monitors for misconduct is in addition to their general power to keep order at the relevant electoral proceeding.

SECTION 13. Period of Validity of Accreditation. - Accreditation of domestic or foreign election observers/monitors shall be valid from the date of the approval of the application until the end of election period or until June 12, 2019.

SECTION 14. Prohibited Acts. - It shall be unlawful for any domestic, foreigner, domestic or foreign group, organization, committee or association to:

1. Aid any person or group of persons in whatever manner, directly or indirectly, relative to the conduct of the elections (Sec. 81 & 89, OEC);
2. Take part or influence in any manner the conduct of the elections (Sec. 81 & 261 (j), OEC);
3. Engage in partisan political activities, which refer to acts designed to affect the results of the elections (Sec. 79 (b), OEC);
4. Contribute or make any expenditure in connection with any election campaign or partisan political activity (81 & 261 (j), OEC);
5. Enter any polling place without consent of the chairman of the Electoral Board concerned (Sec. 192, OEC);
6. Mingle and talk with voters inside any polling place, or otherwise disrupt the proceedings in the polling place (Sec. 192, OEC);
7. Threaten, intimidate, or actually causes, inflicts or produces any violence, injury, punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage upon any person (Sec. 261 (e), OEC); and
8. Propagate false and alarming reports or information, transmit or circulate false orders, directives or messages relating to the conduct of the elections (Sec. 261 (z.11), OEC).

SECTION 15. Penalty for Violation. - Any violation of the immediately preceding Section shall be punishable as an election offense which, if found guilty, may be penalized by an imprisonment of not less than one (1) but not more than six (6) years and shall not be subject to probation. In addition, if the guilty party is a Filipino, the offender shall be sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of right of suffrage. On the other hand, if the guilty party is a foreigner, he shall be sentenced to deportation, which shall be enforced after the prison term has been served (Section 264, OEC).

SECTION 16. Reportorial Requirements. - Accredited domestic and foreign observers shall make a report to the Commission en banc of their observations in a conference for this purpose and/or written report submitted to the Office of the Chairman and the EID on or before the end of the election period or until June 12, 2019.

SECTION 17. Effectivity. - This resolution shall take effect immediately after its publication in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

SECTION 18. Dissemination. - The EID and OREDs shall implement this Resolution.

The Executive Director shall furnish copies of this Resolution to the Office of the President, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Information Agency, and all mass media organizations.

The Department of Foreign Affairs shall furnish copies of this Resolution to all foreign embassies and consulates.

The EID shall cause the publication of this Resolution in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation and shall furnish copies to the Regional Election Directors, Provincial Election Supervisors and the Election Officers.

SO ORDERED.

SIGNED:

• ABAS, SHERIFF M., Chairman
• PARREÑO, AL A., Commissioner
• GUIA, LUIE TITO F., Commissioner
• GUANZON, MA. ROWENA AMELIA V., Commissioner
• INTING, SOCORRO B., Commissioner
• CASQUEJO, MARLON S., Commissioner
• KHO, ANTONIO JR. T., Commissioner