Organizing a provincial and city/municipal chapter

“Democracy is based on the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people”

 question is often asked: “What is the most effective and fastest way to organize?”

There are no fixed answers.  Your chapter must adapt to the realities of your particular environment.  However, based on the experience of our more successful chapters in the past, some principles and methods stand out which helped resolve problems of recruitment and motivation of volunteers, of securing public support and of reducing friction and misunderstandings, with the Comelec, government officials, military and teachers.

1)      Rule of Thumb: The ideal minimum number of volunteers in your area should be at least two (2) volunteers per precinct. 

2)      Encourage volunteering by family and barkada.  If Namfrel becomes an affair among family and friends, participation becomes a total community effort. 

3)      Although we encourage lay people to take the lead in organizing Namfrel chapters, given the time constraints, the fastest way to organize is to recruit by organization like churches, business groups, and association of schools, and request their leaders to convene an organizational meeting wherein the following are invited: 

a)      all religious leaders (parish priests, Christian pastors, Muslim aleems, imams and ulamas)

b)      heads of civic, professional, business groups and other participating organizations;

c)      heads and faculty of schools;

d)      student and youth leaders;

e)      other respected leaders in the community;

f)       media;

g)      former Namfrel volunteers. 

There are regular monthly or quarterly meetings in your diocese, church or your local organizations.  If there is time, request permission from the head of the organizations to address the assembly to seek support for Namfrel.  For big and important meetings like these, Namfrel will try to send a member of the National Council and/or trainors to serve as resource persons. 

4)      Establish good relations with the Comelec registrar, school superintendent, local police chief and media. Suggest the formation of an ad hoc coordinating committee among them and the Namfrel Chairperson who will be available to resolve problems before and during election day.

5)      Keep in mind that people respond favorably to a positive approach and that there are many decent people in government who share the objective of clean and orderly elections.  Do not pre-judge.  Reach out to all sectors.  You can be firm in your convictions without being overly self-righteous and disagreeable. 

6)      Invite the Comelec registrar, public school superintendent and military commander in your area to address Namfrel meetings. 

Organize a joint OQC workshop for Namfrel and other volunteers and public school teachers to avoid misunderstandings about the functions of volunteers. 

7)      The commitment of our volunteers will depend to a large extent on your own commitment and role modeling.  

8)      In organizing, you will have to exercise patience to the utmost degree.  You may have to go back again and again to convince and motivate people to take up the Namfrel cause.  Regularly “follow-up” the units under you.  Since Namfrel is a purely voluntary organization, the people you will be dealing with will have varied personalities, persuasions and experience.  You will be subjected to all kinds of pressure that will constantly test your resolve.  There will be campaigns to discredit and discourage you. Namfrel represents hope, despite many odds.  You have to be strong and constant in your own faith if you are to attract others to join our cause. 

9)      Always remember to pray.  Open and close meetings with a prayer.  You cannot do it alone.

Stage 1: Recruitment and Organizational Stage  

In this stage, the provincial and city or municipal chairperson convenes a meeting of leaders from all civic, religious, professional, business, labor, educational, youth and other non-partisan organizations to update volunteers on recent developments regarding the elections and to recruit new volunteers. 

At the end of stage 1, a Namfrel chapter must have: 

1)      Secured the commitment of supporting or cooperating sectors (i.e., business, civic, religious, educational, youth, service, professional, labor and women’s organizations) through a series of meetings and motivational sessions such as workshops, candle-lighting ceremonies, etc. 

2)      Formed and activated the Provincial or City/Municipal Council and the Provincial or City/Municipal Executive Committee

You may select from among the members of your

provincial council who are likely to be major

contributors to your efforts and ask them to be a

member of the provincial ExCom.  It is probably

fitting to involve them in the decision-making and

operations of the provincial Namfrel. 

In the province of Batangas the provincial council is co-chaired by Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales and Bro. Rafael Donato, FSC (president of De La Salle, Lipa City) with the Comelec provincial election supervisor, the Philippine National Police (PNP) provincial superintendent and the

Department of Education Culture and Sports (DECS) provincial superintendent as members.  The representation in the Nueva Ecija chapter of Namfrel is similar. 

The main tasks of the PExCom are: 

a)      To complete the provincial OQC within the prescribed period.

b)      Assist municipal and city chapters in their volunteer recruitment efforts by organizing a province-wide, media-based recruitment and voter involvement campaign, etc.

c)      Secure logistical and financial support for the municipal and city chapters’ operations, for the provincial secretariat, for provincial operations, and for the Provincial Tabulation Center.  Logistical support may include securing sponsorship for set-up of intra-province communication system, securing fuel donations, use of computers and fax machines at the Provincial Tabulation Center and for other purposes.

d)      Liaise with the Comelec, DECS, PNP, Department of Finance (under which the municipal treasurers, who are in-charge of the distribution of election materials and paraphernalia before the elections, report to), and with political party representatives and candidates.

