By LENTE
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided to give the 29th copy of the election returns to the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), which it recently accredited as a national citizens’ arm handling the legal aspects of the presidential elections.
The decision was reached in an en banc session Saturday, as Comelec chair Jose Melo and the six commissioners unanimously agreed to grant Lente’s petition seeking the 29th copy of the election returns.
Commissioner Rene Sarmiento has confirmed to Lente officials the Comelec decision, saying that the official resolution signed by the chair and six commissioners would come out today, May 9.
Lente co-convenor Carlos Medina hailed the Comelec’s decision, saying it would clarify which private watchdog groups would have access to copies of the election returns.
Reports said field volunteers were confused as the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), through its chair Henrietta de Villa, issued a memorandum informing them that PPCRV was the only private watch group that has access to copies of those election returns.
Comelec has accredited three private citizens’ arms with nationwide networks: PPCRV, Lente and the Mindanao-based Citizens’ Coalition for ARRM Electoral Reform (C-CARE).
Lente is a nationwide nonpartisan election watch organization composed of volunteers, mostly lawyers and paralegal works, who are trained in election laws.
Its volunteers monitor the legal aspects of the electoral process, as it believes that effective democracy begins with elections that reflect the genuine will of the people. They build up cases of election cheating and other offenses and file them before the appropriate courts.
Its member-organizations: Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), One Voice, Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines – National Secretariat for Social Action, We-Watch, Pugadlawin, NUJP and several others.