Philippines

Through its groundbreaking Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign, The Carter Center partners with city leaders worldwide to raise awareness about women’s right to access information and to help cities reach women with valuable information and essential municipal services. 

Access to this information empowers women with a stronger voice, enabling them to participate in public life, utilize public services, and make more informed decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities. In the Philippines, the project has partnered with the city of Quezon City.

How It Started

In 2006, The Carter Center launched an initiative to address emergent challenges to election observation. The Democratic Election Standards project aimed to conduct three limited missions – including one in the Philippines – focused on the use of technology in a variety of regional and electoral contexts and other methods.

Our Work and Methods

• During the May 2010 elections, Carter Center observers went to metro Manila, Baguio City, and Bacolod to witness the use of electronic voting and to test a new SMS-based pilot tool developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology to speed observers’ data collection and processing.

Impacts

• The team’s findings on the use of automated election technologies helped address challenges and build consensus in observation processes.

How It Started

In 2016, The Carter Center sent a seven-person team to conduct a limited observation of the May 9 general elections.

Our Work and Methods

The observation mission focused on Mindanao, paying particular attention to:

• Election-related violence
• Freedom of expression, assembly, and choice in the context of campaigns
• Campaign finance
• Resolution of electoral disputes

Impacts

• Though the observation mission was limited in scope, the Center’s team reported concerns about vote-buying (mostly at the local level) and gender equity.
• Most voters found that the conduct of polling, counting, and tabulation was satisfactory, but that did not always guarantee a level playing field in the electoral environment.

This project ended in 2016.

How It Started

The May 2022 presidential election was widely seen as pivotal in Philippines democracy, marking the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term and the rise of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the deposed dictator. Opponents were concerned not only about the possibility of a renewed era of authoritarianism and corruption, but also about the role of disinformation in Marcos’ campaign. To demonstrate international support for democracy in the Philippines and to share recommendations for strengthening the election process, The Carter Center deployed an international election expert mission.

Our Work and Methods

• Before the election, the Center conducted a remote assessment that found that voters generally had confidence in the Commission on Elections’ ability to run the election but were concerned about specific issues, including disinformation, the links between economic and political power, and transparency and reliability of the automated election system.
• Peter Wardle, former chief executive of the U.K. Electoral Commission, led a two-week Carter Center mission to metro Manila to focus on two areas that the preelection assessment found needed strengthening:
  • The use of election technology
  • The framework for political finance regulation and enforcement

Impacts

• The Carter Center’s presence reinforced international support for democracy at a critical juncture in the country’s history.
• The Center made specific recommendations to strengthen the process and instill voter confidence. Recommendations included:
  • Update and revise electoral laws to account for the use of technology in voting.
  • Conduct a thorough review of campaign finance legislation to cover the widespread use of social media and the increased use of digital technology and currencies.

This project ended in 2022.