Liaison with the Comelec is necessary to secure the location of precincts and their respective voting centers or schools in each city and municipality in the province because these information will be used to determine the number of volunteers needed to collect all the ERs.  Each voting center will have a manager whose task is to ensure the organized and systematic collection of the ER from all the precincts in the voting center and the delivery of the ERs to the city or municipal tabulation center.

Many provincial chapters offer pollwatching training to political party watchers to enhance the party/candidate watchers’ competence in monitoring the polls.  The political parties take care of the venue, reproduction of materials and other arrangements for this training.      

3)      Inventoried available resources in terms of:

a)      Finances

b)      Vehicles

c)      Communications equipment

d)      Office equipment

e)      Food

f)       Office supplies

g)      Personnel skills

h)      Others 

4)      Established a harmonious working relationship among the volunteers and member associations. 

5)      Identified possible sources of funds to support the chapter’s activities and projects. 

6)      Organized the appropriate committees/groups such as: 

a)      Secretariat - To serve the administrative, secretarial and clerical requirements of the chapter, under the supervision of the Secretary-General, and to coordinate the activities of the various committees. 

b)      Municipal/City Chapter’s Organization and Training Committee – To identify, together with the PExCom, potential members of municipal and city councils (similar to the provincial council).  The council members, in turn, elect their chairperson and co-chairperson and committee chairs. 

Owing to the fact that there will always be new members of Namfrel especially from the youth sector and that they have not had the same orientation as many of us original Namfrel volunteers in the 1984, 1986 and 1987 election situations, it is extremely important to include motivational and basic rationale for the need for citizens to involve themselves in Namfrel.  

c)      Logistics and Finance Committee – It may be advisable to identify down to detail the logistical needs for provincial and municipal operations of a chapter because it has been increasingly difficult to secure financial donations from organizations and individuals.  In our experience, it is relatively easier to solicit non-cash donations especially if this is sought from goods manufacturers or dealers themselves.  Soliciting non-cash donations from multiple donors is advisable as it will be easier for companies to give in smaller quantities. (For example, instead of asking for 100 reams of paper from only one supplier, you can solicit 10 reams each from 10 suppliers).  

Instead of spending for photocopying expenses, you might want to ask a local photocopying or documents reproduction company to sponsor the provincial chapter’s needs.   You might want to also solicit the paper needed for the document reproduction company from paper suppliers in your area. 

d)      OQC Systems Committee – To determine and provide the software and hardware, and volunteer skills and number requirements for the conduct of the OQC at the provincial tabulation center and at the different municipal or city tabulation centers.   

This committee could also be tasked to set-up the mode of transport or transmission of election results from each city or municipality in the province and from the province to the National Tabulation Center in Manila. 

e)      Participating Organizations Committee – In 1998 we had 125 organizations representing practically all sectors of society committed to support Namfrel’s efforts.  This committee is tasked to invite various organizations like the professional groups of doctors, engineers, accountants, computer experts, etc. to join Namfrel and to contribute in whatever capacity to the cause. 

f)       Legal Committee – At several instances, Namfrel was asked to testify before local courts where election protests are filed to present its OQC results.  The most recent was in 1998 in Ternate, Cavite where Namfrel results and our copies of the ERs (6^th copies) were used to reverse the results of the mayoral elections. 

You might need lawyers’ assistance in the monitoring of the canvassing at the municipal, district and provincial canvass especially if there are differences in the canvass results and the OQC results, both of which are supposed to be based on a single document, that is the ER. 

g)      Speaker’s Bureau or Media/Voter Advocacy Committee – It would be very useful as support to the volunteer recruitment and logistics solicitation efforts that the provincial Namfrel initiate a province-wide awareness program.  This program, which could be on tri-media, could include basic information on the elections like registration, the process of voting, importance and relevance of elections in governance, accountability of the voters’ vote, and other strategies that will encourage the voter to get involved in the elections. 

The national Media/Voter Advocacy Committee is embarking on a “Every voter a pollwatcher” theme for the 2001 polls.  The programs arising from this committee hopes to encourage voters, to not only vote, but also safeguard their vote and to make sure that it is counted properly. 

