On the occasion of the 39th founding anniversary of the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), allow me to greet everyone, our volunteers, supporters, partners, and friends a happy anniversary!

NAMFREL remains true to its vision of strengthening democracy through helping ensure clean, honest and credible elections and to empower the electorate to elect competent, honest public officials whose main reason for seeking public office is to render real public service.

NAMFREL pioneered the Operation Quick Count which provided the latest in electoral counts to help prevent fraud by motivating citizens to watch the polls and the counting and consolidation of the election results, to deter manipulation of results at the counting and canvassing by releasing accurate advance (unofficial) results and enhance the acceptability of the results of the elections.

NAMFREL has been treading an era of massive digital transformation, starting with the automation of the national and local elections and voter registration. To this end, NAMFREL has been advocating for a more transparent automated election system, one that is truly open so that our volunteers and the rest of the citizenry can continue to monitor the elections and ensure integrity of the electoral processes and the acceptability and credibility of the election results.

NAMFREL has been leveraging on available technologies to provide information to its volunteers, voters, and the general public. It endeavors to maintain its websites, www.namfrel.org.ph and www.voteforus.org.ph, and its social media pages to deliver up to date information on any on-going electoral exercise. It launched the NAMFREL app which it used in the last national and local elections to gather information as they became available. At the same time, it recognizes the limits of these technologies and finds other avenues to provide up to date information to its stakeholders.

Along with the emerging technologies comes massive mis/disinformation which it tries to address and ensure that its stakeholders are better informed. NAMFREL exerts efforts to protect that one little candle to ensure that it continues to glow in the dark.

NAMFREL calls on its volunteers, supporters, partners, and friends to keep the spirit of volunteerism alive. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. ###