In recent years, many CSOs have expressed a growing concern for an honest and transparent general election in May 2022 at the risk of fraud and corruption by traditional politicians. CODE-NGO recognized the need for urgent and concrete action to protect our democratic institutions and human rights.

CODE-NGO, together with the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG), the De La Salle University – Institute of Governance, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), and the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS), launched the non-partisan, pro-democracy coalition called Political Participation for Greater Electoral Integrity (PARTICIPATE) Coalition. The Coalition aims to enable citizens to make informed choices, claim their right to vote, and uphold the integrity of the election process for the 2022 national and local elections. At present, more than 2,500 civic, academic, youth, women, religious, and other sectoral groups are part of the growing Coalition.

CODE-NGO organized a webinar series that centered on electoral processes and citizen monitoring, citizen electoral participation, and voter’s rights. In addition, CODE-NGO and IDEALS launched “MULAT, HANDA at ALERTayo: National Forum on the 2022 National Elections” including a presentation of the Development and Reform Agenda 2022-2028. The Forum equipped CSOs with rights-based voters education strategies and provided an avenue to consolidate and streamline electoral and political participation efforts.

Aligned with the PARTICIPATE Coalition’s objectives, CODE-NGO co-led the Ligtas Halalan 2022 campaign, which called on the national government, Congress, and the electoral stakeholders to COVID-proof the 2022 elections, and make the elections safe, fair, and free for all.

PARTICIPATE presented a Unity Statement in May 2021 highlighting the needs to ensure that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) receives enough funds to ensure protection of voters from COVID-19 and politicking, implement an extensive information and awareness campaign on safety, and adopt a multi-stakeholder approach to ensure transparency.

Another Unity Statement to Give Every Filipino a Chance to Vote was launched. The statement called for the extension of voter registration period and for strengthening the registration efforts through the increase of satellite voter registration sites, provision of assistance to first-time voters, and adoption of a multi-stakeholder approach in the voter registration campaigns.

The campaigns received exponential support through CODE-NGO’s member-networks, namely, Association of Foundations (AF), Central Visayas Network of NGOs (CENVISNET), Eastern Visayas Network of NGOs (EVNET), Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA), and Western Visayas Network of NGOs (WEVNET). The two unity statements garnered a total of 4,500 signatures from various CSOs, academic institutions, business councils, professional organizations and youth groups.

This article is part of the CODE-NGO Annual Report 2021.