Capacity and compromise: COMELEC, NAMFREL and election fraud

• Main Author: Calimbahin, Cleo Anne A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Elections—Corrupt practices—Philippines; Elections—Philippines; Philippines. Commission on Elections; National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Philippines); Political Science
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/6404
• Institution: De La Salle University

In the seven decades since its formation, the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has been tasked with a mandate to lead the electoral process with integrity and credibility as a constitutional commission that is independent and impartial. Yet, in spite of the fact that the Philippines has the longest electoral experience in Southeast Asia, its Commission on Elections exhibits very little evidence of strong procedural norms to protect it from interference by politicians and unscrupulous entrepreneurial bureaucrats from within. This paper will illustrate the constantly changing relationship between COMELEC and the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). An examination of COMELEC performance in the elections of 1953, 1986 and 2004 will help illustrate not only the pervasive weaknesses ingrained in this institution, but also its occasional triumphs and the key role of actors from outside the state in Philippine election monitoring. Internal reform initiatives within COMELEC combined with the nationwide participation of volunteers from NAMFREL bolstered the COMELEC’s election administration capacity in 1953. By contrast, during the 1986 snap election, the COMELEC suffered from such a credibility deficit that the voting public looked to NAMFREL to deliver accurate election results. But in 2004, both COMELEC and NAMFREL suffered from credibility deficit when questions were raised regarding the impartiality of both institutions. Reformist initiatives from outside the state can increase the capacity of a political institution and serve as a catalyst for change, but over time, they can suffer from similar organizational pathologies they were originally seeking to fix.