De Villa now heads poll watchdog
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 13:15:00 07/05/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has a new head.
She is former Vatican ambassador Henrietta de Villa, who also chairs the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
De Villa said there is no conflict in chairing PPCRV, the Commission on Election’s civil society partner in the August 11 elections in Muslim Mindanao, and Namfrel as both groups have the same goal of achieving fraud-free elections in the Philippines.
De Villa said in a statement issued Friday that she was a Namfrel volunteer in the 1980s and that she was honored and humbled to be elected as chairman of the citizens’ group that has contributed so much to Philippine history and democracy.
For her first order of business as Namfrel chairman, De Villa ordered a shift in the focus of the organization for the upcoming automated Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao elections.
From organizing the quick counts, which made Namfrel famous, the group should now “repackage” itself by taking on the role of an external auditor to the automated results, De Villa said.
De Villa called on the Comelec to provide audit guidelines for the electronic polls in ARMM. Kristine L. Alave
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