Kontra Daya calls on the Filipino people to be vigilant and act against election fraud. We need not wait for May 9, 2022 to witness the occurrence of fraud. The efforts to steal the elections are underway through the use of massive government and private resources, widespread disinformation, state terror and foreign intervention. So much is at stake in the 2022 polls that the people should prepare and mobilize against fraud as early as now.
The incumbent administration is mobilizing the government’s vast resources, including what can only be viewed as “pork barrel” funds in various projects to maintain the loyalty of government officials and ensure an administration victory. The delivery of public services is being made to appear as the personal projects of administration candidates. We call on the public to report the shameless use of government resources for partisan political activity ahead of the campaign period. At the same time, ill gotten wealth from previous administrations, notably the Marcos Dictatorship, is also being utilized for the campaign of certain candidates.
Kontra Daya raises the alarm regarding widespread disinformation campaigns undertaken by the incumbent and a presidential frontrunner who are intent on lying their way to Malacañang. Disinformation online has reached pandemic proportions and threatens to undermine the upcoming polls. We call on various social media platforms to stop disinformation, coordinated inauthentic behavior and online harassment and to take down political advertisements that spread false claims. We call on the same to investigate the use of foreign troll farms that fake support for certain candidates and fall under the category of coordinated inauthentic behavior. We call on the public to report sites that promote disinformation and historical distortion. Kontra Daya will come out with a guide on how to do this.
We call attention to the rising number of election-related violent incidents and state-sponsored repression. We expect these to further increase as the elections draw near. With cases of red-tagging on the rise, it appears that the Duterte regime and its NTF-ELCAC will again train their guns on legitimate partylist groups competing in the 2022 elections. This, even as the NTF-ELCAC fields its own partylist groups which constitutes a flagrant violation of the partylist law that prohibits government-funded entities from participating in the partylist race.
As in previous electoral contests, the one in 2022 will not be free from foreign intervention as world powers are keenly vested in its outcome. The current geopolitical situation increases the likelihood of foreign intervention whether through online means and through funding for favored candidates.
The upcoming elections will be the first during a pandemic but the fifth one using the automated polls. Restrictions brought about by the pandemic should be critically reviewed to avoid massive disenfranchisement of voters and unfair election campaigning.
Lack of transparency and safeguards continue to hound Smartmatic’s Automated Election System (AES). The entry of Duterte’s crony, Dennis Uy, who donated P30 million to Duterte’s 2016 candidacy, as the main logistics provider also raises questions on safeguards in the AES. The people should therefore mobilize before, during and after the elections to thwart any attempt to tamper with the election results.
Our people are the best deterrent to fraud. Let us help ensure that despite the historical drawbacks of Philippine elections, the authentic voice of the people will be heard and that those who are determined to undermine the poll results will be exposed and ultimately fail.#