This committee will also be tasked to schedule appearances, interviews and guesting of Namfrel in the tri-media and before various groups that may want to know what Namfrel will be doing in the 2001 polls and other information on operations. 

h)      Comelec and Political Party Liaison Committee – This committee will primarily be engaged in securing from the Comelec copies of relevant resolutions and orders, especially on the clustering of precincts and the mobilization to special task forces to supervise the polls.  This committee will also be tasked to ensure that Namfrel is recognized in the province and that the volunteers (with their proper identification) will indeed be given the 4^th or 6^th copies of the election returns that are due Namfrel as an accredited citizens’ arm of the Comelec. 

This committee will also be charged to ensure that Namfrel is represented in the Comelec briefing for the different city or municipal election officers and for the boards of election inspectors (BEI).  Our representation in these orientations by the Comelec will promote better rapport and camaraderie among the Comelec, DECS, other Comelec deputized agencies and Namfrel. 

The conduct of the elections – peacefulness and orderliness are to a general extent dictated by the candidates and their supporters.  Namfrel has been known to contribute in securing covenants and palabra de honor from the candidates that the latter will use neither force nor coercion to get elected.  Such covenants and offers from Namfrel to train candidate watchers could be among the tasks of this committee.

7)      Recruited volunteers according to the objectives and other guidelines of the 2001 OQC illustrated in Module 4 

At the city or municipal level, it is the task of the city or municipal chairpersons and council members to recruit Voting Center Managers (VCMs) for each school or voting center, and to assist the VCMs in recruiting and training precinct volunteers who are known as “Namfrel Deputy Authorized by the Comelec to Collect the Election Returns”. 

Due to the long hours of counting, evidenced during the 1998 polls, we advise recruiting two (2) volunteers per precinct.  All Namfrel volunteers will be issued identification cards by the city or municipal chairperson. 

There are countless creative ways to send the message of involvement to various sectors and encourage them to join Namfrel.   In terms of manpower, the youth sector has time and again proven to be the greatest contributor of manpower for Namfrel. 

Namfrel chapters in Region 6 have decided to recruit volunteers at the universities and colleges that are located at their capital towns and cities.  They will set up a Namfrel desk in these schools to accept volunteers and to brief volunteers of their duties during the elections.  When the students who have volunteered return to their respective municipalities or cities during the summer vacation, they can already enlist before the municipal or city chapter, who will be expecting these volunteers, having been provided the volunteer’s sign-up sheet by the Namfrel chapter of the capital town or city that initiated the recruitment campaign. 

Former volunteer or “veteran” volunteers of Namfrel should be tapped again as they are already familiar with its operations.  They can be asked to be VCMs who, aside from the tasks previously mentioned, can initiate coordination with the teachers who will be serving as BEIs in the school or voting center of which he or she is manager.

Stage 2: Planning and Training Stage  

Based on the assessment of the capabilities of its chapter membership, the working committees plan the activities and conduct needed training sessions. 

At the end of this stage, a Namfrel chapter must have: 

1)      Secured information/data on precincts, voting centers and voters’ list. 

2)      Prepared detailed plans that would serve as the chapter blueprint of activities and guide during contingencies.  A part of the detailed plan is determining courier routes and other strategies for the efficient and systematic collection of all ERs from each precinct in the city or municipality through the VCMs. 

3)      Assessed the capabilities and limitations of Namfrel volunteers. 

4)      Given volunteers their respective assignments appropriate to their talents and skills. 

5)      Made arrangements with the Comelec to secure the copy for Namfrel at the municipal or city canvassing boards when the BEI reports and surrenders the 1^st copy of the ER to the board, in case ERs are not released by the BEIs to the “Namfrel Deputies”. 

6)      Conducted appropriate training programs on voters’ assistance activities and OQC.

Stage 3: Operational Stage

At this stage, the Namfrel chapter goes into action to safeguard the electoral process particularly the conduct of OQC.  Refer to Module 4 for an extensive discussion on the OQC.

Stage 4: Evaluation and Reporting Stage

In the final stage, a Namfrel chapter evaluates the overall conduct of elections, documents all irregularities, and transmits its report as soon as possible to Namfrel’s provincial or national headquarters. 

In this stage, a total review of the chapter operations is made to pinpoint and record chapter performance and effectiveness as well as weaknesses and failures.

At the end of the Evaluation and Reporting Stage, the Namfrel local chapter must have: 

1)      Documented and transmitted the results of the counting as well as the observations made during the counting and canvassing periods to the Provincial and National Headquarters. 

2)      Determined the strong and weak points of the chapter. 

3)      Identified possible areas for improvement. 

4)      Submitted a copy of the results of their self-evaluation to the Namfrel National Office. 

5)      Laid out plans to facilitate the reorganization of their chapter for future activities. 

6)      Appropriately acknowledged all those who helped and supported the chapter by issuing certificates of recognition.

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Last Updated: Monday, April 02, 2001 02:17:07 AM