Workers' Electoral Watch (WE Watch)- Bantayan ang Ating Boto: Mobile Caravan

March 17, 2010 - With only 54 days before the first-ever automated elections in the Philippines, still a majority of the voting population are still unaware of the new process of voting. To address this need, the workers' movement watchgroup, Workers' Electoral Watch (WE Watch), steps up its voters' education campaign by conducting a Mobile Caravan along the busy streets of Ayala Ave., Makati City.

The assembly area started in front of PLDT Makati Office in Makati Avenue corner Ayala Avenue, Legaspi Village, Makati City at 2:30pm, and ended around 6:00pm in the afternoon near the MRT Ayala Avenue Station.

The caravan aimed to encourage workers' active participation in monitoring the implementation of the first ever automated elections system and in reporting electoral fraud through WE Watch SMS-hotline. During the activity, the WE Watch jingle “Bantayan ang Ating Boto” was played and information materials were distributed.

Workers' Education and Monitoring for Clean Elections or Workers' Electoral Watch is a project funded by the European Union under its program European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). It was supported to ensure democratic participation in the election with a grant amounting to Euros 60,000 (Php 3M). WE Watch is a manifestation of solidarity in action among workers from the European Union and the Philippines, where taxes from workers in the European Union are utilized to augment democratic space for workers in the Philippines.

Some of the unions that participated in the caravan were from Gabay ng Unyon sa Telekomunikasyon ng mga Supervisor (GUTS-PLDT), United Merck Employees Association, and Planters Development Bank Employees Association (PDBEA). WE Watch Convenors, Mr. Joselito Natividad (EILER) and Mr. Charlie Arevalo (GUTS President) led the caravan.

“Workers, including employees, should actively take their part in supporting efforts to raise public awareness on the new voting system and ensure that their votes will be counted by monitoring and reporting electoral fraud,” said Natividad. #