The International Philippine Election Observation Team 2010 (IPEOTeam2010) is now seeking interested individuals to be election observers in the May 10, 2010, Philippine General elections, according to Rev. Larry Emery, Presbyterian Pastor in the Sacramento area and the Spokesperson for the Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines.

The team is being formed at the request of the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Justice in the Philippines (EVPJP), which was convened for the election by the National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP) and other church and human rights groups.

The IPEOTeam2010 will help recruit, fund and train as many as 60 volunteer observers from throughout North America. They will join other elections observers from around the world who will also partner with the EVPJP.  Political science and international relations students are especially being encouraged to take part. In addition photographers and videographers will be recruited to serve as support staff.

"Honest elections, equal representation and good governance are all things that the Philippine people desire for their country," Rev. Emery also stated.  "Our hope is that as international observers we can help turn that desire into a reality."  Lindsey Kerr, Coordinator for the human rights network USAPAN (USA-Philippine Advocacy Network), went on to comment, “The Philippines is at a crossroads as far as Democracy is concerned. Election controversies under GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines) have increased peoples distrust of the system. Perhaps if people feel there is an international presence observing and reporting on the election they will feel more willing to let their voices be heard."

Many of the observers are expected to be Filipino-Americans and Filipino-Canadians. "People of Filipino descent care about the Philippines and its people," IPEOTeam member Michael Luat emphasized. "This is true for 3rd and 4th generation Filipino's as well as recent immigrants. We welcome their participation." Luat is a school teacher and is of Filipino descent.

Another group that will be encouraged to join the IPEOTeam2010 for the elections will be IT experts according to Brett Baker, President of Baker Advocacy and Consulting and Former Policy Analyst for California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi.  "While the introduction of electronic voting in the Philippines is a great step forward, it will create new and unique challenges for election observers.  IT analysis will help election observers be more accurate and thorough." Baker went on to say that the team had approached the Jimmy Carter Center for advice on the issue.

A particular concern of the IPEOTeam2010 is the possible attempts by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to influence the election.  There were wide-spread reports of the military intimidating voters during the 2004 and 2007 elections, in violation of international election standards.  Rev. Emery served as an election observer in the 2007 election in central Luzon.  He said he observed uniformed soldiers questioning voters on their ways to the polls.  Most refused to tell observers what the military had said to them. Some reported, however, that the soldiers had warned them of what would happen if they voted for certain party-list groups. (Party-list groups in the Philippines are parties that represent certain sectors of society.) 

"In the past Filipino's would say that elections in the Philippines were controlled by guns, goons and gold," Rev. Emery concluded.  "Can they now say it is controlled by guns, goons, gold and generals?" The team will report its finding on that issue and others following the upcoming election.

The team has established a website and blog which has details about the 2010 elections, information about election observing and applications forms.  The site is http://sites.google.com/site/ipeoteam2010/ They also will communicate by Twitter under the name, rpelection2010.

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