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120 ENHANCING ELECTIONS AS INSTRUMENTS OF DEMOCRACY IN THE ASEAN REGION

of Interior and national and local Election Commissions will provide
focus in the performance of specific tasks by each agency but this also

presents coordination and administration challenges, and will open to
greater debate the degree of independence and impartiality of the ECT
(susceptibility to external influence and intervention).

Institutional reform initiatives for IECs must take into account
this structural debate. Ultimately, efficiency and effectiveness can be

achieved through a balanced and strategic employment of institutional
oversight and control, and the engagement of “force multipliers” not just

from government but also from academic institutions, media outfits (both
traditional and new media), non-government organizations, citizen groups,
and volunteers that can provide technical and logistical assistance to the

Commission, and open up novel opportunities for “last-mile initiatives”
that will engage the voting public/ electorate. The COMELEC over the

years has established partnerships with various citizen organizations such
as NAMFREL and the PPCRV, international and local election watchdogs
such as IFES, the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN), LENTE,

and Government Watch (G-Watch), and technical support groups such as
the AES Watch to help monitor the automated election process.

5. The automation of elections in the Philippines, despite
the numerous organizational and technical issues it raised, had an

overall positive effect on public trust in the voting process, and
public confidence in the COMELEC. The adoption of an AES also

triggered institutional changes and improvements in the COMELEC.
Despite initial public apprehension towards the shift from manual to