EVEN with fewer volunteers, the Cebu-Citizens Involvement and Maturation for Peoples Empowerment and Liberation (C-Cimpel) vowed to continue its watchdog role to help ensure clean and honest elections.
“Even in between elections, our volunteers are still doing something in terms of governance in their different parishes. So that by election time, we switch to a higher and faster mode, and that’s watching the elections,” C-Cimpel executive director Marilu Chongbian said.
Chongbian said the group has around 11,000 volunteers for the upcoming May 13 elections, less than the estimated 15,000 they had in the last elections in 2016.
“There are fewer volunteers because we just finished the National Youth Day. They are tired,” she said. She also noted a change in the school calendar. In the previous election, it was in the middle of summer break. This year, the elections come before final exams.
C-Cimpel, created in 1991, is the local counterpart of the national non-partisan organization Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. It is accredited by the Commission on Elections to conduct citizen awareness on the electoral process, and serve as a poll watchdog, among others.
Chiongbian said that, unlike in the previous elections, the C-Cimpel will not hold a general, one-time, final briefing among its volunteers this year, but opted to conduct it per church district.
“Right now, we are doing the final briefing in every district. It’s a smaller group and more of them can attend. It’s cheaper for them, (especially) when it comes to transportation,” she said.
On election day, the C-Cimpel headquarters at the Seminaryo Mayor de San Carlos will be open for 24 hours.
As a security measure, Chongbian told volunteers to coordinate with the board of election inspectors or election officers in-charge for each precinct should there be violence on election day.
“Protect your life. But if the case is brought to court, if you are a responsible citizen, then you have to be a witness if you are called to witness,” she explained.
To support C-Cimpel, the Diocese of Cebu and media outfits during the elections, Smart Communications and PLDT provided prepaid load and internet and landline connections.
Nora “NN” Navarro, Smart public affairs junior manager for Visayas and Mindanao, led the turnover of communication equipment to C-Cimpel, Dioceses of Dumaguete, SunStar Publishing Inc. and DyLA on May 9, Thursday, at the C-Cimpel headquarters.
Nini Cabaero, director for content, represented SunStar while Msgr. Julius Heruela represented the Diocese of Dumaguete.