International Observers See Poverty as Major Election Issue

from Bulatlat

BY LISA ITO
BULATLAT
ELECTIONS/BREAKING NEWS

TONDO, MANILA ― Foreign observers monitoring the poll count in Tondo, one of the most congested cities in the world, have repeatedly been reminded of how poverty influences the attitudes of urban poor Filipinos towards the elections.

The Peoples’ International Observers Mission (Peoples’ IOM) team visiting Tondo in Metro Manila today noted that the current economic situation and the worsening degree of poverty were among the main issues that voters were concerned about.

Led by Canadian journalist Stefan Christoff, the Tondo-based team visited urban poor communities in Barangay Isla Puting Bato and Katuparan Homes in Vitas, as well as the voting centers in Magat Salamat Elementary School, Manuel L Quezon Elementary School, and H. Atienza School in Tondo district to look into reports of multiple voting irregularities and voter disenfranchisement.

With 268 barangays and a total population of around 589,644 in 2000, Tondo harbors one of the largest concentrations of households and urban poor communities in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Representatives of the IOM took in the conditions of extreme poverty within the districts and interviewed multiple community residents who hoped to participate in the electoral process to elect a new government who would tend to the conditions of extreme poverty, Christoff noted.

In discussions with voters concerning the mid-term elections, most expressed various opinions on the important political issues that were at stake during this election.

In particular, voters expressed frustration on the growing poverty within the Tondo district of Manila.
"Bumoto kami pero hindi kami umaasa na gaganda ang buhay namin pagkatapos ng eleksyon. Ang sigurado lang kami ay demolisyon pa rin ang haharapin namin pagkatapos ng eleksyon," Christoff quotes one voter as saying. (We voted but we are not very optimistic that our lives will be better after the elections. For sure, we will continue to face the threat of demolition after the elections.)

Majority of Tondo residents are migrants from other provinces who are mostly unemployed or eking out a living as port workers, ambulant market vendors, tricycle and pedicab drivers, and garlic peelers. Many of Tondo’s communities living within the vicinity of reclamation areas and government projects are often in danger of having their makeshift homes demolished.

"We are poor and getting poorer. Despite our situation the Arroyo government is doing nothing to change our situation, so we hope to see a change of government," Christoff quotes one voter as saying.

Whoever wins, the people of Tondo are somewhat frustrated that no one is doing enough to stop the intensifying poverty and demolition of urban poor communities in Metro Manila, Christoff said.