RP Polls Observer Meets With U.S. Senate, House Staff

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Jun) - Reverend Larry Emery, a Presbyterian Pastor in the United States, promised at a news conference in May in Quezon City, that he would bring to the attention of America's congressional leaders the findings of the People's International Observer's Mission (IOM) concerning the May 14 Filipino polls.

From Tuesday to June 22, he has meetings with a dozen U.S. Senate and House of Representative offices. Among those he will be meeting with is staff members for Senators Barak Obama, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee; Diane Feinstein, who serves on the Appropriations Committee; and Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the Senate. Rev. Emery said in a statement to the IOM Secretariat that he will focus on what he found to be improper involvement in the election by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

"I respect the fact that Comelec (Commission on Elections) had to put certain areas under control of the Philippine National Police because of ongoing violence," he went on to say," and I had no objections to the presence troops that were truly performing the job of keeping the peace. What I observed, however, and what many other members of the IOM observed, was AFP military units trying to influence the election, actively campaigning for or against certain parties or candidates."

Harassment and intimidation of election workers, individual voters and sometimes whole barangays was evident according to Rev. Emery.

"This violates the most basic democratic principles and should be repudiated." If there are those who might think that a review of the Philippine election by members of the United States Congress is a case of America meddling in the internal affairs of the Philippine people, Rev. Emery has a reply.

"The American government gives millions of dollars to the Philippine government in military aid each year. If US Military aid is being used by the Philippine government to help determine the outcome of the election, then that aid must stop. Congress is ultimately accountable for how American taxpayers money is being spent. It is the responsibility of our government to ensure military aid is being used for its intended purposes." Rev. Emery serves as the Chairperson of the Philippine Partnership Committee of the Presbytery of Sacramento, California.

In July, 2007, he was the representative of the Presbyterian Church USA at the Human Rights Summit, held in Manila, which addressed extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses in the Philippines.

He was one of a group of religious leaders who helped organize the hearing on Human Rights in the Philippines conducted by Senator Barbara Boxer of California on March 14, 2007.

Six Americans, including Rev. Emery, served on the Peoples IOM for the May 14 elections. He was assigned with two election observers from Norway to the province of Nuevo Ecija.