All Systems Go for WE Watch on May 10: Calls for Citizen's Vigilance in Monitoring Electoral Fraud

With the Supreme Court deciding to push for the Automated Election on May 10, 2010, it is all systems go for the Workers Electoral Watch (WE Watch). After weeks of intense skill-shares sessions with various unions and workers organizations across the Philippine islands, We Watch now has over 400 poll watchers and around 500 volunteer reporters spread among the cities of Metro Manila, Metro Davao, Metro Cebu, Metro Baguio, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Subic, Bacolod City, and Iloilo City.

After the training sessions, all pollwatchers were given their respective I.D., uniform and checklists to monitor any irregularities during the election process. A set of mobile numbers have been setup by We Watch where pollwatchers and volunteer reporters can send their reports on the events surrounding the May 2010 national elections.

Pollwatchers and volunteers, including the general public, can send their report via SMS by sending a text message in the following format:

Report space Name space Town space Province

and sending the message to the following numbers: Globe 09156701434, Smart 09293361581 and Sun 09235320142.

Aside from SMS as medium of electoral reporting, the web is also being utilized by the network. People can visit the http://reports.we-watch.net/reports/submit and place their online report. The network has also setup a twitter account www.Twitter.com/workerswatch and a Facebook account www.facebook.com/workerswatch.

We Watch also engaged various groups covering the May 2010 elections, including www.100Araw.com/, www.ElectionExchange.ph/, www.thepoc.net/poc-presents/blog-watch.html, www.aeswatch.org/, www.bmpm.abs-cbnnews.com/, www.findyourprecinct.ph/ and will be sharing relevant, election-related information with the abovementioned groups.

WE Watch is a project implemented by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, Inc. (EILER) with support from the European Union under its European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) program.

For more information, please contact:
Joselito M. Natividad, 09088642151, Lead Convenor, WE Watch