The European Union (EU) claimed that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) did not comply with an administrative agreement signed by both parties regarding the access of the observers under their Election Observation Mission (EOM) during election day on May 12.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia ordered Saturday that the EU EOM observers can enter the precincts only before and after the election period.

In a press conference, Vladimir Prebilic, EU EOM head of delegation, said he does not understand the decision as Comelec invited them to do the election observation and the commission signed an agreement that allows the observers to visit the precincts.

Chief Observer Marta Temido said the decision had "prevented their observers from conducting a meaningful observation on election day."

Temido also mentioned they deployed only some of the 226 EU observers which affected their observation methodology in this election.

"A limited number of observers were able to observe voting in some precincts but the mission is not in a position to assess the voting process in line with its methodology," Temido said.

In the press statement, the EU stated that observers were denied access to eight out of 92 precincts during the counting, despite being allowed by the Comelec.

In a separate conference, Comelec chairman George Garcia cleared that there is a miscommunication between the commission and the EU.

"When we say polling place, it is a school where we can find polling precincts, while in polling precincts, there are strict limitations," Garcia said.

The Omnibus Elections Code of 1985 prohibits access to the EU EOM observers in polling precincts.

"As long as the law does not change, they have to bow to the wisdom of our law," Garcia said.

Prebilic said the misunderstanding can be avoided with clear communication between the parties to get them on the right side.

"It is impossible today to undo what was done but let us learn something and move forward," he added.

Prebilic expresses hope EOM observers will be given full access to the electoral process in the future.

"Enabling observers full access to all phases of the electoral process shows a country's commitment to transparency," Prebilic said. Kate Christian Ravelo/DMS