FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND UPDATE

ON PPC-RV – NAMFREL COOPERATION

Both PPCRV and NAMFREL are accredited citizens’arm of the COMELEC mandated to do different but related duties. NAMFREL for quick count and PPCRV for pollwatching and voters’ education and assistance. Though organizationally separate and independent of each other, both organizations share a common mission: to have a peaceful, honest and credible elections. Because of this we commit ourselves to cooperate and mutually support each other in whatever and in the best way we can. The following instructions are intended to clarify and specify these areas of cooperation. Please be guided accordingly and ensure proper compliance:

Should the need arise and our assistance is requested, our PPCRV Polling Center Coordinator (a Polling Center is usually a school building or compound) will be ready to assist the NAMFREL Polling Center Coordinator to collect the sixth copy of the election return. The NAMFREL Coordinator will provide our PPCRV volunteers with proper I.D.’s to do this task. After retrieving the sixth copy our PPCRV volunteer will immediately turn-over the document and return the I.D. to the NAMFREL coordinator.

As mentioned in the earlier circular, PPCRV is not authorized to do any quick count. We therefore instruct once more our PPCRV units and parish priests to refrain from doing any quick count in whatever level to avoid confusion and possible violation of our mandate . We will, however, accomplish the Certificate of Votes per Precinct (not Statement of Votes per Precinct as wrongly stated in the earlier circular) but not for any quick count purposes but to be used for pollwatching the canvassing of votes on the city/municipality level.

If no NAMFREL coordinator is present in any given polling center, our PPCRV volunteers cannot and should not retrieve the sixth copy. Instead our coordinator should notify the NAMFREL Headquarters immediately.

We encourage the parish priest to call a meeting between the NAMFREL and PPCRV coordinators so that they will get to know one another and discuss some common concerns.

In the canvassing of votes PPCRV and NAMFREL will work together to ensure that the canvassing is honest and fair. Those who are watching the canvass should make their own working arrangement in the city/municipal level.

We will try to make available to our parish priests and PPCRV coordinators a list or directory of NAMFREL Coordinators for better communication and cooperation.

Please note two corrections from the earlier circular: a) the document to be used by PPCRV is called the Certificate of Votes not Statement of Votes, b) The Coordinator of CAL-MA-NA is not Ms. Annie Nicholas but Fr. Martin Guarin tel. 281-8393. Our apology.

Msgr. Bayani G. Valenzuela
Over-all PPCRV Priest Coordinator
May 02, 1998