OIC, donor nations to monitor ARMM polls

Koronadal City — The influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), along with several foreign donor countries, will be closely watching the conduct and results of the Aug. 8 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Datu Ibrahim Paglas III, one of those aspiring for the ARMM governorship, quoted Senate President Franklin Drilon as saying that the OIC and foreign donor countries such as the United States, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom are sending "election monitoring teams" to the ARMM elections "to check on persistent reports of poll fraud."

According to Paglas, Drilon heard that "a number of donor countries are at the brink of giving up their development assistance programs in Muslim Mindanao in the face of long-standing charges of corruption and poor governance and that elections are always marred by wide-scale vote-buying, tabulation fraud, intimidation and violence."

For his part, Paglas welcomed the foreign election monitoring teams, saying such a move is "understandable considering those millions of dollars of development assistance they have poured in the region."

"The coming ARMM elections are critical because the world will watch them," Paglas said in a cellular phone interview yesterday.

Paglas’ candidacy for ARMM governor has the support of the Liberal Party (LP), of which Drilon is the president.

Paglas’ running mate is Hata Dimaporo, the younger brother of Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo and a respected member of the influential Dimaporo clan of Lanao del Sur.

Paglas is the grandson of pre-martial law LP Sen. Salipada Pendatun and a nephew of the late Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Hashim Salamat.

Paglas, who has denounced all forms of election fraud, said he will embark on a massive voters’ vigilance and education campaign to inform ARMM residents about the ill-effects of poll fraud.