Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 15)— Civil society groups made a commitment to remind the public in upholding their right of suffrage and to ensure the conduct of the 2022 elections.
The country will elect a new president and vice president in 2022, along with senators, congressmen, and local government officials.
In a unity statement entitled “Toward a C-22 (Covenant for the 2022 Elections)” released on Monday, the groups stressed the next elections must be held on May 9, 2022 as mandated by the 1987 Constitution.
“Any and all attempts and excuses to postpone the elections as scheduled are unacceptable. As the country adjusts to the effects of the global pandemic, we should vigilantly protect and uphold our basic rights, including the right of suffrage,” the unity statement reads.
The groups also denounced all efforts to postpone the 2022 elections, such as those who are proposing a term extension of elected government officials and amending the Constitution.
“We appeal to those in power to categorically disown and dismiss speculations about a “no-elections” (no-el) scenario which were created by the push for charter change and the proposed shift from presidential to parliamentary system,” they added.
They also urged new voters to register and old voters to uphold their right to vote, as a proof the public wants to push through a “safe, free, fair, credible, and transparent” 2022 elections.
The Commission on Elections resumed its voters’ registration for the 2022 elections on Sept. 1 and will last until September 2021. The Office of the Election Officer will accommodate registrants fromurged public to ensure conduct Tuesday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Around 70 individuals and 60 groups from the religious, academe, and civil society sectors signed the covenant.
Among the personalities who lent their signatures were Manila Archdiocese apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo, professor Danilo Arao of election watchdog Kontra Daya, former Commission on Elections Commissioner Luie Tito Guia, former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and economist and professor Solita Monsod.
Some of the groups who signed the covenant were Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, Alliance for the Common Good-Kapatiran Party, Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines, Kontra Daya, Automated Elections System Watch, Center for People Empowerment in Governance Church Urban Poor Solidarity, IBON Foundation, Caritas Philippines, and Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas.
Last August, a group named Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee expressed their support for a revolutionary government headed by President Rodrigo Duterte which will help fast-track federalism before his term ends in 2022.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque assured that Duterte will relinquish his post at the end of his term in 2022.
